I had to miss my camera for a week, because I forgot it in my brother's place. I cursed myself because just in that week so much happened in my little pond. Suddenly life returned to it. Many couples of toads, flirting salamanders (is that the right word for it in English?) and the weather was very fine.
Now it seems that winter wants to claim its rights again; very chilly, snow and hail today.
Anyhow, some toads withstand all that!
Romance in the garden pond:
reinforcement (in creation) of my garden army-troops against snails and slugs-terrorists!
I love the look on his face- looks like he's taken on more than he can cope with. I don't get toads in my garden any more. We used to have lots when I was little. That's a great photo of the toad spawn. Could you mean newts rather than salamanders? I've never seen a salamander anyway but I've seen plenty of newts - again not in my garden unfortunately. The frogs seem to have taken over completely and the ponds are more like frog spawn soup, although the frogs have all vanished again with the snow and hail in the past couple of days.
Now I see the toad spawn! The male is very small compared to the female.
I have a large, fat, yellow coloured frog in the greenhouse, but the door has been shut so I wondered if it was getting enough to eat, I left it a little open in the day just in case but now it's so cold again. It may have gone outside, I disturbed it when moving pots, there is a tray with water there but I would hate it to get caught out! It looks like the yellow one I saw in the leaves but bigger, are some male frogs also much smaller? I had baby ones last year so it could be one of those, they must change colour over winter.
Yes Pat, that must be 'newts' I meant.
Wish I could send you some of the toad spawn! But it must not be so difficult to find some in your surroundings. The males are usually smaller than the females, but this couple was rather exceptionally disproportional.
It is strange though that your frogs have out concurred your toads.
I have frogs AND toads and so does Wallaby. Last year a desperate toad made advances to one of my green frogs but alas with no success.
Wallaby, your yellow frog does he belong to the brown specie or to the green ? I know the colour can vary a lot, more so with the brown specie than with the green one. It also varies with the time of the year like you've noticed. My green ones start of a dark-brownish green and gradually change into a bright green. The brown one spends more time on the land, and actually only need the water for its procreation, while the green is almost always in or just around the water. Another difference is that the brown one can also overwinter outside the water, while the green always buries itself in the mud at the bottom of the pond. The green ones also wake up later from their winter sleep than the brown. Mine didn't show any sign of life yet,
except for a couple of tadpoles that didn't manage last year to grow into the stage of frog. I'm happy they survived the winter.
I said before I am happy with the toad spawn, because I really like them, apart from the fact that they are really effective in controlling the slug and snail population and but on the other hand
I may not think of the scenario where all these hundreds of eggs, and there are coming more and more...would all become toads!!! Reminds me a little of a similar situation like in the the Wald Disney-film of the apprentice of the sorcerer.
I may never forget to watch out for every step I do on rainy days and in the evenings, when the weather gets warmer.
I'm not sure which it is Bonitin, it's a mustard yellow and doesn't look as big as the one I had there last year which was brown and had some green on it. That one I posted on August 3rd above, the pic Terri posted just after looks closer, but mine is more yellow. It's sides were bulging!
The thought of you treading on those toads, oh no!
I think yours is a brown frog, Wallaby.
Here's a picture that looks somehow like yours:
(In the text it says that the brown frog (Rana temporaria) is very variable in colours in the range of yellowish-brown, reddish-brown to dark brown, usually with dark spots on the back and dark transverse stripes on the back legs. These spots can also be entirely absent.)
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/index.php?id=80
I think you're right bonitin, I did see some spotting but it moved quickly!
I love frogs, but around here all the toads are cane toads. We hate them. They're an introduced species and they're extremely poisonous, particularly to cute little dogs like mine who don't know any better than to pick them up in their mouths!! Here's my harrowing frog story: http://deandi.com/adventure/node/157
And here are some of my froggy photos!
and a closeup...
And here's a lousy pic of a cane toad, taken during a lightning storm.
A face that only a mother could love.
Here is an interesting news item from today.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_monster_toad
How large are your dogs Andi? Although we used to have one that kept bringing hedgehogs home. She sort of tucked them under her lip - yes full sized hedgehogs! Boxers do have large stretchy mouths. Then we had to de-flea her. I haven't had a dog that ate live frogs or toads though.
