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 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. |
