As I mentioned in my last post, they have finally started to spawn. Well in just 24 hours we went from just the four clumps I previously mentioned to 28 clumps, beating last years total already, and they are still at it.
It is going to be a busy year in the garden with mini frog traffic if they make it. Which leads mean to my next tale.
Tonight is going to the brightest moon for two decades apparently according to this story. Here in Stratford we were blessed with clear skies so I popped outside with the camera and got this image.
With the 7D, 500f4 + 1.4 on tripod, ISO 100, f9 and 1/125 if you fancy a go. I pulled the expose back in Capture One, reduced the brightness and upped the contrast to explore some of the wonderful detail.
With this level of natural brightness, I have seen more detail from this image than many other similar type shots.
Click to see it at 800 pixels
Why last night and not tonight? - well it might not be clear tonight so worth getting it in the bank as it were.
But check it out in your area of the world and give it a crack - as it will be the brightest now for a long time to come.
So linking back to my earlier question about whether the new frogs make it. Well it was crystal clear last night and we had another sharpish frost with temperatures down to minus 4.5 Deg C this morning when I went out at 6 AM looking for Hares locally.
Some of the spawn is exposed to the air and was a little bit crunchy when I got back, so I swilled some pond water over it to warm it up. Fingers crossed.
Checking back to last year, they were at a similar stage on the 28th March, so we are ahead by ten days this year. It took a further 12 days before we had swimmers, so on that basis we should be looking at the end of March before the first tadpoles emerge.
I am off on an Amphibian Surveying Workshop later today with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to brush up on my knowledge and learn a few things.
Hope you have a good weekend
Martin
Fabulous shot and very nicely (and subtly) worked on. Great work.
ReplyDelete