20 February 2013

A perpetual frog chorus?

The frogs in my garden have been passionately calling away since the start of February with the first spawn being recorded on the 6th February. They are still calling today and more frogs are aggregating in my tiny garden pond. The maximum number I have counted at any one time is 38 frogs.

Interestingly, many male frogs have remained in the pond all year round and have been calling for mates every month of the year which is far from an effective strategy (!!) and must increase the risk of predation and reduction in fat resources. I wonder if this is an isolated event or is perhaps a phenological mismatch that is occurring elsewhere......

1 comment:

Barry Stewart said...

First spawn in our garden was on 28th Feb. and we ended up with just 7 clumps after a few days. However the males have remained in situ and have continued singing (though not as vociferously as earlier) until this recent cold snap. Most years we hear low level croaking most months, perhaps more so in the autumn, so clearly not isolated to your garden.