Granddad’s Camera
Common frog, as it appears in the game

No.019 · Amphibians · Common

Common frog

Rana temporaria

Smooth, olive-brown with a dark mask behind each eye. Adults gather in garden ponds from February to spawn.

When to look

February to April and June to September, mostly at day, dusk and night.

Time of day

Best time
Spawning: February–March, at night and on mild days; froglets leave ponds on damp summer evenings.
Where in the game
Millbrook (pond, garden, park, canal and churchyard) and the New Forest (mire, stream and ancient woodland)
Size
Males up to about 9 cm, females up to about 13 cm (Froglife)
Lifespan
Average 5–10 years (Wildlife Trusts)
Population
Widespread and common; no reliable national estimate
Status
Least Concern (IUCN); widespread in Britain

Diet

Slugs, snails, worms and insects; tadpoles eat algae and later small animals.

Habitat

Ponds, ditches, damp grass, gardens and woodland; overwinters under stones, in compost heaps or in pond mud.

Breeding

Spawn is laid in clumps of up to about 2,000 eggs from January in the south-west and from February–March elsewhere; tadpoles hatch 2–4 weeks later and take about 16 weeks to become froglets, which leave the water in early summer, sometimes as late as September.

Field signs

  • Clumps of jelly-like spawn floating in shallow pond edges
  • A low 'croak' chorus from male frogs on spring nights
  • Small dark-splashed frog under logs and in wet grass

Did you know?

  • Frogs do not truly hibernate: they spend the winter sheltering under rocks, in compost heaps or at the bottom of ponds.
  • In Britain, frogs spawn earliest in the south-west, sometimes in January, and the date creeps north.
  • Ranavirus, a disease that kills frogs, is most active in summer and autumn.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Spawning frogs February to March, dusk, night and day
    A pond bubbles with frogs, males clasping females; grey jelly clumps mount at the edge.
  • Froglet exodus June to July, day and dusk
    Hundreds of thumbnail-sized froglets hop from the pond edge into the wet grass after a summer shower.

Rare forms and local legends

  • Red frog A rare colour form, about 1 in 10 sightings
    Common frogs can be olive, yellow, orange or red, and change shade with mood, background and season. Red on its own isn't a sign of disease (Froglife).

Photo tip

Shoot from the pond bank at water level with a macro or short telephoto in spring sunshine; spawn is easiest in the early morning light.

Be a good naturalist

Do not move spawn or tadpoles between ponds, and never take spawn from the wild. Wet hands before handling any frog; better still, do not handle.

The law

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Schedule 5 (Section 9(5)): protected from sale and trade only. Do not move spawn between ponds (disease risk).

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