Croaking in the pond

Posted March 2021 (archived)

Every spring I eagerly await the return of the frogs to our garden pond. This year I spotted the first frog on 29th January, but there was no spawn until around the 20th - 21st February. In between, we had a couple of weeks of cold weather and a few days of freezing conditions which may have discouraged earlier activity. It is always a delight to see the frogs back! And an ideal opportunity for some stay-at-home lockdown sketching.

The last couple of years, I have the impression that there are far fewer frogs and much less spawn than in earlier years. Last year most of the spawn mysteriously disappeared (first time ever) and in 2018, the prolonged March freezing weather did great damage. So perhaps the low numbers just reflect a few poor breeding seasons. But since common frogs may live for up to 14 years in the wild (perhaps 5 - 10 years more typical), and do not breed until 2-3 years old, it seems unlikely that a couple recent bad seasons would affect numbers. Perhaps it is a longer term downward trend. Alas, my observation is just anecdotal: I wish I had kept more quantitative records in the past, and will do so from now on.

Sometimes the frogs can be extremely nervous, but this year, they seemed preoccupied, and quickly accepted me sat quietly at the edge of the pond. Having subjects on hand for an extended time encourages some experimentation. Below is a drawing made by rubbing a sheet of paper with charcoal, then erasing highlights and working back in with darks. It's a nice way of working, coaxing the image out of the mid-tone. But it is not a very fast method and I find it a little tricky with subjects that move all the time. This picture looks like it would benefit from a bit more tonal development... dare I?

The last picture here is rubbed charcoal with some watercolour wash. The action in the pond does not last long. A few days later, and all is quiet. Just blobs of spawn floating amongst the pond weed to show the frogs have been.