Thread by @Kate_Bradbury

Right Twitter shall we do a frogspawn countdown? 👀🐸

Sorry it’s late (if you’ve been waiting). I normally start on Christmas Day.And if you haven’t been waiting here’s how it works: every year I count down the weeks to when I think the frogs will spawn in MY GARDEN.They usually do this in mid-late Feb so that’s 7-8 weeks from Xmas

What, February, you say? That’s so early! (Everyone says this.) and it is, if you live in Newcastle, but not if you live in Brighton, where I live. Frogs spawn across the UK at different times, starting in the mild and humid south-west, and ending in the cooler north-east

What usually happens is they start spawning in Cornwall just before Christmas, then we gradually see records tracking the UK: to Devon, Hampshire, south Wales. I always get excited when the records hit Portsmouth cos then it’s only a week or two before they spawn in my garden 😝

Honestly I live for this stuff 🤓 🐸

The thing is… the countdown comes with a fair amount of anxiety these days as climate change is messing with the seasons. EG it’s so mild! EG I had frogs coupling up last January! EG what if they spawn early and a massive frost wipes them out? 😰

(Please don’t @ me about frogspawn surviving frost, I *know*)

I love Spring when it happens when it’s supposed to. It’s a bit of a head fuck when it’s early (anyone else tormented by a January blackbird?!)
I have data from my pond for only 3 years but in that time there’s been a 9-day jump in the first blob of spawn. That’s a lot, right?

It could be nothing. But it could be a sign of things shifting. And that makes me uneasy. BUT this is why we need to RECORD this stuff! We all need to get out and LOOK and NOTICE and tell scientists who are keeping an eye on it all and reminding us why it matters.

So do record your sightings to @froglifers dragon finder app, to #spawnsurvey, to @iRecordWildlife . There’s also a big interactive Twitter spawn map which I can’t find now but will hopefully materialise soon! It’s like a big Mexican wave of FROGS. And then TOADS. It’s glorious💚

I think it’s also worth remembering that, while Spring may be a bit wonky, it’s still Spring and we owe it to 🌎 to ENJOY it. To rejoice in the blossom and the birdsong and the frogs and the bees. Even though we know it’s all declining…

Even if it’s horribly dry or too cold or weirdly mild or any other variable that climate change is throwing at us. We should all get out and LOVE FROGS. And then record frogs. And then top up the pond if it’s low, or push spawn beneath the surface if cold is coming.

We can help them make it through ‘unseasonal weather’… and we can only do that if we go out and LOOK for them. If we LOVE them. If we LEARN what it is they need and give them a helping hand when we can. And I think that can start with a silly countdown to frogspawn 😜

So… I’m gonna go for an average and predict frogspawn around 16th Feb. Which makes it 7 weeks from today. That’s just 7 weeks to frogspawn! 🥳

When will the frogs spawn with you? 🐸 #frogspawncountdown