Sunday 11 May 2008

Too hot to do anything

This little frog is one of last years tadpoles. It is about 3cm long and is one of a pair of small frogs in the pond today.
Hot, Hot, Hot......the temperature is well above the expected seasonal mean and everything in the garden is either growing like crazy or sitting in the shade. The pond is so warm that the frogs are getting out and sitting on the pad. The cats are just walking past them with no hint of mischief and the frogs are not moving away. It's too hot to bother!
The big frogs were the first to escape the pond as the heat is drawing the water out and the level is falling steadily. I must put a hosepipe onto it and fill the pond up again. Something I have not needed to do for a few years.
I counted 21 frogs at one time. There are probably a lot more, since some of them are diving into the deep part of the pond to escape the heat.
These two stayed on this pad for over an hour before they plunged back into the water. They were not in the least concerned when I took this and several other photographs. Even less so when one of our cats came to investigate.
Even the frogs at the top of the pond were sitting on the weed, in the shade of the iris leaves. I bet as the temperature drops this evening they will be out in the undergrowth looking for slugs and beetles to eat. At least they should limit the size of the slug populations before I plant out my courgettes.

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