Frog

whelzer · 10-02-2019 11:50pm #1

Seen a frog on my patio this evening, Dublin 7.

Fairly big one, it seemed grand, hopped away when I moved towards it.
(I'll get a picture next time)

Would have thought they would still be hibernating, is it normal for them to be out and about mid Feb?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 11-02-2019 9:21am

Weather and time are right for a start from them now.

New Home · 11-02-2019 12:06pm

Whelzer, these people might like to hear from you.

http://www.ipcc.ie/help-ipcc/hop-to-it-national-frog-survey-irelandcard/

dogmatix · 11-02-2019 2:02pm

From my own experience, now is the time when young male frogs thoughts turn to love... Back in 2015 when I was renting and the house had a pond in the back garden, I came home from work one February afternoon to the sound of croaking. At the pond was a very large number of frogs doing what comes naturally (plus an opportunistic heron who took flight at my approach). It was fascinating to watch the resultant mass of frog spawn, then the tadpoles and the whole life cycle in the weeks that followed.

whelzer · 11-02-2019 2:54pm

New Home wrote: »

Whelzer, these people might like to hear from you.

http://www.ipcc.ie/help-ipcc/hop-to-it-national-frog-survey-irelandcard/

Excellent find- I will get it filled out tonight. We get loads in the garden, I have allowed a 3-5 m2 bit of the garden at the back to get overgrown and wildish. I have a stack of old roof tiles there and bunches of willow rod off-cuts staked down. Kids call it the wildlife hotel...

Interestingly enough - we have no pond/water, but end up with tons of little ones in summer.

I know a neighbour two doors away has a pond but there's 8 foot block walls between us, would love to know how they travel!

magicbastarder · 11-02-2019 3:02pm

is there ivy growing up the walls?
we have a pond in our back garden, and within a year or so of frogs establishing themselves here, they were in gardens they had to climb over 7 foot walls to get to.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 11-02-2019 3:11pm

Frogs will get through incredibly small gaps and can find their way into almost any garden.

Gardens with damp, sheltered and secluded areas will attract more frogs than one with just a pond. Water is only necessary for breeding and they will seek out our cool damp areas for the rest of the year.

magicbastarder · 17-02-2019 12:27am

spotted in our pond this evening for the first time this year. not much action yet though.

Alun · 17-02-2019 9:26am

Loads of frogspawn in Glenalough yesterday by the side of the boardwalk between the lakes. Saw about 10-15 frogs in one spot doing what frogs do in the spring being very vocal about it too

fryup · 17-02-2019 9:04pm

^^^^^^^^^^^

having sex?

Alun · 17-02-2019 9:12pm

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^

having sex?

Playing leapfrog by the looks of it

New Home · 17-02-2019 9:24pm

Unless they're filming the new Budweiser ad... but you'd have to listen very closely.

WildIreland · 19-02-2019 9:00am

I've had spawn around on my West Cork patch since mid-January -- and have seen it earlier lots of years. Some sites down on the south coast routinely get their first frogspawn before Christmas. For most of the country though early to mid February is when frogs start to stir, with breeding activity peaking into early March. Things tend to skew slightly earlier in the south, and get later as you head north.

Had the first frogs ever in our tiny ponds in the garden over the last couple of weeks -- made out of an old Belfast sink and an old (unused/cracked) toilet bowl -- proving you don't need much space for a wildlife pond.

magicbastarder · 19-02-2019 9:39am

we had our first spawn (dublin 9) yesterday morning.

Frog

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