Common toad spawning 2020. A weak start
Toad spawning is barely beginning. Iskiv pond is in a terrible state. After the cold spell, spawning (if the population has survived more or less) should resume in full. How to conduct the twenty-first field season under quarantine conditions is still unclear
Photographs from the trip to Haidary on March 20, 2020. The day was warm, but a cold spell was expected from the next day (now, three days later, snow lies on the ground). Iskiv pond is dried out as never before, and has also turned green with algae. This is a cattle watering trough. Previously it was located roughly at the midpoint of the pond; now the half of the pond closer to Haidary has dried out completely, and of the remaining half only a relatively small piece is left, which has retreated quite far from this trough... [IMG_1] The space between the trough and what remains of the pond. Once upon a time, common toads and moor frogs spawned here... [IMG_2] Young nettles [IMG_3] Coltsfoot is still in bloom... [IMG_4] A battle-hardened horse waits [IMG_5] Green grass is barely pushing through [IMG_6] This is the true color of the water. Transparency — a few centimeters [IMG_7] Here there used to be springs, which the pond owner dug up and connected to the pond itself. They have long been dead... [IMG_8] Motacilla alba, white wagtail [IMG_9] [IMG_10] Lizards have emerged [IMG_11] [IMG_12] Normal (buds) and pathological (galls) formations [IMG_13] [IMG_14] [IMG_15] [IMG_16] [IMG_17] Near the water there are many dipterans. When the frogs emerge, there will be plenty for them to eat [IMG_18] Where old grass remains, no green is yet visible [IMG_19] Something has been walking here [IMG_20] This is the entire pond. What will happen in autumn? What will happen in the years ahead? [IMG_21] Young thistle looks fluffy... [IMG_22] There seem to be somewhat fewer ticks than last time, but still very many. Hungry, they run like mad... [IMG_23] I walked around the pond and saw nothing. I was about to get on my bicycle and head to the floodplain when I heard a faint voice. In one spot I found a male sitting in shallow water. I put on waders and stepped in where the male was... There are very few toads. Most likely they sense that it will get cold and are sitting on the bottom. What is in the photo I caught mostly by feel, simply running my hand blindly along the bottom. Two females, about a dozen males. Almost all small. No spawn yet. I tried searching in the same way in another spot, which looked the same to me, but there was nothing there. I took these toads back to Kharkiv; I will release them next time. I will obtain eggs from the females; some of the tadpoles, if I get any, I will use for an experiment, and the rest I will return to the pond in due course. Although... making plans right now is difficult [IMG_24] [IMG_25] [IMG_26] What a combination of colors! [IMG_27] This is a cattle watering trough near the village. Barely a drop of water [IMG_28] [IMG_29] Driving out to the floodplain from Zaiachy Yar [IMG_30] The Donets is low, fairly clear. No frogs [IMG_31] [IMG_32] [IMG_33] Something is hanging on a tree on the bank... [IMG_34] ...closer up. A pair of sneakers tied together by their laces [IMG_35] The traditional view of the floodplain from the gazebo [IMG_36]