Frog Spawn ~ Outdoor Challenge Day 5

We finally had a chance to get down to the pond again today and after a brief search along the banks of the pond we spotted an egg sack or frog spawn (fertilized eggs) within reach! During the breeding period a single frog can lay thousands of eggs. One frog spawn alone can contain hundreds and hundreds of eggs. The freshly laid eggs have many predators. A few of them are newts, fish, snakes, aquatic insects and birds.

Did you know that roughly only 1 in 5 eggs matures into a frog? No wonder they need to lay so many eggs! I don't think that they'll miss a couple if we take a few to observe :)

K had some trouble picking put the eggs as they were so slippery but they couldn't escape being sucked into the large jar. We didn't end up keeping them all we just couldn't avoid sucking them all in en mass when they started to float in *grin*.

The following link is to an interesting 2 minute video of frogs mating in a backyard pond. It has some neat underwater shots and close ups of the frogs and frog spawn. You can view it at: http://www.vimeo.com/745654

Make sure you turn up your speakers and watch it on full screen for the best view. Another neat site is this one which helps you identify different frog eggs by telling you the different breeding times, egg sizes, color, hatch time and more!

We can't wait to see if we can raise our frog spawn to maturity!!

Visit The Great Outdoors Challenge to join in the fun and you can also visit other participants and see what sort of nature fun they have been having by clicking on the names below :)

~ Rosina

Fellow Nature Players:lisa, sanders, angelina, phyllis, sarah, christie, jennifer, debbie, dong dong, denise, luisa, joy, stephanie, cori, alex, dawn, kristen, catherine, tricia, becky, christy, ruth, kari, courtney, branflakes, jessica, renee, haiku, brynn, amy, clemencia, sherry, leslie, lise, renee, anet, jenn, marina, amy, ella, marcia, karen, beth, julie, kyndale, kelly, lizzie, eileen, ag, mari-ann, cindy, robin, nicole, debbie, julia, anita, lisa, jenn, montessori, marita, jeannie, hallie, mandy, kangaroo, andrea, joey, carmen, teena, stephinie, gidget, elizabeth, emma, rosina, saminda, melissa, katie, becca, atouria, barbara, ariella, missy, elizabeth, sarah, eileen, lisa, stacy, jennifer, tulsileaf, lisa C, morticia, angela, rana, jamie, lisa c, luz, charley, heather, valerie, kirsten, rachel, annie, kendra, beth s, lindsey, michelle, megan, renee

A Froggy Find ~ Outdoor Challenge Day 3

Today we awoke to a covering of snow!! It melted away by the afternoon but it was looking pretty threatening outside this evening. We just may get a good dump of it yet :)

As we headed outside to explore in between rain showers we noticed that the frogs had been busy and there were tons of eggs in the pond! We didn't have enough time to retrieve a bucket and collect any as the rain began to pour down on us again but we're definitely going to have to return and take a few in hopes that we will be able to raise a frog *grin*.

Visit The Great Outdoors Challenge to join in the fun and you can also visit other participants and see what sort of nature fun they have been having by clicking on the names below :)

~ Rosina

Fellow Nature Players: lisa, sanders, angelina, phyllis, sarah, christie, jennifer, debbie, dong dong, denise, luisa, joy, stephanie, cori, alex, dawn, kristen, catherine, tricia, becky, christy, ruth, kari, courtney, branflakes, jessica, renee, haiku, brynn, amy, clemencia, sherry, leslie, lise, renee, anet, jenn, marina, amy, ella, marcia, karen, beth, julie, kyndale, kelly, lizzie, eileen, ag, mari-ann, cindy, robin, nicole, debbie, julia, renee, anita, lisa, jenn, montessori, marita, jeannie, hallie, mandy, kangaroo, andrea, joey, carmen, teena, stephinie, gidget, elizabeth, emma, rosina, saminda, melissa, katie, becca, atouria, barbara, ariella, missy, elizabeth, sarah, eileen