We have seen frog spawn and toad spawn in Leicestershire. Have you seen any near you?

If you have spotted Frog Spawn or Toad Spawn this year please complete the Freshwater Habitats Spawn Survey. Or the Natures Calendar survey

• Frog spawn is left in clumps in shallow edges of a pond.
• Toad spawn is left in strings in deeper or more open water or wrapped around early growing pond plants.

Noisy mating frogs:

• Make sure you have a range of planted baskets on a shallow shelf for a female to sit on so she does not drown during mating.
• Myosotis scorpioides Myosotis scorpioides mixed Veronica beccabunga Oenanthe javanica Flamingo Mentha aquatica and Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum make good early rafting stem growth over time that will support the female.
• Or add extra platforms for her - tiles or baskets full of gravel to the shallow shelf for her to sit on.
• One clump of spawn was already in the pond so this female makes only 2 breeding female frogs in our pond so far this year - a huge decrease from other years.
• Only around 5 of every 1000 frog eggs laid actually survive to adulthood.
• Spawn and young tadpoles are a food source for other wildlife.
• Less frog spawn this year will mean fewer adults to come back in future as frogs tend to return to the pond of their birth.

Video of frogs in a local garden pond:

We have a few toads that revisit the Nursery every year:

• She sometimes needs help as she can stop halfway back in the middle of the path.
• She tires carrying him on her back
• She can lay toad spawn on the path and not in water
• We have to act as Toad Wardens & help by taking them to the wild pond area at the back of the Nursery
• Toad Wardens usually help on busy roads where the toads cross annually.

• To help the frog and toad tadpoles survive better you can feed them with Early Stage Tadpole Food first.
• When their back legs develop feed them with Late Stage Tadpole Food.

Problems that can affect spawning could be:

• A pond surrounded with paving slabs makes the returning adults vulnerable to birds.
• This reduces the population of adults returning in future.
• Spawn can be killed in the frost and ice of shallow water.
• Some eggs in the middle of the clump may still be viable so don't throw it all out.
• A lack of deep water in one section of the pond that remains unfrozen in Winter as some males stay in the pond.
• A lack of plants to hide under to protect the tadpoles.
• Grow Myosotis scorpioides, Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum Veronica beccabunga Mentha aquatica and Aponogeton distachyos for the young tadpoles to hide under.
• Don't move spawn from the wild or buy spawn. This can spread frog diseases and viruses or invasive plants.
• The sale of wild-caught spawn or tadpoles is an offence under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
• Follow the Froglife campaign #StopSpawnSales.

More information on frog survival in your pond or toad spawning is on our Tips and Advice pages.