Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this an omen,
and is there something I should be doing about it?

TIA
Steve

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends
brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the
newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest
has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this
an omen,
and is there something I should be doing about it?

I wouldn't worry too much about the submerged spawn. In any given
clump only so much can be on the surface, the rest is submerged. And,
should we get a sudden cold snap that causes the pond to freeze over,
it will be the surface spawn that suffers most.
Should you do something about it? Watch and observe and be next year's
authority when someone asks the same question. ;-)

--
ned

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
latest update 07.03.2006

"ned" wrote in message
...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends
brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the
newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest
has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this
an omen,
and is there something I should be doing about it?

I wouldn't worry too much about the submerged spawn. In any given
clump only so much can be on the surface, the rest is submerged. And,
should we get a sudden cold snap that causes the pond to freeze over,
it will be the surface spawn that suffers most.

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?

rec.ponds would probably get a fuller response, especially as it is not a
country-specific ng.
--
Brian

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 07:53:17 -0000, Brian Watson wrote:

"ned" wrote in message
...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends
brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the
newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest
has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this
an omen,
and is there something I should be doing about it?

I wouldn't worry too much about the submerged spawn. In any given
clump only so much can be on the surface, the rest is submerged. And,
should we get a sudden cold snap that causes the pond to freeze over,
it will be the surface spawn that suffers most.

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?

rec.ponds would probably get a fuller response, especially as it is not a
country-specific ng.

Our frogs have spawned already.
(last week)
This morning our little pond is frozen solid, covered in a couple of inches
of snow as well - wifey was debating whether or not to pour boiling water
on it, I suggested not...
_LOL_
Lancs
UK

In message , bigjon
writes
snip

Our frogs have spawned already.
(last week)
This morning our little pond is frozen solid, covered in a couple of inches
of snow as well - wifey was debating whether or not to pour boiling water
on it, I suggested not...
_LOL_
We have no frog spawn yet.
The best thing to do when the pond is frozen over is to hold a hot pan
on the ice to melt it gently. It would have been better still if you
had left a ball floating in the water, so that you could just lift it
out of the ice.
--
June Hughes

On 12/3/06 7:53, in article , "Brian Watson"
wrote:


"ned" wrote in message
...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends
brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the
newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest
has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this
an omen,
and is there something I should be doing about it?

I wouldn't worry too much about the submerged spawn. In any given
clump only so much can be on the surface, the rest is submerged. And,
should we get a sudden cold snap that causes the pond to freeze over,
it will be the surface spawn that suffers most.

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?

rec.ponds would probably get a fuller response, especially as it is not a
country-specific ng.

Our toads are certainly mating so we should see spawn in a few days. Last
night was rainy again, so I went out with a torch and counted about a dozen
toads on their way to the pond and some already there, croaking
triumphantly.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 07:53:17 +0000, Brian Watson wrote
(in article ):


"ned" wrote in message
...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends
brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the
newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest
has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this
an omen,
and is there something I should be doing about it?

I wouldn't worry too much about the submerged spawn. In any given
clump only so much can be on the surface, the rest is submerged. And,
should we get a sudden cold snap that causes the pond to freeze over,
it will be the surface spawn that suffers most.

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?


We saw our first frog spawn yesterday, and the frogs were very active as we
approached the pond. Everything is covered at the moment in about 4 inches
of snow, so we're hoping they survive.



--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
bed and breakfast near Ludlow: http://www.stonybrook-ludlow.co.uk
Burne-Jones/William Morris window in Shropshire church:
http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message et
from Sally Thompson contains these words:

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 07:53:17 +0000, Brian Watson wrote
(in article ):

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to
spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?


We saw our first frog spawn yesterday, and the frogs were very active as
we
approached the pond. Everything is covered at the moment in about 4
inches
of snow, so we're hoping they survive.


They spawned at Brodick Caste pond at the end of February, which was
very early even for Arran.

Wow! That's a collective "Wow!" for all the posters who are finding
amphibian hanky-panky going on in their gardens.

--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."

