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An Essex Wildlife Garden Update!

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Suzi View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 1:06pm
Exciting Gemma!
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GemmaJF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 6:01pm
Made my day Suz, been checking every morning for the last week! No more has appeared during the day, but will see in the morning. Was 12 clumps last year I think, be nice if more this year but will be happy with what we get.

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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 7:23pm
Originally posted by will will wrote:

thanks Suzi!  they say it's the worst pain a man can bear - at least with childbirth you can get all the drugs you want...

Sympathies from a fellow sufferer! Without going in to too many details I know what you are going through, unfortunately I have suffered terribly with them for over 20 years, my last one was an eye-watering 8mm, which was a relief to pass last November, my particular type are the very spikey crystalline ones that whilst nice looking in a certain way, rip you to shreds over about 3 weeks as they travel down.

In terms of pain though, I was bitten on the hand by a false-widow spider last October, and in many respects the pain was even worse, the difference being it wasn't in such a sensitive area.

Anyway, get well soon!

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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 7:24pm
Nice to see some spawn in Essex, hopefully here in Kent we will start to see some although frog numbers are very low, no more than a dozen when I would expect to see at least a 100 as the weather has been warmish and wet.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 7:32pm
Frog Cam 1 - one of my oldest wildlife cams but still the best. Some interesting behaviour here. Last year they spawned in the top right of the picture. Many of the males have been concentrated around that area in the past few days. So I naturally expected to find the spawn there this morning. Not though, the first spawning female decided the bank on the left of the picture was much better this year. The males have now switched to being very active all around that area. This suggests quite a lot of co-ordination among the frogs. Firstly memory of last year and secondly being able to switch to where the first clump was laid, I guess because they know other females will go for the same spot. Never would have imagined such complex behaviour but it certainly looks that way from the last few nights of observation. Will be interesting to see if all the other spawn clumps get grouped around the first.





Edited by GemmaJF - 13 Mar 2018 at 7:34pm
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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 7:36pm
Lovely footage - I love the way they move when they are perfectly relaxed, a couple of kicks and then the rear legs spread out as they glide to a slow stop, behaviour you can't really get to see without the use of night-vision cameras.
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Suzi View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 7:47pm
Nice footage Gemma. As this is my first year of having lots of frogs spawning I've stood and watched on several occasions and thought the frogs looked like they ran across the surface at times.
With regard to placement of spawn, all my spawn is in one area. In fact I can't really count clumps as it's so squashed together. An area about as large as a dustbin lid (archaic expression?!). The frogs rarely moved outside this area for very long, which I found odd. It seemed to make for problems as when they tried to dive it was hard work amongst all the buoyant spawn.
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GemmaJF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 7:50pm
Absolutely, that's the value of the night cameras, seeing totally natural behaviour. I'm hoping to get some HD footage both at night and in the day, sometimes when things really get going they are not too fussed about me being there. Right now if I went up there though, they would all dive down and one might think there was not a single frog in the pond!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 7:57pm
I remember last year Suz once we had spawn the males were totally obsessed with it, spent most of the warmer days jumping all over it, amazing it all stayed in one piece!

Edited by GemmaJF - 13 Mar 2018 at 7:58pm
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Liz Heard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Liz Heard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2018 at 8:22pm
Hope you get well soon Keith and Will.

Enjoying all the updates (and footage!), please keep them coming the rest of you!
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