here's my annual update from the green place.
I always say that I first see frogs and even spaewn here on the 17th Feb.Two weeks ago on the 8th we had the worst snow of the winter about 5 inches overnight, By the 10th it had all gone and the garden was back to its normal waterlogged self. I was in England till the 12 th and then in bed with flu till about 14th. I dragged myself out on the 16th Feb and sure enough there in my small garden pond were several frogs struggling in amplexus. These are Rana temporaria: the eueopean common frog.had a few dry nights since then but last night it was damp and there were signs of frogs squashed by cars at the usual spots along the road. I saw about 8 or 10 on my drive. Later I went out and collected two squashed frogs which I fed to my European pond tortoises, Emys orbicularis and my RES in my shed. They made short work of the corpses. It's one of only two timesthat I feed them frogs. the other time is in the summer when I fish out any drowned froglets or other casualties of leaving the water. Last year we had a cold spell after the first spawn was laid and the good weather didn't return till nearly a month later. The majority of frogs spawned then. Keeping my eye open for smooth newts, Triturus vulgaris,in the pond soon.
I have to make do with a very meagre fauna here in Ireland. Must go to England again in a few weeks, I always go for the Bufo bufo breeding there.