June 21st, 1999

 The pond in Great Garden, which was created a few years ago to replace an older, leaking one, is now developing well. A number of native plants have become established. Some of these have been planted and others have been introduced by chance. They include things such as greater spearwort, bogbean, yellow-fringed water lily, water forget-me-not, water mint, purple loosestrife and the Click for Bur-reed pagebur-reed pictured on this page.

Many common frogs and common newts use the pond. The newts can be seen swimming slowly up to the surace during the daytime, taking gulps of air and immediately descending again. However, the best way to get a look at them, without netting them, is to visit the pond after dark and locate them using a torch. They can then be seen sitting in shallow water.

I was looking at the pond about a week ago when I was surprised to see a small head, belonging to a moorhen, pop up in the centre of the pond and then drop below the surface again when I was spotted. I then watched a line of bubbles rise to the surface as the moorhen made its way to the edge of the pond completely submerged and out of sight. It remained underwater until I left, breaking the surface only to breath occasionally. I have since found that the moorhens have built a nest amongst the reeds on the pond and now have four eggs.