European Gardening: Pond projects, 1 by Patbarr

Patbarr wrote:
What cute little frogs, I took a photo of one in Menorca - to prove I had seen it. We were in a restaurant at the time.

I've got two ponds too, and the one with fish in gets even more frog spawn than the wildlife one. It is like frog spawn soup when they start, and then the fish gather round the edges to feast when they start to hatch. There are still hundreds of tadpoles so I think they are either too large to eat, or the fish are fed up with them.

The frogs are still making the occasional croaking noises, mainly in the evenings. They sound like little motor bikes.

The weirdest sound I heard was in Poland when we were on a birding holiday and there must have been hundreds of Fire bellied toads making the most eerie noise rather like the wind in telephone wires, but much louder.

My pond is covered in duck weed just now. It has just appeared from nowhere. I suppose a bird could have brought some on its legs. I've not put any new plants in for ages so I've not introduced it. I keep scooping it out, but it is a nuisance as it clogs the pump up.

The fish don't seem to mind it so long as I keep a bit clear for them to feed.