Brad’s recent comment (Brad, on July 19th, 2008 at 7:25 pm) has prompted me to post some new pictures of my Frog Pond.

I have only just cleaned out my pond and re-potted all the water plants. A job long past due as it has been two years since the last major service. The bottom was a mass of roots as the water lilies had spilled out of their pots and were anchored in all parts of the pond. New pots and some specialised water lily fertiliser should have them looking their best when the weather warms up.

During the clean-up I discovered quite a few tadpoles ( 5 Peron’s Treefrog & 3 Striped Marsh Frog) that have been wintering over. These would have been from late summer spawning and so will complete their development in Spring. There were also around 20 baby Crinia signifera tadpoles – recently hatched. Crinia seem to call all year round in the backyard – some rain and a couple of sunny days has prompted them to breed. So Brad, yes you just may have tadpoles in your pond too.

Pond after clean up

Water plants in my pond:

2 Yellow Water Lilies – Great for providing cover once established.
1 Water Iris
1 Pink Rotala – Frogs love to sit in the foliage when calling from the pond.
Elodea – Tadpoles love to munch on elodea and frogs will lay their eggs around it.
Note: Elodea is a noxious weed so must be prevented from escaping into waterways

Baby Crinia signifera tadpole

The Crinia are singing their hearts out again tonight. I braved the chilly night air to see if I could capture them with the camera. I would say there were at least 6 calling from either around the pond edge or the plants. Some were camera shy and swam away or scurried back into the rock crevices as I approached.

Crinia perched on some Pink Rotala

Another one in the Pink Rotala

Calling from the pond edge

Posted on July 26th, 2008 by Sue
Filed under: Frogs | 7 Comments »