The Wildlife Pond
We started digging the pond in 1989 after we had taken advice from the Farm and Wildlife Advisory Group. They took out soil cores to make sure we could have a clay lined natural looking pond. As we dug the pond, many cobbles were dug up and these were used to make a shallow incline to enable animals to get in and out of the water. The overflow ditch that was dug at one end is where you can see frogspawn in spring.
We used mostly British native species to plant up the pond. These provide an ideal habitat for wildlife. Plants you will see in the pond area include:
Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliate
Brooklime Veronica beccabunga
Drooping Sedge Carex pendula
Flowering rush Butomus umbellatus
Gipsywort Lycopus europaeus
Greater Spearwort Ranunculus lingua
Hard Rush Juncus effusus
Hemp Agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum
Marsh Cinquefoil Potentilla palustris
Marsh Marigold Caltha palustris
Purple-loosetrife Lythrum salicaria
Water Avens Geum rivale
Water Dock Rumex hydrolapathum
Water Mint Mentha aquatica
Yellow Iris Iris pseudacorus
Yellow Pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum
Wildlife in the Pond
The native plants provide an ideal habitat for pond life. We have an especially wide range of dragonflies and amphibians, not to mention the pond-dwelling insects and other invertebrates. Dragonflies recorded include blue-tailed Damselfly, Brown Hawker Dragonfly and Azure Damselfly. We also have newts, frogs and toads breeding in the pond.
At our Wildlife Day in 2018 the team who led the pond-dipping recorded the following species:
Greater Water Boatman Lesser Water Boatman
Pond Skater Damsel Fly nymph
Great Crested Newt Great Crested newtpole
Common newtpole Water Hog Louse
Freshwater Shrimp Pea Mussel
Greater Pond Snail Ramshorn Snail
Cased Caddis Fly Bloodworm
Water Beetle larvae Hyphydrus Ovatus [water beetle]
Similar invertebrates are found during the pond-dipping sessions every year at the Wildlife Day.
