Garden Wildlife UK

Still a few frogs around plus there was croaking quite loud last night . There is more spawn than I thought I would get but all in one pond.

The warm sunshine brought out a few butterflies in the garden today. A couple of Brimstones and a Small Tortoiseshell.

Winter looks to be finally ending and it has been my quietist for Blackbirds that I can remember. The absolute maximum I have counted in one go has been four. Most of the time there has only been two but currently only one is showing. The entertaining blackbird squabbles over food and territory have...

I think the spawning is coming to a close. There were fewer frogs in the ponds today. All the spawn is concentrated in the wildlife pond with most of it in the shallow end where the sun gets most and the water slightly warmer. One problem is the blackbirds who are attracted to eat and try to get at ...

Willpar wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 09, 2025 9:09 am

Looking at Devon Birds website, some swallows and sand martins were reported on the 7th March.

I hope they've not arrived too soon.

More spawn today and the frogs very vocal. If we get any frosts next week I shall try and protect the spawn. I did it before when the "beast from the east" visited and was very successful.

The first blob of spawn today but there is a long way to go before last year's amount is matched. Plenty of activity in the ponds now the weather has warmed up a little but frog numbers down on a couple of weeks ago.

Saw my first butterfly of the year this afternoon. A Brimstone fluttered through. There are a few spring flowers for early insects but I didn't see it settle at all.

The frosty nights have continued. The ponds have frozen over for the last 7 nights. The sun has thawed it every day but not enough for the mating to continue. I saw a little activity today but may have to wait until the weekend when the overnight temperatures are forecast to get higher.

We had a frost last night which has stopped the mating activity. Still no spawn.