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SPRING HAS SPRUNG: Dorothy Emblen shows the frogspawn in her garden pond and it's still only January Picture: JOHN GURD/JG2287

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IT MAY only be January but some Dorset inhabitants are already hopping with excitement about spring.

A batch of frogspawn has appeared in a Sutton Poyntz garden unseasonably early.

Resident Dorothy Emblen has never seen spawn laid in her pond earlier than the third week of February. She said: "I was so excited to see it.

"I heard the frogs making a noise at the weekend and then took the bit of plastic off the pond and saw it."

Mrs Emblen plans to take some of the frogspawn into her kitchen and let her grandchildren watch the tadpoles develop.

She said: "It's only a little pond but I'm surprised how many frogs have been here.

"The grandchildren enjoy seeing the frogspawn grow and this year they should be able to see baby frogs a lot earlier."

Wildlife experts say the timing of frogspawn depends on the weather and location, but is much more common in February or March.

A likely explanation for the early frogspawn is Dorset's mild January conditions Temperatures have been up to the double figures in Weymouth during the day throughout much of the month.

10:38am Thursday 24th January 2008

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