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Quick answer
The absence of frogs or toads could be linked to the weather or changes to
local habitats.
Further
information
Depending on the time of year and the weather, it may still be too early for
amphibians to be returning to the pond. Frogs and toads breed in
the spring when they migrate towards water; this migration is
weather dependent (they prefer mild, wet evenings) and so is
determined by location - it tends to occur later in the north
and east of the country and earlier in the south.
In some cases, lack of breeding amphibians in your pond could be
the result of a population decline locally. This might be an
indicator of pond loss: ponds form 'stepping stones' for
amphibians across a landscape - if ponds disappear, so can local
populations of amphibians. Their terrestrial habitats are just
as important, amphibians spend a lot of time on land, foraging,
sheltering / hibernating and colonising new areas; if these
areas or 'corridors' have been blocked (by a new road or even a
fence) or destroyed (through development), the route to your
garden may have been lost.
Amphibian populations can fluctuate dramatically year on year,
so having years with low numbers of amphibians can be a natural
phenomenon and nothing to worry about. If no breeding adults
appear in your pond, there may be other juvenile amphibians in
the area that will turn up next year as breeding adults (frogs
take two or three years to reach breeding age). An outbreak of
disease in previous years or a particularly hard winter could
also impact on numbers returning. You may be tempted to
introduce some spawn from elsewhere to try and help your local
population but we advise against this. By moving spawn you can
accidentally introduce diseases and invasive pond plants.
Making your garden frog-friendly.
Identifying amphibians.
Just Add
Water.
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