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Fate of Frogs Spawn in Temporary Pools?: |
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193  View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 13 Mar 2003 Mervyn and I went spawn spotting today. We were a little surprised to find Common frogs Spawn in a small pond on Blackheath, hemmed on each side by very busy roads. In Dartford we found a temporary pool, containing vast amounts of spawn. I would be interested in hearing from anyone local to the site as to the usual fate of the tadpoles here, or anyoneÆs experiences of Common Frogs spawning in temporary pools. I assume the only likely source of nutrients to the developing tadpoles will be each other and that most years the site is not viable?
Common Frog Spawn at Dartford
Site Picture
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Martin Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 87 View other posts by Martin |
Posted: 13 Mar 2003 Good on ya Mervyn! |
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 13 Mar 2003 He is improving Martin, he even lent me his wellies so I could wade in and get the picture  ----RAUK e-Forum----
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David Bird Forum Specialist Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 515 View other posts by David Bird |
Posted: 13 Mar 2003 I have always considered wet winters or early spring to be bad for the Common Frog. Whilst on their way to larger ponds they will stop off and breed in the shallowest of water. In Poole I have found frog spawn in the flooded goal mouth of a football pitch with just a few centimetres of water, on one local nature reserve I often find spawn in a wood in damp leaves where there is at the most 1 centimetre of surface water after periods of rain although a marshy area that has had deeper areas dug out specifically for spawning is only a metre or so away. I have found that none of this spawn has a chance to produce small frogs as if the eggs or tadpoles do not dry up or are rescued the tadpoles usually become food for local birds. British Herpetological Society Librarian and member of B.H.S Conservation Committee. Self employed Herpetological Consultant and Field Worker. |
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 14 Mar 2003 David, Thanks for the advice, I suspected that they stood very little chance in this location. We have contacted Dartford Council and hopefully will hear back next week about permissions to move them to a nearby deeper pond. There is a problem though, we collected a small sample on Wednesday and this hatched on Thursday, so I am thinking that moving the spawn now is not practical, as many of the young will be motionless in the bottom mud. Could you advise on time scale for the tadpoles to be free swimming and net-able? The pool is at most 3 centimetres deep and in full sun. (edited) ----RAUK e-Forum----
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David Bird Forum Specialist Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 515 View other posts by David Bird |
Posted: 14 Mar 2003 Gemma I have seen several lots of spawn in the last few days in shallow pools in a quarry I have been clearing gorse from. The tadpoles are still in or on the egg mass and seen to be feeding on the algae that has turned the surface of the albumen green. I think they also feed on the decaying albumen. I moved some tadpoles from one pool that I knew was not permanent and quite shallow with just a small Yoghurt pot the only thing I had to hand. The tadpoles were on the top of the albumen in the centre and easily flowed into the pot when I carefully lowered it into the mass. One batch had tadpoles that still had their gills whilst another was older with no external gills so you may be lucky if there has been no disturbance to the eggs. Take a freezer box or bucket rather than the small pot I used and you may be able to scoop up the whole egg mass with all the tadpoles. British Herpetological Society Librarian and member of B.H.S Conservation Committee. Self employed Herpetological Consultant and Field Worker. |
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fred Member Joined: 17 Mar 2003 No. of posts: 1  View other posts by fred |
Posted: 18 Mar 2003 I have a similar problem in my ponds where some frogs ignore the ponds and spawn in the shallow artificial tributary connecting the two ponds on two levels. The end of results is tons of viable span dumped in an inch and a half of dirty water. I scoop it out and relocate it to the pond. Incidentally frog numbers have been very good this year.
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 18 Mar 2003 We returned today and found the spawn masses in much the state David described, some areas being black with newly hatched tadpoles. The water level had dropped substantially in the last 6 days as shown below. The area is an old clay lined pond that has fallen out of use. We spoke to the Parks Warden for the site and it is hoped that the pond will be repaired within the next few years, it currently leaks into the underlying sand.
