Frogspawn and spring begins……

The birds in the garden have been my main focus for some time now – there is little else about! But this morning a trip to the Big Pond revealed the first few clumps of frogspawn, almost a month earlier than last year. February 2010 was freezing, with snow until late in the month so I guess that the short bursts of milder weather have encouraged the frogs to return sooner than usual. With daily visits from six mallard I hope the spawn is safe! The mallard were joined by a female teal last week, tiny by comparison and enjoying the pond. It’s good to know that we have created a habitat in the garden that wildlife not only uses frequently, but relies upon for breeding.

About wildlifegardening

Jenny Steel was a Plant Ecologist at Oxford University before becoming a writer. She has more than 20 years experience of writing about and teaching ecology, natural history and wildlife gardening. She is also a photographer, journalist and former plant nursery owner, and a lecturer and tutor in adult education. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television programmes including Gardener’s World with Alan Titchmarsh, and she presented a series of items on the BBC 2 gardening show, How Does Your Garden Grow. She has worked with and written for a variety of organisations including the Royal Horticultural Society, Natural England, Atropos, Ernest Charles, the Adult Residential Colleges Association (ARCA), Haiths, Usborne Books, Complete Gardens, Oxfordshire County Council, the charity Growing Native and several of the Wildlife Trusts. She is also the Garden Bird Guru for the wild bird food company JustAddBirds of which she was a co-founder. The Emmy Award winning film company Panache Productions are currently making a film about her wildlife garden in South Shropshire. She has written 10 books on wildlife gardening. Her website can be found at www.wildlife-gardening.co.uk and her bird food company at www.JustAddBirds.co.uk

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