Great, fabulous and fantastic! Grab those sweep nets and get out there! The day time and night time temperatures are creeping up and our wonderful British invertebrates are starting to stir. I get so excited this time of the year! We have baby animals appearing on the farm with a beautiful new red Dexter calf and lots of healthy Wiltshire Horn lambs. It is an absolute joy to see them leaping around in gangs, just simply exuberant in the rays of the warm sun. The clocks are going forward and British Summer Time is on the agenda. I even smelt the wafts of a distant barbecue this afternoon. Something is happening down in the pond too. The water is rippled with the thrashings of Common Toads Bufo bufo trying to mate. The males cluster around the female, pushing off their rivals with their hind legs in an effort to guard her while she spawns. Toad spawn ( the eggs) are laid in strings entwined around water plants and can be up to 10 meters long. These gorgeous chaps can not start to get active until the warmth has bought out the many invertebrates that they need to feed on. All their croaking is the perfect heralding of spring!
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| Male Common Toads beginning to fight over a female. |
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| Common frog Rana temporaria spawn. Remember, frog spawn is in clumps and toad spawn is in strings. |
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| There is always one. Tracey the pet lamb, perfectly at home, in her not so natural environment of our kitchen! |
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