Have you seen any frogspawn yet? In this area, February is the usual month for it to appear but not until March in cooler parts of the country. The timing is also linked to the weather conditions in that particular year. This year, the earliest Sidmouth sighting I’ve heard about was the fourth of February.

The usual place to find frogspawn is just below the surface of a pond but it can also be found on the edge of slow-flowing streams or even in puddles. Ponds that are shady and have plenty of vegetation around them are particularly popular with breeding frogs.

Toad spawn is very different from frogspawn. Rather than being jelly-like and in clumps, it is laid in long chains and draped over pondweed and submerged plants.

The lifecycle of frogs is fascinating and if you know where there’s some frogspawn you can visit regularly and observe the changes; a process called metamorphosis. It takes three weeks for young tadpoles to emerge and then a further 14 weeks for them to become small frogs. Over those weeks they will gradually develop legs and arms that they use to leave the water and they will also develop lungs to allow them to breathe on the land.

Given the amount of frogspawn that we see each year you may wonder why we don’t see many more adult frogs. But it’s a tough life for tadpoles; they have a number of natural predators and are susceptible to various amphibian diseases. They can also be affected by frost which kills off the spawn. According to Devon Wildlife Trust, one clump of frogspawn can contain up to 2,000 eggs but only one in 50 will mature into an adult.

The arrival of frogspawn is a key moment in nature’s cycle and marks the change from winter into spring. It also provides a rare opportunity to observe a creature in all stages of its growth. If you have space for even a tiny pond it can provide a home for spawning frogs and toads and give you the opportunity to closely observe one of nature’s miracles.

For more information about the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group: www.sidvalleybiodiversity.org.uk