Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “pond”
The Cherry blossom has gone from our two large cherry trees. First on the white blossomed tree where it had come earlier and then on the pink blossomed tree. The fall on the pink tree was like snow. Outside the garden, under the tree, was a large pool of blossom. I saw it at 7.30 one morning, a pristine, pinky …
Our pond has had a green bloom for the last year. The bloom is composed of microscopic algae, tiny single celled plants. When the bloom first occurred last April, I thought the bloom, by cutting out light, might kill off underwater plants. But there was no effect over a month or two, so I forgot about it. A few days …
Last week, I estimated the proportion of frogs eggs that become mature adults. I wanted to know what wildlife groups were saying. So I trawled the internet. An assortment of figures are quoted for eggs to mature adult. 1 in 50 is a common quote, though 1 in 12,000 is heard in our garden, an enormous span. I found this …
In the garden yesterday, there were at least six frogs in the pond, and two more on the concrete outside the pond, hearing the croaking above them in the pond, but not knowing how to get to it. We have what we call a frog ladder, a ribbed piece of wood, slanting from ground to pond rim, but I have …
In the shelter, it is warm and sunny. The walls are transparent plastic as is the roof. It is about 15 degrees outside but considerably warmer in the shelter. The extra warmth is due to the greenhouse effect. Not global warming this time, but due to its original meaning: the extra heat gained in a glass (or clear plastic) enclosure. …
Signs of Spring It’s cold today but spring is on the way. Tulips and daffodils are coming up around the garden. Not flowering as yet. The euphorbia by the side wooden fence has its hardly noticeable green flowers. They have a long season, so they will be noticed. The kerria by the Dare to Dream stage has its small yellow …
Warm air holds more moisture. But you may have noted, I said it is chilly. Well, moisture in the air is picked up over the sea, mostly the Atlantic and that retains its summer warmth well into late autumn. Warm air also has more energy, which gives us fierce winds and storms. Around the country there has been some very wet weather, with extensive flooding in places like Looe in Cornwall:
A tadpole was seen with legs. I don’t see it, the pond water is still green and a little murky, though not as bad as it was a few weeks back. A couple of days ago, I saw blue damsel flies, none today. I see no sign of a bulrush stem, plenty of leaf, higher than the pond irises leaves, but a reluctance to flower, for that’s what the bulrush sausage is, an intense cluster of female flowers. There’s two pairs of water lilies. A grand, surprise of a flower, like a white regal boat, seeming to be floating on the water. They have stems, of course, sometimes visible but more often under the water, hidden under the lily pads. The pond irises have developed their seed heads, like long green lozenges.
Where have all the tadpoles gone? Just a week ago there were hundreds and now there are just a few. I doubt it is predation. There are no big predators, like fish, in the pond. We haven’t seen any tadpoles with legs, so it’s not possible that those hundreds have developed legs and lungs in the last seven days and left the pond. Which leaves two possibilities, the first is shortage of oxygen, but the pond is full of aerating plants and rain brings aerated water too. The second is disease. Disease can kill very quickly, culling high numbers in days, as is the case. To my mind, disease is the likely cause. I can’t think of anything else.
The silver birch too is in leaf, tiny as yet, not that the leaves get any great size. Last week, there were only male catkins, yellow like dangling earrings. But, all of a sudden, the female catkins have arrived. They are reddish, quite a bit smaller.
