Frog Spawn: New Life Begins in Our Wildlife Pond

I have been looking forward to seeing frog spawn ever since we built our wildlife garden last June. So you can imagine how excited I was this morning to find two dark, gelatinous clumps clinging to the edge of our pond!

And then I looked into the bottom of the pond and saw that at least half of it was completely covered with hazy round clumps. At first I thought they were remnants of the aerating plants that I tossed into the pond last summer. On closer inspection, however, they seemed to be filled with little black dots. My husband, Gerhard, lifted one clump with a rake, and sure enough it was a gelatinous mass filled with eggs.

I know we have frogs on our property, but we have almost never heard them croaking at night. And I visit the pond almost every day to see what kind of plants and wildlife are growing in it. So the sudden appearance of so many clumps is a mystery to me. In fact, I didn’t even realize it until I came out of the house this morning and saw a frog jump into the pond.

Since then, I have tried to find out why some frog spawn clings to the edge of the pond and why so much else ended up in the bottom. In addition, the spawn on the surface of the water is almost black, with numerous individual “cells,” while that on the bottom is lighter and more “clumpy.” But I haven’t found any answers yet. This is the first wildlife pond I have ever lived with, so it is all new to me.

Frog Spawn and the Miracle of a Wildlife Garden

To turn our garden into a wildlife refuge last summer, we put in a pond, planted a mini grove of native trees, and let the grass grow. Since then, it has been so much fun observing how nature is flourishing all around us! From myriads of wildflowers, birds, bees and butterflies to dragonflies hovering over the pond. Every month has brought new changes as the year has gone through its cycle.

I have gone out almost every morning to inspect the yard and pond to take note of all the changes. So far, I have seen small and large black beetles, all kinds of skippers and hovering insects, and dragon flies in the pond. In addition, water plants from the surrounding bog are beginning to grow inside the pond, too. What I have really wanted to see, however, is frog spawn. (Plus newts, which don’t seem to have arrived yet.)

Why Frog Spawn in Particular?

I think this wish is tied to an experience I had as a child growing up on a ranch in Montana. One summer, my siblings and I collected tadpoles from an irrigation ditch and put them in a pan of water outside the house. Over time, the tadpoles grew legs, lost their tails–and eventually jumped out of the pan! I have been looking forward to having a similar experience with our pond. Clearly, my wishes have now been granted.

I know that most tadpoles do not survive into adulthood due to predators and other challenges. One concern is winter weather. Since the frog spawn appeared, we have had several days in which the top of the pond froze. Hopefully, though, the eggs are still viable and we will soon see numerous little tadpoles growing into baby frogs.