Data shows that spring has warmed by 1.8C in the UK since 1970 and this warming is having an impact on nature.

On 21st Feb I assumed at first it was raining - splashing and small waves in Little Pond - but no, it was our frogs back greeting each other and checking out the opposition. In Big Pond the same story ...

Its other common name derives from the dramatic, jagged crest that males develop along their backs during the spring breeding ... and insects on land, and tadpoles and mollusks in water.

Though egg laying takes place in spring, frog pairs in mountain ponds ... be 30 percent larger than those of lowland females, giving tadpoles a head start. Eggs and tadpoles of mountain frogs ...

Since amphibians use our gardens throughout the year, they need shelter, such as a log pile, a dead hedge, a compost heap or the odd boulder.