Climate changes

On my daily walk through the forest a couple of days ago I came across this scene. The black tar-like areas are tadpoles, which have congregated in the last remaining damp spots of what was once a pool of water. Earlier I had seen some signs of life but on my return with a jam jar in hand, hoping to rescue some of them, they had all succumbed due to a complete lack of water. 

I first visited this area in 2006 and every year without fail until I left in 2012 tadpoles and newts thrived in various locations here. However in March-April of this year the troughs (created by numerous tractors) that had supported all this pond life had no water in them.

Anyone following this blog may remember the April post (Spring) about the pond I photographed with frog spawn and tadpoles, which dried up a few weeks later in May. However recent rain clearly saved some of the frog spawn and eventually new tadpoles did emerge in some places. Now most of those tadpoles have vanished too.

It may just be an exceptional year but it does show just how damaging climate change can be to the delicate balance of wildlife. Of course the chances of tadpoles or frogs surviving normally are fairly slim as they probably serve as food for other forest wildlife. Still, environmental changes like this certainly does nothing to help.