Pictured above: A common frog (Rana temporaria) that we encountered while hiking near Bunnacunneen (close to Maam Bridge), at the end of May.
I was hiking in the Maumturks on Thursday, from the corrie lake at Maumahoge back to the mass path at Mam Éan. In a small rock pool near one of the summits, there were dozens of tadpoles swimming about. Though they were fairly large, they hadn’t started to grow legs (at least the ones I managed to catch briefly didn’t have any), suggesting that the spawn had been laid late in Spring. According to this article on the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, most tadpoles have grown legs at this stage (or advanced to the froglet stage).
The same article lists the number of recorded sightings of frogs per county over the last decade – the numbers don’t seem that high for many counties. So if you do spot a frog (or indeed any other creature) on your travels, be sure to record it on the Biodiversity.ie website. Citizen science, people !