On 29/2/08 08:21, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

In article ,
says...
On 28/2/08 22:44, in article , "robert"
wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
This year we have no toad spawn in the pond but loads of frog spawn. This
is unusual for us and the opposite of all previous years. I have no idea
which frogs they are but some are pretty big - probably 8" long if
stretched
out. They have stripey legs, cross banded stripes, rather than vertical
and
silvery chests. To me their back feet seem very large but perhaps that's
just my ignorance. I wonder if anyone knows what we have and why we have
so
many of them suddenly! Where have our toads gone, I wonder!

The cross banding on the legs would indicate the native Common frog,
Rana temporaria but 8" seems a bit large even for the (larger) females.
Other identifiers are dark patches behind the eyes and two slight ridges
running down either side of the back. Colouration can be very variable.

There are some larger introduced European species in England including
the Marsh frog which are becoming more common but from memory these
don't appear until April/May. The Marsh frog is an olive green and
somewhat larger than the Common frog but as far as I am aware it has not
yet reached the SW.

Thank you to both Roberts. I'll take a closer look tomorrow if I can. Just
now the ones we do see are in the water, doing what comes naturally so it's
just the occasional glimpse that allows me to see them. I think the biggest
I saw today was probably 8" long when he stretched right out. He really was
a huge and senior member of the colony! I don't think taking my eye down to
a memory of 6" does him real justice.

I think you are too soon for toad spawn, they seem to wait for the frogs
to finish and clear off before they start (probably prevents embarrassing
mix ups!!)

It was only on reading a wildlife site yesterday that I realised both are
actually frogs, though rather different in 'structure'. It will be
interesting to see if toads do turn up because either something ate all the
toad spawn last year, or it got frosted. But we have never ever seen this
quantity of frogs. They're sounding like a mini-motorcycle convention out
there!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'