Frozen Garden Pond

As usual in this weather my garden pond is frozen over. It is a bit unusual as it is rectangular (about 18 ft x 12 ft) and no more than 12 inches deep. It was originally built for testing radio control model boats but that idea fell through a few years ago so I decided to put some plants in it. There are marginal water plants and several shallow rooting pond lilies along with oxygenating plants. Over the years it has attracted several species of Dragonfly and Damselfly to visit and investigate. Unfortunately there are also some fish in it which, in spite of it being so shallow, have bred profusely. This attracted the attention of a Heron which visited nearly every day just at daybreak last Spring which has helped to keep the fish numbers down.





Before this pond I had a much smaller one where frogs used to lay their spawn every year. They have also used the new pond but the fish are a problem. Last year I put a container made of fine mesh to protect the spawn but once the tadpoles grew they found a way out and I think they were all eaten. This year I will try to build a tadpole proof cage for them.


A Southern Hawker Dragonfly visiting the pond last year.



Blue Tailed Damselfly which followed me round the pond last Summer. Every time I stopped to photograph something it settled near me. I'm sure it wanted its photo taken.