Pond Clean Discoveries

Started Autumn management of our pond this weekend preparing it for winter. Pleasantly surprised to find both damselfly and dragonfly nymphs in the pond.

Along with the larger nymphs from last year - there were also tiny damselfly nymphs which would have hatched from this years mating and egg laying.


Great surprise to find several dragonfly nymphs as well. I have not had dragonflies  lay eggs in the pond before so this was a great find. These were tiny and also would have been the result of this years mating and egg laying.

I have seen adult dragonflies in the front garden and the nearby track most years. There was a dragonfly in the front garden a lot earlier in the summer. As adult dragonflies often lay their eggs once the male and female had separated- a female must have found the pond and laid eggs.


The paired damselflies are very visible each summer in and around our pond.


Images above captured through usb microscope cam

Protecting frog spawn from the cold weather

As you will know from an earlier post, the frog spawn laid in my pond back in early February suffered from being frozen at the surface.

Since then many more frogs have returned to the pond and there is now lots of frog spawn.

In cold weather, I lay a black bag carefully over the spawn near the edge of the pond and it is enough to keep the water and spawn from freezing

Frozen frog spawn

I looked out the window this morning and noticed that the pond had frozen over.

This could be disastrous for the frog spawn in the pond that was laid in my pond 8th February when the weather was mild as the spawn can be affected by cold weather.

The layer of ice forms covering the surface of the spawn could cause the upper layer of eggs to die. However it is a big clump of eggs and those in the middle and bottom of the spawn may survive.


Frog spawn development slows down when its cold so I will have to wait and see what occurs. In March, frogs from further afield will usually visit my pond and so there will probably be lots more spawn to look forward to.

First frog of the year

Just came back from Spain yesterday to find the first common frog had arrived at our garden pond.

A light dusting of snow

A light dusting of snow during the night. It tried again a few times during the day but nothing else settled. The cold weather has meant the pond is frozen.

Wren

First entry for 2009. While making a cup of tea in the kitchen I caught a movement through the kitchen window from the corner of my eye.

It was a small brown bird hopping around in the foliage on the side of the shed. It took a while before I got a clear view and was pleased to see a little wren.

The wren foraged for about 5 minutes before moving up into the branches of the tree that overhangs the shed.

A pair of blackbirds was also very active in the bear apple tree in the garden behind ours. They were around late morning and returned at dusk with lots of warning calls. A chaffinch also passed by very quickly and a robin also flew across the garden.

Tadpoles

The weather is much milder today and there has also been quite a bit of sun. The last of the frog spawn in our garden pond has now hatched. The pond is black with tiny wriggling tadpoles.