Tendrils

Eggs in the Pond

Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) eggs. There’s a small man-made pond within sight of my kitchen window. Late winter and early spring finds much activity out there. Wood Frogs are the ones that start things off, having what seem like parties, loud parties that last all night long and on through the day, for many days. Now, as a result, the pond has many clumps of eggs. Of course there are Wood Frog eggs. No surprise there. All that noisy carousing. But there are other clumps of eggs that look quite different.

These eggs, look a bit like wads of cotton that have been wrapped around stems of aquatic plants in the pond. The eggs of Red-spotted Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens). Adult Newts populated my pond soon after it was put in and have been there ever since. Their life has four stages: 1) egg 2) tadpole 3) eft (terrestrial juvenile) and 4) newt (aquatic adult). In late winter/early spring female newts lay 200-375 eggs, attaching them to aquatic plants.

Here is the terrestrial juvenile stage. A little critter that I love to find in the woods. The Red-spotted Newt can live for between 12 and 15 years and can grow to a length of 5.5 inches. I’m uncertain of the number of aquatic adults that are living in the pond. They’re shy creatures that I don’t get to see often. But when I do I’m elated.

Brenda Clements Jones

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6 responses to “Eggs in the Pond”

    • Hi Kathy,

      They do indeed live as adults in water such as streams, ponds, marshes, and lakes. I don’t often see one in my little pond but each time I do get a glimpse of one I’m really pleased!

      Thank bunches for reading my posts!
      Bren

  2. GOOD MORNING
    I have many different types of eggs in my pond. My pond is going to be cleaned to reduce the amount of leaves in the bottom. My plan is to transfer the egg clumps to a kiddie pool as a holding tank so to protect them during the cleaning process, then return. Is this the right thing to do?

    • Hi Sharon,

      My pond is small, and created with a manufactured liner. I’ve also got an accumulation of leaves at the bottom of the pond. I’m concerned about cleaning it out because I don’t know what may be living there seeking refuge in those leaves. For that reason I’ve decided not to totally clean out the bottom of the pond, but I may, from time to time, just remove the top layer of leaves, making sure that I’m not removing some creature that might be living there. I think your plan to using the kiddie pool is a good one. I think I’d use the pond water that they are being taken from, to fill the kiddie pool, as a first step.

      But more to YOUR situation, you might take a look at the discussion at: https://askanaturalist.com/how-to-save-these-tadpoles/ which MIGHT give you more of an answer.

      Good luck with your cleaning process. Let me know how it goes!

      Thanks so much for reading my posts!
      Bren