Frog spawn

As promised - a return to a couple of the ponds. One has a mass of frog spawn perhaps 1.5 to 2 metres long but its quite a long way out into the pond. This small blob is more conveniently positioned in a large puddle. Looks like the tadpoles will be appearing pretty soon.

Visiting the pond this morning gave me the idea of doing a documentary series of photographs on the ponds and pools on the reserve. There are lots of them, mostly unmapped and unsurveyed. Many are vernal, or temporary, ponds with a few larger permanent ones. Some are man-made (livestock ponds, flooded medieval quarries, war-time trenches and mortar pits) and others seem to be more natural. But they all have distinctive features and habitats and, of course, they change through the seasons and in different lighting.