What lies beneath

We never  truly grow up. The things that gave us pleasure as small children retain their power throughout our lives. So give me a net, wellies and the equivalent of a jam jar and I am still  content. Add in some grown up toys, like a camera, tripod and Macro lens, and I am deeply content ! I also have the best possible excuse, as I am doing it in the name of science, for my blog !

The wild life pond is now buzzing with life in all its many and varied forms, from the insects flying above it, to the fish swimming in its waters, so I decided to go pond dipping and see just what does lie beneath the surface of the waters.

All the life forms I found I put into a glass receptacle so that I could photograph them more easily, and they were returned to the pond within an hour.

I found three newts fairly quickly as there are lots in the pond at the present time. They are only found in great numbers for a few weeks around this time of year, as they come to mate and lay their eggs. Eggs are laid singly, unlike frogs and toads, and each one is wrapped in a leaf to protect it. When they hatch newtlets are tiny, and vaguely resemble a cross between a tiny fish and a tadpole. On close inspection, you can see the feathery gills along their sides, which they use to breathe. These disappear as they mature.

Here is a shot of the belly of a newt, showing the spotting.

The wildlife pond has sticklebacks in it, which are breeding well. There are some tiny, newly hatched fry as well as some much larger fish. If you look closely you can see the spines along this Stickleback's back which give the fish its name. The males are very territorial, especially in the breeding season, and this one kept lifting his spines, because he was confined with other fish temporarily.

Earlier in the year, the males show their breeding colours, which are quite vivid turquoise and red around their bellies.

Ok, so the leeches in our British ponds are not exactly as huge and ferocious as the ones which attached themselves to Humphrey Bogart in the 'The African Queen', but I still went a bit funny when I had to pick it out of the net ! Lots of leeches live in the mud at the bottom of the pond and are an important part of the eco - system of the pond. So I'm told. (I think we could do perfectly well without them !)

Usually at this time, or a little later in the season, after it has rained, the grass is full of little froglets leaving the pond. Strangely this year, I keep seeing lots of tadpoles at the moment, which have hardly started to develop. This one is very large and has its back legs, but lots have no limb growth at all. This is only a theory, but I did wonder if a second lot of spawn had been laid after the first lot was killed by the frosts ?

And where would we be without the scavengers ? The snails, cleaning up and clearing up the rubbish that everything else leaves behind ! The pond is full of them in all different shapes and sizes. There are the common snails, as in the photo, and Ramshorn snails, shaped as the name suggests.

There are so many beasties I haven't included - the pondskaters skimming along the surface, the Water Boatmen rowing their way through the waters, the Freshwater Lice, the Whirligig beetles and lots more.

The planting around the pond has naturalised and matured and I am so excited that I have a native Orchid growing now. Hopefully it will set seed and spread around the margins.

The pond is in its third season and there are still two things I long to see , a dragonfly , and swallows skimming the water for insects.

If you would like to see how we made our pond, you might like to view this  post:

'It won't take much digging !'