The Pond makes slow but trouble free progress. There were a few frogs, toads and newts observed optimistically spawning. The best development is that two plant species have appeared, probably due to all the stirring up of the silt in certain areas last autumn and the clearer water and the lack of grazing by the carp. They are Floating Sweet Grass and, most encouragingly, three small colonies of a species of Water Crowfoot. In one of the old photos that we have of the pond we can see that a large mat of this pretty plant was growing in the pond.
The water was beautifully clear for a while after the winter and you could see that it was teeming with small life but has since become a bit cloudy. I have asked our ecologist why this has happened. He enigmatically suggested that I have look at a sample under a microscope and I would see why. I’ve tried but my microscope skills have let me down so far. However it is another way of understanding the pond.
Graham Thorne