Monday, June 10, 2013

Summer comes to the pond

With last winter lingering so long it's taken my pond some time to wake up, but now it has it's teeming with life. The tadpoles are doing well, some almost froglets now, and full grown frogs are still popping their heads up. Beetles are busy, waterboatmen and back swimmers are about, pond skaters are feasting.

After two springs the yellow flag have decided to flower, the bog bean and water mint are spreading nicely and some bistort I planted last autumn has taken hold along with some pondweed.

A few weeks ago I spotted the first newt in my pond which was pleasing. The  species is uncertain as it was the briefest of glimpses and the blanket weed made any further sightings difficult. After the mallards descended last year and ate most of my snails it's nice to see them making a comeback. It might only be a small pond, but it's always changing. Yesterday I spotted a couple of caddis larvae dragging their homes around. The only disappointment is the level keeps dropping. I fear the pond has sprung a leak.