Why are so many species reproducing late this year?

Question

Hope this question is OK for this site, couldn't see where else to ask it.

We've spent a few days out in the countryside recently, and have been very surprised at how many species appear to have very young offspring so late in the season. I was always under the impression that the vast majority of animals and fish produced young in the spring (March/April).

For example, we saw tadpoles, fluffy (ie obviously very young) coots and weeny minnows. I would have expected that all of these would have been born/laid a good 3 or 4 months ago, and so would be more mature by now.

Caveat: We didn't do a scientific study, this is just a strong impression we got from days out in north west England.

Answer 1

It's hard to say without more information, but one substantial possibility is that you are mistaken that species are reproducing late - that's a problem with anecdotal rather than scientific data!

Additionally, species you mention like the common coot can attempt multiple broods where the season is long enough. Wikipedia specifically mentions Britain:

Eurasian coots normally only have a single brood each year but in some areas such as Britain they will sometimes attempt a second brood

The same could be true for species of frogs/toads and fish, so without knowing specific species it can't be known whether these are species reproducing again or species reproducing late.