On Sunday I spotted the first frogspawn of the year in the stream running through Peckham Rye Park... there was a lot of it, more than I would have attributed to a single frog.
On Sunday I spotted the first frogspawn of the year in the stream running through Peckham Rye Park. I say stream, it's more of a municipal water feature, with narrow stretches of running water between a series of small pondlets and gentle water falls.
There was a lot of it, more than I would have attributed to a single frog. I stuck my fingers in to pull some out to show the children, and was surprised to find how difficult it was to separate. It must be 40 years since I last wrestled with some and I'd forgotten how clumped it becomes. As I tried to pick up an 'end', it just tumbled out of my palm, back into the water, dragged by the weight of the rest of the gelatinous mass.
Eventually I tore a section off and plopped it into the Tupperware box that had, until recently, held the squirrels' peanuts. Everyone thought this was pretty cool until 12-year-old held it and remarked "what's this wormy thing?" It was a tiny leech, only about 15mm long, squirming over her hand. I was fascinated and tried to reassure her that it was probably too small to drink her blood, and anyway it was a good sign that the water was unpolluted. She was not impressed and flicked it away indignantly. I'm not going to get her pond-dipping again for some time.
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