I spent all my time relaxing in the garden this evening. It had rained in the afternoon but by the time I'd returned home from work the sun had come out and everything had started to dry out.
After tea I sat and watched the tadpoles for twenty minutes. Most seem to have developed back legs now and will soon begin turning into little froglets. I've not bothered taking photos of them just yet as they spend most of the time moving around between the elodea crispa or shooting to the surface for air before dashing back down to the bottom of the pond. I'm still quite surprised just how many tadpoles there are too, I thought that most of them would have been eaten by the newts by now.
Speaking of newts, I still see one of them when I go out late in the evening with my torch. I'm not sure where the other went but I spend ages watching them stalking in the pond.
Both the frogs are still around and the smaller one seems to still favour pond project #1, the smaller of the two ponds and is there most evenings.
After checking up on the tadpoles, I just sat in a chair and watched the birds feed in the Acer behind the pond.
The pond plants are doing good right now and the elodea crispa has started taking over the pond again providing good cover for the tadpoles whilst they are developing into froglets.
The plants my Wife put around the pond have flourished unlike the heather that we originally planted there when I first installed the pond. The black dragon plants have started to multiply so we may need to dig a few of those additional ones up and move them elsewhere.
Pond Project #2
The Bug Hotel
My latest addition
to the garden was a water
station for birds and insects.
It was one of my activities
for the 30 Days Wild Challenge
back at the beginning of June.
It looked like this at first:
It was one of my activities
for the 30 Days Wild Challenge
back at the beginning of June.
It looked like this at first:
However, I disliked the look of it so much
that yesterday I replaced it with a large
ceramic cat bowl, filled the bottom with
gravel and added some pebbles.
I think it looks much better now :-)
Pond Project #1
A selection of
flowers from the garden:
View from my chair this evening
I know newts are supposd to eat young frogs and tadpoles but I see them co-existing quite happily when I visit York.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if they could co-exist Adrian as I like them both in the pond :-)
DeleteIt's all looking lovely Ian, you must be thrilled. Probably you've got so many taddies that the newts can't eat them all.
ReplyDeleteThanks CT.
DeleteLooks great and the bowl with pebbles is attractive as well as ideal for the insects. Like your hedgehog home in the previous post as well. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Mandy. Yes I like the bowl with the pebbles much better, glad I changed it.
DeleteWhat a super pond. We don't seem to have had many tadpoles this year and haven't seen any newts either. Love your bug hotel and the water bowl for birds and insects too. All your pond plants look great and very healthy:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comments Rosie.
DeleteSounds like a pleasant evening :) I like your new insect water station.
ReplyDeleteThanks Louise, yes the new bird/insect water station is much better than the previous one.
DeleteI enjoyed reading your blog, your pond looks amazing. I have been thinking of making a pond for sometime but haven't got round to it yet. Thank you for the inspiration. I also like your bug hotel as its a quirky idea. You have loads of lovely flowers which add colour to the garden. Also love the stones you have painted.
ReplyDeleteNorberto @ Thorburn Landscapes
Thanks for your comments Norberto, always nice to read that I've helped inspire others.
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