november

We’ve recently covered what our amphibians and reptiles are up to over the autumn months, the differences in their overwintering behaviour and where they may spend the colder seasons in structures such as hibernacula. 

It might surprise many however to hear that November can be a month for sighting Common Frogspawn in the south of England.  Common frogs usually begin breeding and laying spawn as spring commences – often with sightings in January and February into spring depending on their location in the UK.  But areas in Cornwall do report sightings of frogspawn before winter even fully commences.

This behaviour could be due to confusion during mild autumn and winter months that we can experience now in the UK or might be a strategy to get ahead of the game in terms of breeding times – albeit it with a huge risk of freezing temperatures affecting the survivability of the spawn.

This could be one sign of more to come in terms of our amphibians adapting to the effects of climate change and seasonal differences their behaviour isn’t quite adapted to.  It’s so important that we can monitor these yearly trends in our amphibian and reptile species to help inform our work at Froglife and you can help by submitting your sightings using the Dragon Finder App – available for free on Android and iPhone devices!