Tawny Frogmouths are busy

Many of the tawny frogmouth chicks I have been studying this year have fledged in the past two weeks, like these two above, flanked by their parents. The family were sitting in a tree about 30 m from their nest tree. All were sitting quietly in the partial shade. Mum adopted a defensive hiding pose, adopting a posture to resemble a broken branch. Dad sat quietly, he had seen me often before and probably recognised me as no threat. The chicks were curious.

The chicks, like so many frogmouth fledglings, were so curious of the observer that they never adopted a defensive pose. They stared down at me as if determining what I was, and whether I was a threat to them. They were probably trusting in their parents for guidance. But they simply sat quiet and didn't give any soft alarm calls. Did the chicks feel safe because their dad wasn't alrmed?

Dad maybe looked calm, but I am sure he was ready to react were I to make any wrong move towards them.

There are numerous frogmouth pairs that did not seem to breed earlier, in september, as usual. But I have seen several new nests and birds on eggs in the past week, at the same time as most are fledging. This might be because there was limited food over winter and not all birds were in condition to breed in spring. Now though, with most pairs rearing two chicks, and some pairs rearing three, and it has been a wet spring, it looks like there is abundant food. I found this frog below one nest, and if this is an example of the prey available, that is a substantial meal for a frogmouth chick.

And I found this centipede below another nest. The kinks in the animal's body indicate where a frogmouth had grabbed it. I wonder what they taste like?

Frogs spawning in a mountain pool 

Common Frog Rana temporaria in a high hilltop spawning pool

It is now mid-May and frogs are spawning in the hill pools in the Highlands. Sadly, there have been many days of snow showers recently and there are lots of late lying snowbeds for the frogs to contend with.

Ben More Assynt from one of the frog pools on the summit ridge of Glas Bheinn

I was up on Glas Bheinn in Assynt yesterday surveying ptarmigan on the high rocky ground, and while walking past a small pool at about 700m I noticed some frogspawn in the margins. I counted about 75 separate clumps of spawn and some of the tadpoles had begun to hatch. Then I checked a second pool where there was still snow lying around the edge, and there was one massive accumulation of spawn in a corner. Some of it had been frosted and the embryos were dead. The spawn had a grey opaque appearance. Then I noticed that there were numerous dead frogs lying on the bottom of the pond, while others were still amplexed together and swimming in the near-freezing water.

Late-lying snow edged the pool and the grasses had not yet started to grow

Life for those frogs up on the high hills is so different from that of those in the warmer lowland waters. They must be so wonderfully well adapted to survive in such conditions. They are amphibians, cold blooded animals, yet they were getting on with life right on the margin of their physiological capabilities. Meanwhile, I was all wrapped up in windproof clothing and still felt cold in the northerly wind. Well done the frogs that managed to lay their eggs and their tadpoles that hatched. Well done.

A large clump of frogspawn lay in the shallows, and dead frogs lay in the depths