UK readers will know the traditional saying ("pissed as a newt", as in "drunk"), but having witnessed the current activity in our pond I'm inclined to think of newts as greedy rather than drunken. Witness this one embedding itself in the mass of developing spawn.
She wasn't alone. This second female has laid claim to the whole sweetshop by the look of things!
Where it's surviving this mass feeding frenzy (and plenty is surviving), the spawn is beginning to develop. The shape of the tadpoles is now becoming much more evident.
The frogs have apparently abandoned their desultory defence of their young. It was always going to be a losing battle, and the whole point of laying quite so much spawn is to cope with the inevitable predation.
I'll close tonight with a photo of a fox (Shutterbug).
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.
gdare
18 Mar 2011Who can resist all those specialties :chef:
Mickeyjoe-Irl
18 Mar 2011Don't tell me he's gone camera shy now. :no:
Or is he just fed up with constant posing? 😆
SittingFox
18 Mar 2011Hmm, definitely tending to see newts in a new light! :chef:
cakkleberrylane
19 Mar 2011Very interesting shots of the developing frogs. Amazing to think how they go from blobs on the surface of the water to frogs! Hopefully enough of them will siurvive to give you a great spring concert!
Words
19 Mar 2011Adele, the newts are certainly excelling themselves this year.
Words
19 Mar 2011Darko, LOL! Fresh food, delivered daily to your door!
Words
19 Mar 2011Mick, he was soon back to posing, but he's a busy little fox at the moment.
Words
19 Mar 2011Lois, I'm sure we'll get a fair number of tadpoles from the spawn. A few will eventually make it through the year (I hope). I'm sure one year a gull came down and scooped up most of the tadpoles before they were fully mobile. That really does limit things!