New life in the pond

New tadpoles in the pond , blind and with external gills.

Frogs galore

 Today the pond was alive with the sound of music well frogs croaking and the spawn count has gone from one batch to four. I counted over 15 frogs either singles or mating pairs.  It goes to show how important a small urban pond is for the wild life from the bees drinking in it , birds bathing in it hoverflies laying their young , ok mosquitoes I could do without .

Spring spawn

The first frog spawn in my pond this year. The pond is full of frogs so hoping for a good year of baby frogs

 

Water stop

My bees were busy collecting water to take back to the hive today, and they were making use of my pond. They use the water to dissolve the honey which has set in the comb amongst other things.

You can see its hairy eye which is one of the ID features it is the only bee to have hairy eyes.

Pond life(garden)

Plenty of frogs and tadpoles still in the pond. Since a lady gave me some plants , irises , sort of grass, pond marigold and some floating weed the pond is so clear and life it seems far more natural.

A hover fly larva

Tadpoles

 
After about 21 days as spawn, the embryonic frog leaves its protective jelly as a tadpole, complete with organs, gills and a long tail.
  

 

There is one kind of frog that is native to the UK, the common frog, which is found in most parts of the UK. The other was the pool frog which is believed to have become extinct in the 1990s and has since been reintroduced to a site in East Anglia

Frogs and developing Frogs spawn

I counted over 5 frogs still in the pond today , and over the last few weeks over 7 lots of frog spawn have been deposited. As you can see the baby tadpoles are developing nicely now.

More spawn

 

I am excited that my pond now has two lots of frog spawn and still has at least two more mating pairs of common frogs.

Pond (March)

Common frogs Mating in the pond .

The first lot of frog spawn but looks like there is more on the way.

One of the Iris’s I planted is flowering.

 

Around the pond and the garden is in need of attention now the warmer weather is here.

Brown Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna grandis) *female*

 

This is a Brown Hawker Dragonfly resting on the birdbath to see the male click HERE

Description
This large dragonfly is easily distinguished. Both sexes are a rich brown and have a distinctive golden-brown wings, which is often the most striking character of flying individuals. The male has two small blue spots on segment 2 and blue spots along the sides of the abdomen. Both sexes have yellow thorax stripes which are very bright yellow in males but duller in females.
Habitat
Breeding in a wide range of habitats ranging from still waters to slow flowing rivers, and frequently encountered in urban areas.
When to see it
June to October.
UK Status
Mainly found in central and southern England.