Join the 2026 PondNet Spawn Survey: help track the UK’s frogs and toads this spring
1st December 2025
We are encouraging people across the UK to participate in the PondNet Spawn Survey, launching on 1st December. Anyone can get involved by recording Common Frog and Common Toad spawn they have spotted in their garden, community ponds, or in the countryside.
We have been collecting data on sightings of breeding frogs and toads since 2012. Last year’s survey was the biggest so far, with 2,657 records submitted.
The PondNet Spawn Survey is accessible to all and is a way for adults and children to get outdoors and connect with nature, whilst also helping to provide a better understanding of when and where frogs and toads are breeding.
All of the records are submitted to the Record Pool, the UK’s dataset on herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians) run by Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) and Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK). This dataset is made available for national and local conservation purposes, so the PondNet Spawn Survey records could make a real difference for amphibians. Large datasets, particularly when they span decades, are invaluable for wildlife conservation.
- Frog spawn in pond
Sightings can also help us to identify Priority Ponds, waterbodies that have a particularly high conservation value. These ponds support important freshwater species or rare community types, and evidence that Common Toad are breeding grants a pond Priority Pond status.
Freshwater Habitats Trust Technical Director Dr Naomi Ewald said: “As one of the first signs of spring, it can be very exciting to spot frog and toad spawn early in the year. It’s always fantastic to see such strong public support for the PondNet Spawn Survey, with people and families of all ages enjoying freshwater habitats and contributing to conservation research.
“Our earliest records submitted last year were of frog spawn spotted in ponds and ditches in the South West. We know that increasingly mild wet winters are pushing the breeding season of amphibians earlier and earlier, and we always see the season start in the South West and spread up the country. The results also demonstrate that amphibians are using a diverse network of healthy freshwater habitats, small pools, large ponds and ditches.
“The value of small waters like ponds and ditches has historically been overlooked. Although they are individually small, these habitats make up an estimated 80% of the freshwater environment, often acting as strongholds for populations of rare and threatened species.
“This is why focussing on small habitats is an integral part of our vision to build the Freshwater Network, a national network of wilder, wetter, cleaner, connected freshwaters.”
- Strings of Common Toad spawn under water. Photo: Kate Wright.
The PondNet Spawn Survey is open from Monday 1st December 2025 to Sunday 31st May 2026. You can find out more and add your sightings using the form here.
Spawn facts:
- Amphibians live on land for much of the year but return to ponds to breed in spring. This means waterbodies can become extremely crowded.
- Frog spawn is laid in big clumps, whereas toad spawn forms long chains.
- Toad spawn is generally laid in deeper water than frog spawn.
- A single frog or toad will lay thousands of eggs. This is because eggs and tadpoles are very vulnerable to predators, so only a few will survive and become adults.
- It takes between two and four weeks for spawn to hatch and tadpoles to emerge.