Imagine what it must be like being a frog. There you are one minute, minding your own business, drifting between the pond weed and, seeing as it’s spring, wondering whether your mate is going to turn up. Then, SWOOSH, down comes this prehistoric looking creature with a long, spiky bill and your number is up! Well that’s exactly what happened to the one frog that seemed to have reached our pond this spring. He, or she, very quicky became the heron’s lunch – ugh! Obviously a heron needs lunch just as much as the next person, bird or even frog but it was rather gruesome to witness. As a result, it does seem as if we’re unlikely to be fostering tadpoles in our pond this spring.
It is lovely seeing frogs in the pond but I confess that I do also enjoy seeing the heron. At almost a metre tall and less than 2 kgs in weight, their rangy physique is more that of a long-distance runner than a sprinter. And like a long-distance runner, they are in it for the long haul when it comes to stalking their prey. I’m sure you’ve seen them at the water’s edge, waiting patiently, not moving a muscle for minutes at a time, or creeping their way forward, silently, barely disturbing the water. When they do take off, it is like watching something from another world, in fact we often joke, “Pterodactyl overhead!”
The heron we see in the UK is the grey heron and apparently there are about 63,000 birds. Occasionally it feels like they’re all along the Thames! In fact, I feel that I first really became aware of heron when John was lucky enough to have an office overlooking the river in Old Isleworth and he would often comment on how many heron he’d been able to see out the window. That was over thirty years ago and I’m pretty sure numbers have increased since then. On a recent walk in Home Park, we saw about six in one morning!
I’m not sure that frog is their preferred prey. Certainly the heron I see in Bushy Park are eyeing up the fish but they will also eat small mammals. Last spring I also witnessed a dramatic moment in Bushy when a heron swooped on a tiny bank vole which then shrieked vociferously, dangling from the heron’s beak until finally the inevitable happened and it was swallowed!
So returning briefly to frogs, have you seen any frogspawn yet? Frogspawn is one of the key indicators of spring and is used by Nature’s Calendar, now produced by the Woodland Trust. By tracking the emergence of spring across the country, the Nature’s Calendar project has shown that spring is now arriving in the UK 8.4 days earlier than when recording first began all the way back in 1736. Scientists are now using this data to consider the impact on other wildlife and on plants. If you’re interested, you can sign up to be one of the Nature’s Calendar recorders.
Meanwhile, I’ve volunteered to be a Royal Parks Spawn Spotter! If I can’t watch spawn in my own pond, I may as well look for it elsewhere. I’ve been allocated two watery areas within Bushy Park which I’ll be checking on a regular basis throughout March and April. I am asked to record whether I see any spawn, and equally importantly, if I don’t. If I do, then I have to estimate the number of clumps – now that is clearly easier said than done! However, I was over the moon to discover spawn on my very first spotting expedition! I am now keeping my fingers crossed that it isn’t disturbed too much and gets the opportunity to mature into tadpoles. Statistically speaking, only a very tiny percentage of those tadpoles will eventually become frogs and even smaller number will make it to maturity.
It may seem a small thing but all of these projects help to us to understand the impact of climate change and ultimately what that means for our homes, gardens and, given the most recent shortages, our supermarket shelves!
Outside the Backdoor 