Toads and spring flowers

I realy like toads. Of course, a lot of people think that this litle amphibian is full of warts, that it's hideous, and many things more… Well, I allways say - to those who think like that - : Have you ever taken a look at their eyes, and if you didn’t - you should, because you would see then that they have eyes in colors of noble metals like bronze, silver, and even gold. And to top all that, this is a realy garden friendly animal. It eats slugs, like the Spanis slug, which is a big problem in most of the gardens across the whole Europe.

So, this saturday I went to Češnjevek to the fishing ponds, because I heard that toads have started their mating season.

It was a sunny day and the common toad, also called European toad (Bufo bufo), is to be honest, very common in our country, so I knew I will find this sort there.

I saw a few pairs right away, while I was driving by the first pond. 

When I came there, I saw a few in the first pond next to driveway. It is one of the smallest ponds, so probably it’s the warmest one for now, because in all of the others I haven't found any toad activity yet. Well, their mating time has just begun, and I will go there next weekend again, to see if there are any more of them, and also to take some more of the close-up pictures, that I couldn't do then, because toads were still very cautious. At the peak of their mating seson, you can walk straight up to them and the males won't even care. 

The patterns of some of the males were like jaguars and some of the females were almous red. 

While I was walking round the pond, I was also stuned by the ‘’fields’’ of Spring Crocus (Cornus vernus).

Snow flakes are still in full bloom.

Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) flowers were gently smiling to the sun.

Sweet Violet (Viola odorata) was growing together with Common primrose (Primula vulgaris).

And the Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) was allready there as well.

But the Dog’s tooth violet (Erythronium dens-canis ) will still need about a week to come out.

I realy love spring when everything awakens from 'the sleep'.

So, read you next time!

Uroš

Spring emerges for Agile frog

It finally came. The spring, that is. It’s getting warmer and warmer, so yesterday I decided to go for a walk through the forest to check out, if there are any frog activities yet (although, it is not warm enough yet) and if there are any of harbingers of spring.

So, this is what I found:

I went through a forest, which was very swampy, and I suspected that there should be some frog activity in a few weeks. So, I checked a few of the tiny forest steams, to find a place where they would naturally be to bread. It didn’t take long to fiund these two:

Male and female of  Agile frog (Rana dalmatina).

They were probably the first pair of Agile frog (Rana dalamatina) here, because in an hour of walk, after finding these two, I couldn't see any other frog anywhere else.

Then I climbed to the top of a hill, since I had to get to the second wally, and so I went through this beautiful Scotsh Pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest.

I finally came to the Spring Snowflake (Leucojum vernum). Everything around me was in the White.

Next weekend I’m going again!

So read you next time.

Uroš