To mark World Wetlands Day on Thursday the 2 February the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) is launching its annual 'Hop To It Frog Survey'. The survey helps the IPCC to map the distribution and habitat preferences of the Common Frog (Rana temporaria), Ireland’s most widespread and familiar amphibian species. To do that they need help… and they’re calling on … [Read more...] about Hop to it: report your Irish frog sightings
Rana temporaria
Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
Of the three species of amphibian found in Ireland the common frog is by far the most familiar. Most people think of frogs as aquatic creatures, but in fact they spend most of their lives on land, only returning to the water in order to breed. Adult frogs are from 6-10cm (2.4-4 inches) long. They are smooth skinned, tailless amphibians with powerful hind legs that are … [Read more...] about Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
Frogspawn in early January
Spring, it seems, has come early to Ireland this year. On Saturday the 07 of January I spotted a clump of frogspawn in a roadside ditch beside a small lake not far from the house. Frogspawn, in West Cork, laid the first week of January. That’s just nuts! Common Frogs normally emerge from hibernation around the middle of February -- but this year it seems the abnormally … [Read more...] about Frogspawn in early January
