It is supposedly male frogs that overwinter in ponds (although I’ve never tested this) but it is a risky strategy, since they could die in severe weather and miss out on all the action. The females, apparently, prefer to play it safe and spend the winter tucked up snug elsewhere.

I guess in mild winters it is a very successful strategy for the males in the pond as they get the pick of the females returning to the pond. Slower males that have to travel over land may get there too late and find all the females have already mated.

You don’t see the same pattern in toads – they all stay on land, and the males compete for females en route, females often crawling to the pond with a male on her back, and in the water resulting in big balls of desperate males all fighting over one female.

In newts, overwintering in ponds has nothing to do with sex, just food.

B