Common Frog (Rana temporaria) – Life in the garden pond can be quite a challenge. As featured in a previous post, I watched damselflies hunting flies, snatching them out of the air. Now, as newly emerging damselfies are leaving the water where they have been as larvae for the past year or so, I have seen the frogs leaping out the water in a bid to hunt them for food. There are around 3 or 4 frogs in the pond, as well as all the tadpoles. As if the frogs were not enough, I was but a couple of feet away from a little bird, a Dunnock, as it snatched a freshly emerged damselfy off its perch within the pond. Yet there were dameslflies mating on the margins, coupling to ensure another future generation. Triumph and tragedy in its own little ecosystem.
© Peter Hillman ♦ 7th May 2020 ♦ Rear garden, South Staffordshire ♦ Nikon D7200
The intricacies of nature beautifully presented here.
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Thank you, Anne.
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The endless circle of life, endlessly fascinating, wherever one fits in the food chain.
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It’s a tough life, eat or be eaten.
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Great thoughts and photos here Pete! What a wonderful post.
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Thank you, Sandra 🙂 It’s only a small pond … a couple of feet that’s all … but so much life is going on in and around it! 🙂
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Everyone is someone’s lunch!
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A series that tells a story! 🙂
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🙂
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A lot of drama in your little pond!
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There sure is!
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I never see frogs, but do hear them in the summer (behind my apartment building near Frogs Hollow nature reserve).
With all those tadpoles in your pond, I can’t help but wonder whether you’ll have a plague of frogs. Maybe birds eat them?
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I had a large number of tadpoless last year but only saw about 3 froglets. There does appear to be more tadpoles this year, but yes birds like herons and magpies can and do eat them.
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The circle of life! 🙂
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Ah your lovely little frogs are now here and the food chain continues.
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I think some of the frogs are from last years brood, and another, the larger, might be from elsewhere.
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It’s a frog eat fly world out there. Of course, it’s also an egret eat frog world also.
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Ha ha! 🙂
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Cool!!
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Thank you!
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