February is a month of waiting; a confusing time when the land itself doesn’t know if winter is over, but the daylight is noticeably longer and there is an energy in the air. This is when I make my New Year’s resolutions – not in the dark of winter when, like most mammals, I want to be dormant. As nature begins its cycles again, I feel able to direct my energy towards what I hope to achieve this year.

Along with this new beginning, creatures long associated with witches and swamps crawl out from logs and hedges in search of freshwater. These are the frogs and toads hopping out of bed to get the year going.

Charismatic animals

I find they are such charismatic animals. There’s something of a personality to them, whether it’s a derpy, empty-headed expression or being entirely unimpressed by my peering into their pond. Sometimes I think they have this wonderfully earnest, buffoonish charm as they clamber over lily pads or grass.

No matter their persona, it’s always exciting to hear a rustle or hopping sound and follow it to discover a toad or frog. I associate these little fellas with childhood and gleefully picking one up to say hello – which I now regret, because, as it turns out, amphibians are sensitive to chemicals on our skin.

In February, UK species such as the common toad or frog are heading to freshwater. Here they lay the eggs that we call spawn, and these can number in the thousands just from a single individual. I’d be keen to get to a pond too if I had all of that to deposit!

Prior to researching this article, I was unaware that there is a distinct difference between frog spawn and toad spawn. Frog spawn is found in the typical clumps we often see in ponds; depending on the species, a single clump can hold up to 4,000 eggs. However, toad spawn is arranged in long strings of eggs, found wrapped around the stems of aquatic plants. 26 years of loving wildlife and I’m still learning things!

Join in with science
There is a citizen science project I’d love you to consider helping with. The PondNet Spawn Survey collates sightings of the common toad and common frog into large data-sets. Specifically, they use this to research how these animals use differing bodies of freshwater to breed. Simply register any spawn sightings to contribute to science, which can lead to better protection of these little hoppity, croaking friends.

To get involved, visit https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resources/
survey-methods-hub/pondnet-spawn-survey/

February brings subtle changes to the ponds themselves. The water, once still and quiet, begins to buzz with early signs of life. Pond skaters appear on milder days, catkins fall onto the surface like tiny rafts, and the first shoots of aquatic plants start to push upward through the murk.

I love these tiny transformations, and the way a seemingly lifeless, muddy puddle becomes a whole, bustling world again. It’s a reminder that spring isn’t a sudden arrival, but a slow unfurling – that is, if February does decide that winter is over.