Froglet Gathering - 24/7/2015

I took these photos a couple of evenings ago but was treated to more of the same this evening when I went out to my pond.

Whereby a few weeks back my pond was full of tadpoles, now the little rocky area at one end of the pond is full of little froglets.  I must have counted at least thirty or so of them and as I counted still they kept coming out of the water.

Soon they will all have left the pond and before too long Autumn will be here and the leaves will be falling.  I will keep my fingers crossed that these little froglets one day make it back to my pond but in the meantime I'll be left of fond memories of watching them develop from frogspawn.

frogs amongst the rocks

froglet

froglet on the rock

hopping onto the rocks

a closer view

seeking shelter

frog leaving the pond

Froglet Departure - 20/7/2015

During the last couple of weeks, 

late each evening I've been going out

to my pond and spending a little time

watching the froglets leaving.

Last night I decided to take

some photos of their departure.

I can't believe just how many

little froglets have made it to

 this stage and are now taking

their first leap into the unknown.

There are still some tadpoles left,

but nearly all have grown limbs now.

four little froglets in this shot

two froglets sheltering in

a damp nook and cranny

time to move on

Metamorphosis Underway - 04/7/2015

My two daughters went to Chester Zoo with their Grandad today so my Wife and I enjoyed a pub lunch, a walk around a Garden Centre and then some quiet time relaxing in our back garden.

The tadpoles were making the most of the glorious afternoon sunshine, grazing on the grass cuttings which had blown into the pond this morning when I cut the lawn.  Some of them are starting to resemble froglets now, whilst others have only just grown their back legs. For some there is no metamorphosis at all just yet.

Here are few photos

to show their development:

Evening in the Garden - 02/7/2015

I spent all my time relaxing in the garden this evening.  It had rained in the afternoon but by the time I'd returned home from work the sun had come out and everything had started to dry out.

After tea I sat and watched the tadpoles for twenty minutes.  Most seem to have developed back legs now and will soon begin turning into little froglets.  I've not bothered taking photos of them just yet as they spend most of the time moving around between the elodea crispa or shooting to the surface for air before dashing back down to the bottom of the pond.  I'm still quite surprised just how many tadpoles there are too, I thought that most of them would have been eaten by the newts by now.

Speaking of newts, I still see one of them when I go out late in the evening with my torch.  I'm not sure where the other went but I spend ages watching them stalking in the pond.  

Both the frogs are still around and the smaller one seems to still favour pond project #1, the smaller of the two ponds and is there most evenings.

After checking up on the tadpoles, I just sat in a chair and watched the birds feed in the Acer behind the pond.

The pond plants are doing good right now and the elodea crispa has started taking over the pond again providing good cover for the tadpoles whilst they are developing into froglets.

The plants my Wife put around the pond have flourished unlike the heather that we originally planted there when I first installed the pond.  The black dragon plants have started to multiply so we may need to dig a few of those additional ones up and move them elsewhere.

Pond Project #2

The Bug Hotel

My latest addition

 to the garden was a water

station for birds and insects.

It was one of my activities
for the 30 Days Wild Challenge
back at the beginning of June.

It looked like this at first:

However, I disliked the look of it so much

that yesterday I replaced it with a large

ceramic cat bowl, filled the bottom with

gravel and added some pebbles.

I think it looks much better now :-)

Pond Project #1

A selection of
flowers from the garden:

View from my chair this evening

A Den of a Kind - 02/7/2015

I had a clean up behind the shed at the weekend and decided to make a kind of den for the hedgehogs or any other little mammals that may need shelter come Autumn and Winter.  I'm hoping that that something will move in over time.  It only took five minutes to put together but it's tucked away behind the shed and should stay for years to come.

old bricks and some cut grass

roof made with some

thick off cuts of timber

stacked up with more offcuts

of wood to hopefully attract insects