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What our animals are doing this month

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Written by Kat Richards, London Blue Chain Trainee, and Andrew Wood, Green Talent Trainee. 

April is a wonderful time to head out into nature – flowers are blooming and birdsong fills the air. If you take a walk to visit your local pond, you might be rewarded with some fascinating amphibian life.

Frogs and Toads

Although the peak of breeding season for the common frog and common toad is beginning to wind down, there’s still plenty to see! Whilst there will still be mating pairs of common toads within the water, April is a great time to see both frog and toad tadpoles emerging from eggs laid in ponds during March.

Immediately after hatching, both frog and toad tadpoles will show very little movement. They often remain attached to vegetation or their spawn, absorbing nutrients from the yolk reserves still within their bodies. However, after a few days you’ll be able to see them swimming around the pond, grazing on algae, biofilm and plant debris in preparation for their eventual metamorphosis into froglets and toadlets.

Frog tadpoles may gather into loose groups, with individuals coming and going freely, whereas toad tadpoles will form dense and highly synchronised shoals as they move about the pond.

If you’re unsure what you’re looking at, pay attention to the colour – frog tadpoles are speckled gold or brown, whereas the toad tadpoles are usually jet black.

Frog tadpole © Ben Killick
Toad tadpoles

 

Newts

While the frog and toad breeding season is drawing to a close, our newt species’ breeding season is still in full swing! The breeding season is the easiest time to differentiate between the sexes, as the males of most species develop an impressive crest.

Male great crested newt © Dave Kilbey

In order to attract a mate, the male newt, whether that be smooth, palmate or great crested newts, will perform a captivating vertical aquatic ‘dance’ within the pond, showing off his crest and fanning his tail to waft his scent towards her. The female newt will then decide whether to mate with the male and allow him to fertilise her eggs.

As each fertilised egg is laid, she will use her hind legs to carefully fold them one by one into the leaves of submerged plants, keeping them protected from predators until they are ready to hatch within 2 – 3 weeks.

Some early newt larvae may already be hatching in April, while many eggs are still developing. After hatching, the larvae remain among aquatic plants, where they begin feeding on tiny invertebrates such as water fleas and insect larvae as they grow.

Great crested newt larvae © Dave Kilbey

Try visiting a shallow, clear pond just after dark with a torch and you may be able to spot a smooth, palmate, or even a great crested newt – and don’t forget to record your sightings on our free Dragon Finder app!

Adders

Snowdrops: tick…Toad migration: tick…Warmer weather: tick(ish)…Longer days: definitely!

These are all the signs the adder needs to wake up out of hibernation and start to warm itself up after months tucked away. In late March and early April adders across the UK are waking up and are hungry.

Firstly, they shed their skin and start their new year with a brand new outfit. The females become bronze with a black diamond pattern. Whilst the males a silvery grey with a black diamond pattern.

At this time, the males perform a “dance” together which is all to impress a mate. This can be viewed most commonly in April and is a tangled, energetic battle to obtain the best basking spots and dazzle the females. This is a key time for them and is when they are most easily and commonly seen, but also most vulnerable.

The adder is a shy and retiring reptile, who will often move away at the first sign of people. However, due to their sleepiness from the cold and eagerness to mate, they can allow you to get closer than is comfortable to them. Being the only venomous snake in the UK; they demand respect and should not be handled or touched.

Although bites are rare, they can occur, especially to dogs. Keeping dogs on leads and young children out of longer grass in heathland and known adder locations is essential to keep both adders, dogs and people safe.

Male adder © Matt Wilson
Female adder

 

What our animals are doing this month

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Signs of Spring: Frogs and Newts Return to Our Ponds

As winter loosens its grip and the first signs of spring begin to appear, our ponds across the UK start to burst back into life. March is a particularly exciting time for amphibians, and for anyone keeping an eye on their local wildlife.

Frogspawn Season Begins

During March, sightings of frogspawn become increasingly common. Female frogs lay their eggs in distinctive jelly-like rafts, each containing up to 2,000 eggs. These clusters float on the pond’s surface, soaking up the warmth of the spring sunshine.

Over the coming weeks, depending on local weather conditions, the eggs will develop and hatch into tadpoles. Warmer temperatures can speed up development, while colder spells may slow things down. It’s a delicate and fascinating process that marks the true arrival of spring.

Please Don’t Move Frogspawn

While it can be tempting to “help” frogs by moving spawn to another pond, this can actually do more harm than good.

Moving frogspawn may:

  • Spread amphibian diseases to new ponds.

  • Introduce invasive, non-native plants that could quickly take over.

  • Overcrowd a pond that already contains frogspawn, leaving it unable to support a larger population.

  • Disrupt natural balances: if a pond has no frogspawn, there may be a reason. It could be unsuitable habitat or home to many frogspawn predators.

If you’re interested in creating a wildlife-friendly pond, our Just Add Water booklet offers helpful guidance on how to do so safely and effectively.

Newts on the Move

March also sees great crested newts leaving their winter refuges and returning to breeding ponds. These protected amphibians prefer ponds without fish, as fish readily eat their eggs and larvae. Interestingly, ponds that dry out every few years are often ideal, as they are unlikely to support fish populations.

Palmate and smooth newts usually emerge slightly earlier and may already be well into their breeding season by March. Their courtship involves an elaborate and rather charming ‘dance’ performed by the male to attract a mate.

Once mating has taken place, female newts carefully lay their eggs individually, wrapping each one inside the leaf of a pond plant for protection. Both palmate and smooth newts can lay up to 300 eggs in a single season.

gcn
© Dave Kilby

Need More Advice?

