Tuesday 24 March 2009

Bugs, Blooms and Frog Spawn

This morning I made my daily check of the pond to see whether any frogs had appeared. No, still no sign of any. I did get a clear view of one of the resident newts for a couple of seconds so I am now certain that at least one survived the winter. It was in view too briefly to get a photo though.

There are a few fish in the pond and I spotted a couple of fry which cannot be all that old as they are about 2.5cm long. Just as I was watching one of them it suddenly started darting about very haphazardly. Closer inspection showed that it had been caught by a Water Boatman which was intent in making a meal of it. That took me by surprise as I hadn't thought of Water Boatmen as being carnivorous. At least not until I checked with Wild England.

Goldfish Fry

Water Boatman

I had been looking out for signs of 'minibeast' life in the pond and this was the first I have seen this year. By Summer there will be lots of Water Boatmen and Pond Skaters about.

Despite the thermometer showing 9 degrees my hands were getting frozen holding the camera so I had a quick tour round the garden and came back in for a well needed cuppa! On the way I could see that the catkins on the Corkscrew Hazel are now fully open and that a clump of Muscari were looking at their best.

Corkscrew Hazel Catkins

Grape Hyacinths

A couple of days ago there were scores of small flies appearing everywhere and I thought I was photographing one on the inside of the kitchen window ... until I looked at the results. So - one unidentified bug, size about 9mm:

Bug

Later:

Well knock me down with a feather!! I thought I heard croaking a couple of days ago but saw nothing. I have just had another look in the pond as the Sun had come out again and there it was. A nice big dollop of frog spawn.

In the main pond:
Frog Spawn

As the fish in the pond normally dispose of the tadpoles before they are big enough to survive I had prepared a nursery pond in an old water feature with plants and water from the main pond. I have now transferred a lot of the spawn along with sludge and water from the main pond. Next job will be to build a secure area in the main pond for the tadpoles as they hatch. Easier said than done. I tried last year but all the tadpoles managed to escape into the main part of the pond and I don't think any reached maturity.

In its temporary home:
Frog Spawn

Nest Box Update:

What are the Blue Tits up to? Bits of moss in - bits of moss out. Bits of straw in - bits of straw out again. Feathers appearing - feathers disappearing. Gradually there is more moss appearing in one corner of the box. They are certainly still active in the box - just so much dithering!

Present state of affairs:
Moss in Nest Box

5 comments:

  1. That blue tit sounds like a housewife that can't make up her mind on the decorating :-) Great photos of the small creatures in the pond. I hope that you succeed with the tadpoles this year.

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  2. Frogspawn at last! Well done John and what a remarkable picture with no glare from the water. Did you use a polarizing filter?

    Lovely picture of the corkscrew hazel - lovely tree in my view!

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  3. Mick: Thanks for visiting. I nearly added a comment about he wanting the furnishing from Homebase and she from Ikea but I though better of it :>)

    Tricia: No polarizing filter, just the usual UV. Low angle for the spawn and virtually vertical for the fish. Luck really!
    I love the Corkscrew Hazel too. This year I gave it more breathing space by removing other plants which were choking its light so it should come on a treat now.

    I have a feeling that much of the spawn is not viable by the amount which has white dots but only time will tell but at least they came.

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  4. Fascinating post John and very interesting pond photos, as Tricia said remarkably clear.
    I loved the catkin photo and your Grape Hyacinths are looking good, I took a photo of mine recently only to find there were a lot of weeds showing amongst them. So photo no good and a spot of weeding to be done!
    I have heard before how much time Blue Tits spend dithering whilst 'home making', I'm pretty good at dithering myself!!

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  5. ShySongbird: It is remarkable how often things show in a photograph that we just do not notice when we are taking it. The weeds have really taken off this past couple of weeks. I spent about an hour spraying awkward ones which grow in tiny gaps in paving and concrete.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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