  
Flowering Rush Yellow Water Lilies Measuring for the liner October 2002, We've Begun Our Wildlife Pond!  Here's the hole for the pond which Stephen, my partner, dug out with the digger. Click on the pic for a closer look. We actually dug more out from the deepest part after this, to make sure it would be deep enough not to freeze solid in the winter (not that it gets THAT cold in the winter these days).
 This one was taken after we'd laid lots of scraps of old carpet to protect the liner, then laid the Butyl Rubber liner itself, over the carpet, and started to fill it.
20/10/02 The pond is now full. Stephen has trimmed the liner and begun to secure the edges with rocks. Pictures to follow soon. It now has all winter to "settle", and I'll be ordering all my favourite pond and wetland wild flowers to plant in and around it in the spring. Can't wait!!!! Watch this space...... June 2003 Having planted all my favourite pond plants, the pond is now beginning to take shape. The Thrush and Blackbird take regular baths in it and it's really starting to become a feature. 
Ponds are fascinating! They have their own entire ecosystem! A must for nature lovers and wildlife gardeners. From watching the complete lifecycle of a frog, and birds drinking and bathing, to the emergence of a Dragonfly or the appearance of a newt, a pond can be a focal point for the whole family! N.B. Please bear in mind, of course, that children must be supervised at all times, and safety precautions taken. If you haven't got the room for a full size pond, how about a pebble fountain or a wetland feature? The wild flowers that grow easily at the pond edge and wetland beyond are, in my mind, some of the most beautiful plants there are! September 2004 Last summer I collected lots of Smooth Newts from my friend Pamela's old disused swimming pool which was soon to be filled in. We put them in the pond, but, usually, if they are able to get out, they live on land most of the year round, until Spring when they return to the pond to mate. We did see quite a lot of newts in the Spring this year, were pleased they had come back, and hoped they would breed. Well we hadn't seen any newts in there at all for a while, so I thought, at the end of August, it would be safe to start pulling out some blanket weed. I left it at the edge of the pond so that any creatures in it could get back in easily. Then I saw some blanket weed near the bottom that I couldn't get hold of, so I got the net. I scooped it up and took it out, and in the bottom of the net were 3 large Dragonfly larvae and a tiny baby newt! I was so pleased to know that they had actually bred and if there's one there must be more, but that's it, I won't touch it again now until after the autumn. They have gills and just live under water at first, but after 10 weeks they become fully amphibious. I put my little baby in a white bowl before I put him back in the pond so that I could get a decent photo of him!  
Newt Tadpole, enlarged. It was only about 2cm long. Dragonfly nymph in the pond, about 4cm long.  September 2004 Goldfinches on our Sunflowers, bottom one pecking at the seeds.
 October 2004 "Spit" arrived on the 12th of this month! I went out to feed the birds and noticed some sawdust on the ground. I looked up into the Willow tree and saw a hole. Later, I looked out there and lo and behold, there was Spit! He started off pecking away at his hole, and gradually got further and further in. He was coming back out and spitting out the wood shavings, hence, Stephen decided to call him Spit! He now has two holes, so I think he must go in one and come out the other!
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