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During the late 1980s there started a great increase in the number of Winsham frogs. There was a spectacular event in the February mating season in that year. I was alerted shortly after dawn to make my way to the top lake in the Nursery’s Gully Field. This lake is in a depression with steep banks on three sides with the overflow taking the water to the bottom lake some ten feet below. As I approached there was a roar like an express train coming. The lake surface looked black with tens of thousands of frogs all croaking together to the rising sun. I was told that if I clapped my hands once there would be a deadly silence. As I clapped the heads quickly went down in unison, just below the surface, so that the water suddenly reflected the morning light. After a further five seconds the roar would restart. The formation of this small lake had acted like a megaphone to magnify a sound that I shall never forget.
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