I live near the highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds, Garrowby Hill top - which endured one of the coldest winters for many years.
It was white over here for many weeks. Temperatures barely reached freezing by day and plummeted to minus five or six at night.
Yet, just this week a sure sign of spring popped up as early as ever.
My garden pond is full of toads. And frogs, which are usually more secretive then their burly cousins, have started to arrive too!
It's amazing to think that the pond had a good six to eight inches of ice on it just two weeks earlier, when I could easily walk across it.
Female frogs and toads are larger than the males, so it is easy to differentiate the sexes. But often people get frogs and toads mixed up.
Frogs vary in colour, but are usually a yellowish to olive brown colour with dark brown markings. Their smooth skin and elegant hop gives them away.
Warty skin typifies the toad. And they never seem to be in a rush, but walk with a lumbering gait even when hunting their favourite meal of slugs and worms.
When under pressure, they muster up a heavyweight bound which is so different from the skipping leap of a frog.
Both toads and frogs hibernate during the winter. Logs and paving stones are their favourite retreat in my garden.
Then, at the first hint of spring, they start to look for water to breed in. They follow set ancestral paths to their local pond, although their ability to find new habitats is incredible.
I dug a pond in my own garden 10 years ago to encourage wildlife. In the first year both frogs and toads turned up in spite of my Wold-top location and being three miles from the nearest alternative pond.
Both of these amphibians emerge from hibernation at dusk to make their journey to water. This could not be at a worse time because they will be crossing roads at rush hour.
In many parts of Yorkshire this has contributed to the downfall of the species, particularly where busy roads run between their winter quarters and their breeding grounds.
Some cunning creatures bed down in the mud at the bottom of a pond. Amazingly, when they are dormant, they can breathe sufficient quantities of oxygen from the water through their skin.
Of course this tactic means they avoid the perils of the road and are also right where it is at, come springtime. But, they run the risk of being frozen to death in harsh winters if the pond isn't deep enough.
Both toads and frogs are mainly nocturnal. But, with the onset of early spring and the urge to breed, they can be seen more readily during the day.
This particularly applies to toads as they are quite well adapted to protecting themselves from predators by oozing a bitter secretion from their glands when caught.
Frogs, meanwhile, have to be quite cautious during the day as they make a tasty snack for a patrolling heron or other predator.
Their courting ritual is, accordingly, a little more subtle. Often all you will see is a clump of frog spawn in your pond in the morning.
For the toad it's an altogether more raucous affair. The ritual starts with a good old fashioned croaking and ‘ribbiting' contest but soon degenerates into an unorganised rugby scrum.
The female is the centre of a ball of up to 30 males and the surface of the pond bubbles and boils with their activity.
Sometimes, as the males clamour to try and get their chance to mate in these unromantic scuffles, the female can actually drown.
Eventually separated into couples, a pair of toads will thread long double strings of spawn in reed and pondweed.
Meanwhile, the frog's clump of spawn is often deposited in shallower areas of a pond.
For the adults the work is done, set them to work on slug patrols in the garden. They may look slimy but they are a gardener's friend.
* The Wildlife Trust is currently trying to raise awareness of amphibian crossing points. If there is one near you, why not participate in their Toads on Roads scheme? You can download an advice sheet and registration form at www.froglife.org/toadsonroads.
|
Wildlife Diary -