Site Picture showing drop in water level
Masses of spawn with hatched young clinging
We collected 200 Litres of spawn from the site, and moved it to the nearest large body of water (approximately 1 mile due east), which we had observed last week to have also been selected by Common Frogs for spawning.
Recipient Site We observed Smooth Newts and Common Toads spawn at the temporary site today. We will return over the next few weeks to rescue any other tadpoles as the pond dries out. A local volunteer who helped us today mentioned that the three species observed have used the area since the 1940's, but now the pond dries out completely. Please note: There are many reasons why moving Frogs spawn may be inadvisable, please contact Froglife on Tel: 01986 873733 for advice if you think there is a genuine conservation reason to lift Frogs spawn to another site.
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 20 Mar 2003 We moved another 60 Litres of spawn today, many of the tadpoles were stranded in the surrounding mud and we rescued those we could.
20th March showing further drop in water level We also took a walk around the area to find the woodland pond managed by the same Park Ranger, this area has had attention in recent years, we were very pleased to find masses of frogs spawn here too, so Dartford certainly has a thriving Common Frog population
Woodland Pond ----RAUK e-Forum----
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Mervyn Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 41 View other posts by Mervyn |
Posted: 30 Mar 2003 On March 29th Gemma and I returned to the pond, she took the following photograph.
This shows the final stages of the demise of the pond, only 16 days after the original picture at the top of this page was taken. Mervyn J. COTTENDEN, CPA |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 29 May 2003
Some of the results of the small sample collected, there are about 10 more at the moment, and a few more should metamorphose later this week
Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 29 May 2003 A few more of them, I think planning an escape??
Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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dave n dogs Member Joined: 17 Jan 2004 No. of posts: 13 View other posts by dave n dogs |
Posted: 09 Feb 2004 Hiya folks, I guess it's time for me to visit a local country park. The early spawnings occur in tyre ruts, often contaminated with diesel fuel. Half a bucket of relocated, flushed spawn produced thousands of froglets last year. Much to the amusement of local children and amazement of some adults. I relocate to a urban park pond, it attracts swans, ducks, gulls and has seen an increase in weed growth and aquatic life over the years. Last year showed a fair number of newts too. Fish, goldfish and rudd, someone put a young pike in too, I can't say that was welcome. For some reason(s) the local council frown on this behaviour, well I'm sorry, It's our park, we will manage it with or without blessing. I hate to see it as a hole in the ground and full of shopping trolleys, discarded bikes, beer cans etc. Shame on nelc. |
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cyba Member Joined: 10 Aug 2004 No. of posts: 11 View other posts by cyba |
Posted: 22 Apr 2005 Hi again everyone! I wrote here last year about my unusual frog and toad situation (I have 5 frogs and now 3 toads and possibly 2 newts in a very small water-free back yard enclosed on all sides by 16-20 foot-high walls). I usually let the tadpoles develop in a trough or other receptacle until they are virtually fully formed then take them down to the local pond, as there are lots of huge municipal carp there who would easily make a meal of my little guys. I thought this would give 'em a bit of a head start? |
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Morpheus Senior Member Joined: 30 Apr 2006 No. of posts: 54  View other posts by Morpheus |
Posted: 01 May 2006 I also found a tempory ditch full to the brim with frogspawn and it started to drain repidly so i got it all up together and put some in my pond and some in a large tank. The spawn in the pond was attacked by frost though the ones in the tank have grown large and have started to develop legs.  Gloucestershire`s first exotic pet show! http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/general-herp-chat/320967-glou cestershire-reptile-show-2010-a.html |
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Robert V Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 No. of posts: 717 View other posts by Robert V |
Posted: 06 May 2006 Whats all this top secret cross instead of pics stuff? it might have been nice to see some comparisons! R RobV |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 06 May 2006 I think it's cos the pictures are old Rob. I remember seeing them last year on here. Suz |
- Fate of Frogs Spawn in Temporary Pools? |
,Thanks to the council.