If you’d like to learn more about frogs, newts, or other amphibian species, visit our FAQs webpage for further information.

Spotted a reptile or amphibian? Remember to record them on our free Dragon Finder App. All data from the app is sent to the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Atlas. 

What our animals are doing this month

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Written by Eve Goddard, Transforming Lives Trainee.

Spring is the time when amphibians will be emerging from their overwintering sites to make their way to ponds ready for breeding season. Typically, they will head out at night, providing protection from some predators, favouring damp conditions suitable for their skin.

Our three native newt species, great crested, smooth and palmate will travel up to 500m to a suitable breeding pond. The males undergo physiological changes, for example; palmate newts will develop a filament on the end of the tail, and the smooth and great crested newt’s crests will grow in readiness for their aquatic display dance!

© Dave Kilby

Once mating has taken place, the females will be very busy, laying up to 300 individual eggs in vegetation in the pond, gently folding leaves around their precious eggs for protection. 

Newts may well have been beaten to the pond by the common frog, who can sometimes emerge far earlier – sometimes spawn will be seen from as early as January!

The common toad, adopting a more leisurely pace will tend to breed in late spring, heading back to the pond they were spawned from. They will travel up to an enormous 5km! Common toad’s spawn is laid in ‘strings’ of dual rows of eggs which will be wrapped around vegetation. The common frog’s spawn is laid in clumps or ‘rafts’ making it easy to distinguish the two.

With all this activity, Spring is a great time to head out on nature walks and see what you can discover in your local blue and green spaces. 

Don’t forget to record any sightings on our free Dragon Finder App!

What our animals are doing this month…

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Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee

Now that spring is well under way, we have entered a very exciting time in the life cycles of our native amphibian species. As slightly warmer weather hits, our amphibians leave their overwintering sites and head to ponds to breed. Now we are in April, many of our amphibians will have laid their eggs, so now is the perfect time to spot the spawn in your local ponds!

Here is a quick guide to the eggs and breeding rituals of some of our native amphibians:

Common Frog

Potentially as early as January in the South East of England, and up to April in other areas of the UK, the common frog will emerge from their winter hideouts and head back to a pond. Male frogs will ‘piggy back’ on their chosen female using their nuptial pads to hold on tightly. This is a process known as ‘amplexus’. He will then fertilise her spawn as she lays it. Common frog eggs are laid in clumps, with up to 2,000 eggs laid in one single clump. Female frogs can lay up to 4,000 eggs over one breeding season.

 

Common Toad

Common toads will ritually return to the same pond for breeding each year where possible. They take advantage of warmer, damp spring evenings to leave their overwintering sites and return to their specific pond. This behaviour makes them notorious for crossing roads over night and putting themselves at risk of being run over. Our Toads on Roads project gathers wonderful volunteers across the UK to assist the toads in their road crossing journeys, saving many toad lives in the process! Once they enter the pond, much like with common frogs, male toads will ‘piggy back’ on to a female (amplexus). The spawn of the common toad is laid in long double strings, strewn around underwater plants (rather than in clumps). The natterjack toad lays eggs in a single strand!

 

Newts

Once the warmer weather of spring hits, newts too will venture back to a suitable pond to breed and lay eggs. Males of each newt species will perform elaborate ‘dances’ to attract the attention of females, who will choose which male gets to fertilise their eggs. Newt eggs are laid in a very different way to toads and frogs. A female newt will lay each egg individually, she will lay the egg on the leaf of an aquatic plant and carefully fold the leaf around the egg to protect it, giving the leaf a very straight edge where it has been folded over. Newts lay less eggs than their toad and frog counterparts, but females will still lay hundreds over the season.

 

When out and about, see if you can spot any amphibian eggs in your local area and remember to record them on our free Dragon Finder App!

What our animals are doing this month….

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It is generally said that February is the month when common frogs start to return to their ponds, breed and lay their spawn. This is due to better weather conditions and warmer temperatures. However, with an ever-warming climate, the Common Frog can breed as early as January.

Frogs are the first amphibian to start breeding with the Common Toad usually breeding from March, the Natterjack Toad in April and Pool Frog in May.

How to spot frogs and their spawn in your local pond? Make sure to keep an eye out for clumps of jelly-like eggs floating on the pond surface and they can lay up to 2000 eggs per year. Common Toad spawn, as stated above, is laid later than Common Frog spawn so it is unlikely you will see this in your pond until March. Toad spawn can be identified by the fact it is laid in strings usually wrapped around plants on and below the water rather than clumps on the surface.

If you do see any Common Frog spawn, Common Toad spawn or other amphibians or reptiles, make sure to let us know through Froglife’s free Dragon Finder app on the Google Play and Apple Store! 

Seen frogspawn like this? Report it on our Dragon Finder app!

What our animals are doing this month….

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March is often a good month to spot common toads as they migrate from their overwintering sites to breeding ponds, particularly on warm, damp evenings. Every year they return to the same pond via the same route, but they can get into trouble if humans build along these routes. Roads in particular can make this migration dangerous, but our wonderful volunteer Toad Patrollers are working hard to reduce this risk by helping common toads safely cross roads along their migration routes.

Once they arrive at breeding ponds, males grasp onto the backs of females forming an amplexus, allowing the male to fertilise her eggs as she lays them. Mating balls often form where multiple males hold onto one female, and unfortunately this can sometimes end up with the female being drowned. However, many female toads do survive and successfully breed, producing a new generation of common toads! Unlike common frogs which lay their eggs in clumps, common toads lay their eggs in long strings wrapped around pond vegetation, so you may have to look a little closer to spot the toad spawn!

To find out more about toad patrols take a look at our website. 

A pair of common toads in amplexus during the breeding season

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