Frogspawn has arrived

Over the last week Frogspawn has started to be laid. It’s very late this year.

Instead of been laid in the Dew pond as usual, it is been laid in the seasonal pond in the hollow near the Stone Bridge.  As the pond dries out quickly it will be a race to see of the tadpoles can hatch and get their legs before the pond dries.

This pond near the stone bridge, dries out quickly in the summer

Large clump spawn at one end of the pond

Spawn in the pond, will it hatch before the pond dries out?

This spawn laid in the shallows will unfortunately soon dry out

However its very odd, that many clumps of spawn are been laid on the slopes that lead down to the pond, and not in the water.  I counted 15 clumps high and dry, in just a couple of minutes looking.

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Not sure why, but this behaviour been reported at other local sites also

Shaft (dis.)

The OS Map shows just north of the Stone Bridge the words “Shaft(dis)”.   Little is known locally, and it is possibly an old coal mine.

On the ground there is a deep hollow often filled with reddish/orange coloured water

Large, often brackish water filled, hollow

Just below this is an apparently man made channel leading towards the stream, also filled with the same colour mud.  So perhaps it was an Iron deposit that was been mined?

Ditch leading from the large hollow, with red staining possibly from Iron deposits

A second candidate for the tittle of “Disused Shaft” is a much smaller hollow nearby which according to local knowledge has a sheet metal capping plate

Possible second site for Shaft(Dis.)

Snowdrops in full Flower

The Snowdrops opposite the Stone Bridge are now in full flower.

Close up. It is hard to get the Camera down low enough to see the inside details of the flower

Some of the flower petals are being nibbled, perhaps by Mice, so now not sure how long they will last

Whole clumps of fully open flower

Last chance to see the Snowdrops this year?

Snowdrops by Stone Bridge

The Snowdrops on the bank opposite the Stone Bridge are in full flower this week.  Nice sheets of them, not quite fully open flowers yet, perhaps this weekend

Sheets of Snowdrops in flower opposite the stone bridge

Groups of Snowdrops

Nearly fully open on a lovely sunny day

However the other Snowdrops by the sides of Keepers Cottage are not in flower yet