The Pond

22nd April 2005

A Pond View

On this day, Mrs M. took me around the pond area to show me what the Green Club have been doing over the past month, and also to show me some things that have appeared. As you can see in the picture, the area is greening up. One hard job the Green Club have to do is to stop the stinging nettles and grass taking over.

Watch This (Filling) Space!

You can see here that the shrubs are sending outtheir new shoots and will soon be filling the area with their leaves. The Green Club want to leave some patches of nettles, as they are important food for the caterpillars of the Peacock and other butterflies. However, they can only eat so much, and so they only want so many nettles.

A New Arrival

One of the new plants around the site is this Cowslip. Over time, the plant will spread out and we hope, when it sets seed and spreads them out, that they will start appearing on other parts of the garden.

Almost There!

These plants are the next job for the Green Club. These will be a bit easier to plant than the Cowslip and shrubs, as they are to be put in to the pond.

What's In The Pond?

It looks quite innocent, doesn't it? At the first glance, one could almost believe there was nothing there. However, even though the pond has only been there for a few months, it is already teeming with wildlife. Some of it has been introduced (we put it there). Some of it has found its own way there. Let's take a closer look...

It's A Tad Busy In Here!

Do you remember the picture of the frogspawn from last month? Well, it didn't take long to hatch out in to hundreds of tiny tadpoles. They always seem to be moving around, as though they always have loads to do. Unlike their adult frogs, they didn't seem to be bothered that I was there and just got on with things.

What's For Tea?

So what do tadpoles eat? Just about anything they can lay there jaws on, so it seems. As well as nibbling on the pondweed and old leaves in the pond, they get quite excited over a bit of fresh meat too. Here, a worm has fallen in to the water and drowned. To the tadpoles, this was a great free lunch, and they crowded around to have a nibble or ten.

Who Else Lives In The Pond?

As well as a healthy population of tadpoles swimming around, ther were a great number of Pond Snails too. About 6 pondsnails were introduced in to the pond earlier this month. Many say that they help to keep the pond clean, but others say that this may not be that true. However, what they have done is to breed at a very fast rate, as there are many, many, many more than 6 now!

Hello!

Two snails greet each other. I wonder what they say? I also wonder how easy it is to speak underwater.

Who Left This Behind?

If you look closely at the bottom of the pond, you will be able to see lots of blobs of jelly all over the place. These blobs are made by the snails, and are a little bit like frogspawn. They are clusters of lots of jelly eggs, and inside each one a new pond snail is growing. I wonder how many there will be by the summer...?

Excuse Me!

It is lucky that snails don't travel at a fast speed, or there could have been a nasty collision here, as a tadpole swerves to avoid a Ramshorn snail. Do you remember the shall I found last month on the path by the old pond? Well, it came from one of these. Their name comes from the spiral shape of their shell.

I'm Strong!

They say (whoever 'they' are) that you learn something new every day. I learnt that ther are such creatures as freshwater mussels, and this is one of two that were put in yesterday. I took this one out of the water quickly to take a photo. It hadn't moved since yesterday, but the other one has sped off and hidden itself somewhere. Another thing I wonder - how do they move around?

Attention!

This plant (which, for the attention of the plant people out there, reminds me of a Bromelaid), is called a Water Soldier. It spends a lot of it's life below the water. But, as Mrs M. told me, when it comes in to flower, it floats up to the surface so that it's flowers will be in the open air for insects to pollinate it. Kepp your eye on this one and tell me if you see it floating.

A Royal Plant

This newly introduced plant has two common names - Kingcup or Marsh Marigold. Its striking yellow flower makes sure that everybody notices it when they go to visit the pond.

Do I Look Nice?

There are various pond weeds that have been introduced to the pond. We're not too sure what this one is called yet, but it does look very handsome with its ferny leaves.

What's Along The Path?

We wandered down to the old pond and stopped to have a look at some of the plants along the way. One interesting plant that I hadn't seen before was a white Forget-Me-Not, which you can see here alongside its relation, the normal blue flower.

Cuc-koo!

If you look closely amongst the quickly growing plants along the path, you may spot the pinky-purpley flowers of the Cuckoo Flower, also known as Lady's Smock. People used to say that its flowers appeared at the same time the first cuckoo was heard in the woods. Although this is sometimes true, today's warmer winters mean that, in some places, it can now beat the cuckoo to the woods by at least a week or two.

Is There Anybody There...?

When I last came down to the old pond, the water seemed to boil as a large number of frogs tries to hide from me. This time, either they had seen us coming and already hid, or they had gone elsewhere. They don't always live in the pond, so we presume that they had gone off, perhaps on holiday? It seemed very quiet. The water level has dropped as well, which may tempt some to leave in search of other ponds.

A Quiet Spot

The reason why a new pond was built was because the old pond was too shaded by all the trees surrounding it. As you can see, there are a lot of trees around the old pond. Mind you, it is a great place to shelter from the hot, burning summer sun and have some peace and quiet. The tree you can see in the picture has recently died. Although it will provide a great habitat for many animals, plants and fungi, it will have to come down sometime in the future to keep the area safe.

Anybody Home?

This nesting box has been very popular, so Mrs M. told me. A number of birds have been seen using it. I can imagine that, compared to their usual nests of twigs and feathers, perched in the open wind and rain, these nesting boxes are like a luxury holiday apartment. Not bad for a bit of old plastic piping