Brian Watson writes

"ned" wrote in message
...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends
brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the
newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest
has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this
an omen,
and is there something I should be doing about it?

I wouldn't worry too much about the submerged spawn. In any given
clump only so much can be on the surface, the rest is submerged. And,
should we get a sudden cold snap that causes the pond to freeze over,
it will be the surface spawn that suffers most.

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?

Sorry - confused. Are you saying that march is early for spawn in the UK
or normal for UK and early for spawn elsewhere?
--
Kay

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 10:16:10 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

On 12/3/06 7:53, in article , "Brian Watson"
wrote:


"ned" wrote in message
...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
(snip)

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?

rec.ponds would probably get a fuller response, especially as it is not a
country-specific ng.

Our toads are certainly mating so we should see spawn in a few days. Last
night was rainy again, so I went out with a torch and counted about a dozen
toads on their way to the pond and some already there, croaking
triumphantly.

Can anyone tell me what we might have by our stream? We have a stone
dyke wall about 20ft from the back door with a little stream on the
other side which has boggy pools alongside it in this spot. The last
few nights we heard this funny noise which sounded like a motorbike in
the distance, or a cat purring. The frogs we had at our last house
made a sort of intermittent burping/croak noise but this is more or
less a continuous "r r r r r r". I had a look with a torch when I
first heard it but as I can't climb the wall I was some distance away
and couldn't see anything. The pools aren't much more than puddles
but I can't see any spawn in there from this side of the wall.

Joan in Ayrshire
remove 'spam' from email to reply

Joan Riley writes

Can anyone tell me what we might have by our stream? We have a stone
dyke wall about 20ft from the back door with a little stream on the
other side which has boggy pools alongside it in this spot. The last
few nights we heard this funny noise which sounded like a motorbike in
the distance, or a cat purring. The frogs we had at our last house
made a sort of intermittent burping/croak noise but this is more or
less a continuous "r r r r r r". I had a look with a torch when I
first heard it but as I can't climb the wall I was some distance away
and couldn't see anything. The pools aren't much more than puddles
but I can't see any spawn in there from this side of the wall.

Could be frogs. Ours were making a fairly continuous noise the other
evening - a rather nice soothing sound.
--
Kay

"K" wrote in message
...
Brian Watson writes

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to
spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?

Sorry - confused. Are you saying that march is early for spawn in the UK
or normal for UK and early for spawn elsewhere?

I posted what I did because the amphibians in my garden in Cambridgeshire
don't start the springtime shenanigans until it's a lot warmer - it was May
last year.

However, it appears they are "at it" already in many parts of the UK,
despite fairly consistently sub-zero nights recently.

--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."

Brian Watson writes

"K" wrote in message
...
Brian Watson writes

I wonder if the OP is in the UK, as March is VERY early for frogs to
spawn,
especially in the weather we've had for the last week?

Sorry - confused. Are you saying that march is early for spawn in the UK
or normal for UK and early for spawn elsewhere?

I posted what I did because the amphibians in my garden in Cambridgeshire
don't start the springtime shenanigans until it's a lot warmer - it was May
last year.

That's late!!!!

However, it appears they are "at it" already in many parts of the UK,
despite fairly consistently sub-zero nights recently.

If you look at the 'springwatch' site (google it), you'll see that the
first observations of frogspawn in the 2006 season were in Dec 2005; by
the end of Jan there was a large number of observations in the SW and
scattered observations as far north as the Scottish border; by the end
of Feb, dense distribution of observations all around the coast and a
fair scattering inland, and as of today, pretty dense observations over
most of populated areas of UK
--
Kay

Hi John,
I'm no expert, but I'm looking something similar up and found this page:
http://www.beautifulbritain.co.uk/ht.../pond_faq2.htm
Cheers,

Steve
"shazzbat" wrote in message
...
Does it matter whether frogspawn sinks or floats? Some friends brought us
some today because it doesn't survive in their pond because of the newts,
and we put it in our pond. One clump of it is floating, and the rest has
sunk and is covered by the silt stirred up in the process. Is this an
omen, and is there something I should be doing about it?

TIA
Steve