WHEN golfer Andy Graham took Dúlra along to his Templepatrick Golf Club in search of frogspawn on Tuesday, we had no idea what wondrous feat of nature we were about to witness.
Frogs mate just once a year – appropriately on Valentine’s Day – in the first sure sign that spring has arrived. That special day in the frog calendar sees the adults emerge from their hiding places and converge at the same watering hole they were born in at least three years earlier.
One common misconception is that frogs live in water – in fact they live solitary lives hidden in the undergrowth.
When the first rays of spring sun pierce the cold winter skies, it powers an ancient calling to ensure the survival of their species. Dúlra saw that magical, mystical mating event many years ago. We had been fishing until dusk on Colin Mountain and our path home took us through an old quarry. There was a pool in the quarry and under the moonlight, it looked like it was boiling. Dúlra remembers nervously inching forward to peer into the water only to find it full of what seemed like thousands of breeding frogs.
Female frogs can lay up to 5,000 eggs – Dúlra can only guess these eggs are tiny specks but expand into globes when they hit the water, because the huge clumps of spawn are many times the size of the frog. They need to have so many offspring because at best only one in 50 makes it to adulthood.
Dúlra loves to collect frogspawn and put it in the garden pond. There’s no harm – frogspawn is one of the few things in nature that is simply so plentiful that you can take home – and they’ll have fewer predators in your garden. He remembers keeping them as a kid in a bucket out the back every year and the amazement of watching them transform. The most sophisticated toy doesn’t come close – and it only needs one ingredient to make it all happen: just add water.
Andy Graham with his net
This week we searched the sheugh beside the third hole – where we had found spawn a few years back – but there was nothing. We went around the course water hazards without luck until we came to the pool beside the first tee.
And here we hit the jackpot. The frogs weren’t just breeding in one corner – many of them were sitting with their heads protruding out of the water – their white necks lit up by the late afternoon sun in some sort of mating ritual.
At first it didn’t seem real – but as we got closer, the frogs were suddenly spooked by our presence and disappeared under the water. With so many predators, they have to be ever vigilant.
In their wake were huge blooms of spawn.
These frogs must have been the first to breed – and we had happened to be there at the very moment!
The frog chorus
Of course, you might point out that Valentine’s Day was some time ago – but that’s when the first frogs in Ireland breed in the warmest southern counties. Frogs then mate in a domino effect northwards as their optimum breeding temperature is reached. This year in County Antrim, that day was February 25.
We were about to leave when we spotted two enormous birds in the sky – herons. They’d make short work of the first frogspawn of 2025 – and of the hundreds of parents too.
And so we waited on the bank until the sun was almost down and the hungry herons had retired for the night.
The least these wee creatures deserve is to make it to day two.
• If you’ve seen or photographed anything interesting, or have any nature questions, you can text Dúlra on 07801 414804.
