Bishop's Pond

News

Also known as our “blog”, containing news items (“posts”), usually relating to observations made at the Pond.

22 Feb 2026: Frogs spawning

Work started late at today's session at the Pond, because we were treated to a poolside view of at least twenty frogs spawning in a small area at the eastern side of the Pond near the houses. The frogs were very active, the males trying to hang on to their chosen females, with much thrashing about, circles of ripples spreading out, and croaking. Clumps of frog-spawn could be seen in the water. Meanwhile, a pair of mallards were waiting for the fuss to die down, and were later spotted moving in to feast on the spawn.

Update 14th March: Some of the frog spawn contains wriggling tadpoles on the point of hatching. Because the water level in the pond has dropped about 30cm from its maximum, much of the spawn was in danger of drying out, so we shovelled it into deeper water. However, it is normal for there to be far more small tadpoles than can possibly survive into adulthood.

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2026/02/22 23:10 · Richard White
news/start.txt · Last modified: by Richard White