Saturday 20 March 2010

Common Frogs in the Garden Pond

After the disappearance of the two frogs I saw during the icy weather I had begun to think I would not see any more in the pond this Spring. It was quite a surprise yesterday when I spotted a common frog.

Soaking up the Sun
Common Frog

Croaking
Common Frog

In reflective mood
Common Frog

After watching for a while I noticed there was another frog. Occasionally the first would make its way across to the other but it was not interested  and moved rapidly away. It was only after wandering round the pond trying to get out of the wind to take some video that I noticed a pair coupled together in a corner.
Common Frog

Who loves you, baby?
Frog Pair

No sign of spawn when I checked at tea time but I am hopeful there may be some in the next couple of days.

A short while ago Shirl (Shirl's Gardenwatch) was wondering what difference a 400mm zoom would make over the 200mm. The picture below shows photos taken from the same place with the lens set at 200mm and then 400mm.
2010-03-191

If nothing else it means being able to have larger crops of more distant objects of interest.

10 comments:

  1. Good Morning, John. Just popped over to view yesterday’s videos and was immediately drawn to your fantastic frog pics. Such detail you can get now with your new lens. Trouble choosing a fav but it has to be the cracking croaking one :-D

    Great to see you have a pair there too. What a surprise to scroll down further to see your comparison shots. Thanks so much for that. I can see it makes quite a difference. Looking forward to seeing future pics with spawn now!!

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  2. Good morning on this mild morning Shirl. It was 11C at 7a.m. but raining. Oh well, can't have everything.

    When the Sun does shine the new lens seems to come in to its own and I am becoming very pleased with the results from it.

    Still no spawn this morning. I can see one frog is still there.

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  3. It's good to see your frogs have survived the freezing winter and are now busy reproducing:-)

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  4. Some more amazing pictures. I'm so frequently impressed when I visit your blog.

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  5. Hello Linda. It was a relief to see the frogs.The first pair disappeared after a hard frost. They are trying to reproduce but no spawn as yet.

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  6. Thank you GLW. I have plenty of time to take many photos which gives me a choice. Good job you can't see the ones which get deleted before they even reach the computer ;)

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  7. First of all, my belated happy birthday wishes! Nice to know that Henry made it to the party! It looks like you picked yourself a perfect gift. That 400 mm lens really makes a difference ~ the frog photos are terrific. How fortunate that the weather has brightened up as well ~ the sun adds cheer to everything!

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  8. No frog spawn yet, but you do bring us 'frog porn'!! There is something in this springtime ritual that reminds us all of being children. I remember bringing frog spawn back to the garden pond and watching them grow! tying a little piece of bacon to a length of cotton and going out and feeding tadpoles! happy days!

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  9. Hello Matron - definitely a free love area in my garden. Ah yes, lazy sunny days with a net and jam jar catching frog spawn and sticklebacks. I wonder how many children these days actually get out in the Sun and investigate nature.

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  10. Excellent shots John. Especially like the one titled 'croaking'.

    I think you'll be getting plenty of spawn soon ;)

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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