I went to count the egg masses of the Pacific Chorus Frog in the small pool at the parking lot yesterday and counted over 200. Afterwards, I decided to sit by the side of the pool, soak up the sun, and look around in the water. I saw this greenish blob that had a hole in it. I wondered if some of the frogs had hatched and maybe that it was an old egg mass. I took a piece of grass stalk and twirled around in the water. As I swung around in the water, it bumped some debris and a small tadpole came swimming out from underneath! It was so small and when it came to rest, well camouflaged. When I slightly lifted debris to look at snails and caddisfly larvae, another tadpole swam out. I counted maybe 6 or 7 tadpoles in the time I sat there. A couple of the egg masses were shaking slightly and I could see the light reflecting off the tadpole’s bellies inside. They were starting to wiggle and work their way out. So around March first on a sunny afternoon with the temperature reaching 60 degrees, they started hatching. Sweeeeeet!