Hi andihazelwood, I guess that's a green tree frog, it looks sleepy. Could it be all that heat you get there? Send some my way, heat that is!
I have mixed feelings about the cane toad, it's not it's fault it was introduced but I can see they could cause big problems, man has meddled with nature with little forethought.
Dale, what a shame that poor thing got to that size and got caught! I'm on the side of the toad!
Love to see all these pictures!
What a comic little toad Dale! I also love its face, not only its mother!
Horrible story you found about the genocide of the giant toads!
Patbarr, they're now just over 6 months old and they weigh about 18kg (40 lbs) each- we expect they'll get to be 25kg or so full grown. We're living in a shed at the moment while we build our house, and at night frogs drop inside from off the roof quite regularly. They've learned not to try to swallow them now, they just run over and stare at them till we come and relocate the frogs to outside :)
wallaby1, that frog sat and posed for pictures for a couple hours, I think it just decided that was a good place for a nap! :)
And yes, the cane toads and their population explosion are definitely man's fault, and now we (in Australia) have to find a way to deal with it. Its a bad situation.
Not european, but here is a pacific tree frog in my front yard. They sure are LOUD this time of year!
Bynedweed, that frog is posing! Who wouldn't with a trendy waistcoat like that!
Great shot! The flower is great too, looks like the double Morning Glory but nothing else fits. Can you tell us what it is?
It's a double morning glory, "Sunrise Serenade".
That's the one I thought it was, thanks! But it looks like a tree......or is it just using it as a support?
It's just growing in the scrub tree for support!
Here's a very ordinary Common Toad, southeast Northumberland, UK.
Resin
It looks like a mature version of my baby toad posted on 28th September, I don't know how common they are or what their name is, but I think they are pretty!
*
Dale, is that a frog or a toad? It's def not sleeping beauty!
Toad you so...
Since a couple of weeks my green frogs have risen from their winter sleep. I was expecting they would be very thin, but on the contrary they were actually looking very well fed.
One is very fat, maybe about to lay eggs?
I have seen a few different ones, yesterday there was a brown one with yellow stripes on the sides.
This little frog has been living amongst the leaves arounds some pots, I left the leaves so it would have cover but it got frightened when I was watering and started to hop away. I picked it up to put it back, friendly little thing. The camera has magnified my skin!
Nice little fellow, Wallaby!
That must have been a baby from last year! Very handsome drawings on its jacket! It takes 3 years for a frog to get to its final adult size and for it to procreate.
Don't think my fat one is pregnant, I have not seen them mating yet. They only start doing this around June-July, at least that's the case in my garden.
The little plant container with my crocus speciosum that stands at the edge of my pond seems to be the favourite sun bathing spot for my 4 frogs.
They found a solution for it to be too small to fit all of them!
You do have such comical frogs bonitin!
They are such fun to watch Wallaby!
When I imitate their 'qrruaaocks' they actually answer and jump towards me, probably thinking I'm a giant frog.
Once I had a friend who came to visit and she has a bellowing laughter and they got soo exited and joined in with great enthusiasm. They also love the sound of church bells, airplanes and hammerings.
cuban frog
It's got toady lumps phicks! These creatures don't seem to realise we have plants in pots!
I have seen the same toad I saw last year in the greenhouse hopping into a pot, it thought I couldn't see it, it's the one with red tints.
You have some very tame frogs. That one looks huge Phicks. They get into some strange places and don't they make you jump when you are weeding the garden? I was pulling a dandelion up yesterday and got hold of a large yellow and black frog. I apologised for disturbing it and covered it up again and it was still there this morning. No it isn't dead - it has gone off hunting tonight.
Here's a better view of him.
large yellow and black frog
It is certainly an ordinary UK native, It isn't clear yellow, more golden. I will have to see if it has gone back to the dandelion hiding place and get a photo. Dont forget Terri has orange frogs in her Yorkshire garden. I've not seen anyone with poison-tipped darts yet, but it might be an idea for dealing with the neighbour's cat.
Does it look like this one Pat ?
http://www.amphibiainfo.com/gallery/anura/ranidae/rana/temporaria/
Phicks, yours is definitely a toad.
A toad on a toadstool!
