South West spawn sightings are first for national survey
15th January 2025
A sighting of frog spawn in a garden pond on the Isles of Scilly on 21st December 2024 is the first record to be added to an annual national survey led by Freshwater Habitats Trust. This record was quickly followed by sightings in Cornwall and Devon.
The PondNet Spawn Survey maps sightings of Common Frog and Common Toad spawn across the country to monitor how amphibians use different types of waterbodies to breed. The records are inputted to a national database, which is made available for research and conservation purposes.
The early record from the Isles of Scilly was followed by another two sightings in Cornwall, one in a pond near Jacobstow, North Cornwall, on 28th December, and another in a ditch in the Camel Valley on 5th January, as well as a sighting on 1st January in Bideford, Devon.
We have been collecting data on sightings of breeding frogs and toads since 2012. Each year since then, people across the country have got involved by recording spawn they have spotted in their garden, community ponds, and out in the countryside.
Anyone can get involved, whether they have a pond of their own or experience a chance encounter, by adding the record on our website. We are also encouraging people to share photographs of frog and toad spawn they have spotted on social media, using the hashtag #SpawnSurvey.
- Common Frogs and spawn by Adam Bows
Carole Cilia added the record from St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly on 21st December. She said: “We now have over ten batches of spawn in our pond and at the weekend I saw two batches spawn in a nearby wildlife pond.
“It was a bit later this year no doubt because of the cold winds we had here, but once they stopped the frogs were happy.”
Peter Forse added the record from North Cornwall on 28th December and recorded the first sighting for the previous Spawn Survey in 2023. About the survey, he said: “I took part last year and feel it is important to keep a record, especially with regard to climate change.”
Trevor Renals, who recorded the sighting in the Camel Valley in Cornwall, echoed the importance of records in the face of climate change, saying: “I wasn’t particularly looking for spawn, but I am a freshwater ecologist, so I’m always interested to see what I can find. The survey provides useful data on how nature is responding to climate change.”
Freshwater Habitats Trust Technical Director Dr Naomi Ewald said: “The Spawn Survey is one of our biggest citizen science events of the year, and it’s always exciting to see the first entries come in. The 2024 survey was our biggest so far, and it would be incredible to have even more people involved this year.
“The records submitted from people across the UK help to improve our understanding of when and where frogs and toads are breeding and are invaluable for wildlife conservation. They can also help us to identify Priority Ponds, small waterbodies which have a high conservation value, as evidence that Common Toad are breeding there grants a pond Priority Pond status.
- Photo by Trevor Renals of sighting in Cornwall
“Small waterbodies are often undervalued and neglected, but these early sightings in different habitats, from ponds to ditches, show how important they are for amphibians and other freshwater species.”
The PondNet Spawn Survey will run until May 2025. Anyone in the UK can add their sighting here.