The frogs return....

Although Ceridwen blipped frogspawn in west Wales back on the 19th January, here in the much colder and drier east of the country, frogs have only just started moving back to their ponds. The Nature's Calendar website has a map showing the dates for first frogspawn, and it is clear that frogs have started breeding all around us, but the east of England is lagging well behind, with no records as yet.

We first saw one or two frogs hopping across the lawn a couple of days ago, and today thaty've taken up residence in one of our smaller ponds. The first pair were spotted mating this morning, so there should be spawn very soon. This rather plump lady frog is still waiting patiently for her suitor! And this evening Pete spotted the first bat of the year - they usually start flying when the after dark air temperature is about 10C.

It's been mild and very grey here, and I've been painting a ceiling and stocking the cupboards, so this was about the only photographic opportunity of the day! Thanks so much for a;ll the good wishes - it was obviously a very minor perturbation, and I'm pretty much back to normal today.