MILD weather in February has brought an early start to the frog breeding season.

On a recent trip to one of our wetland nature reserves the pools were a hive of activity with hundreds of frogs pushing and shoving for space.

Frogs can travel up to half a mile from their winter refuges back to the pool in which they where spawned. It is a journey often fraught with danger as they cross roads, travel through gardens guarded by dogs and cats and across open countryside at the mercy of predatory birds.Toads on the other hand make quite similar trips but lack such an ability, preferring to walk in a bulldog fashion, evading danger by puffing themselves up and covering their eyes with their front feet.

The colours of frogs can be varied. Often you may see browns, oranges or even the uncommon pink "albino" individuals. These brighter coloured individuals are more uncommon because they are not so well camouflaged against the green / browns of their pools.

Frogs are even capable of changing their colours like a chameleon. They can lighten or darken their skins depending on the weather or their surroundings.

By taking a closer look, it is possible to distinguish males and females. Males tend to have more muscular front legs and hard black pads between their front toes.

On arrival at their breeding pool, they often position themselves in the warmer shallow margins where they begin emitting their distinctive "croaking" noise. The actual mating process involves many males crowded around a single female. While spectacular to watch the process can be deadly for the female.

Once the spawn is deposited the tadpoles will begin to form within the jelly-like eggs. After around three weeks they will start to hatch and by May or June young froglets will begin to emerge from pools. These will then leave to find a winter refuge, only to return ready to spawn around three years later.