The froggy wooing, reported in early May, seems to have had consequences.
The toadlets were plentiful but tiny. When seen from afar, they could have been beetles. A tiny patch of lakeshore was crawling with them, for having grown legs, they were no longer tadpoles, albeit still sporting tails.
I was not alone in enjoying the sight. A snake slithered away, presumably having been sated. A couple of Song Sparrows wandered through the crowd. Most interesting were a half-dozen juvenile robins.
The robins would pluck toadlets off the surface and swallow them one after another.
However, fans of the Western Toad will be happy to know that many toadlets remained after the robins flew off.
Thank you for sharing these moments in Nature, new life and the survival, that’s the law
Interesting! Thank you. I have wondered about the fate of all those toadlets, obviously not all could or even should survive but wouldn’t have suspected robins of being among those benefitting from the abundance.