One Year Pond Study: Week 35 – Change, Change and More Change

Welcome to week 35 of our one year pond study.  Here is our Pond this week:

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Yes, that is what appears to be a huge great digger right in the middle of our pond!  Here it is from another angle:

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Do you remember the wooden fence they built last week, cordoning off part of the pond?  If not here is a reminder:

A wooden fence made of the branches they have cut down has been built about 2 meters from the same edge. We don't know why or what it is for

This has now been completely filled in with mud, we think dug from the bottom of the pond:

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And here are the girls looking over into it:

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This will have the effect of making the pond even smaller than it already is. Although we have walked past and seen the occasional mallard and the two of the Moorhens, today there was nothing there apart from the odd sea gull:

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Although, if you looked hard enough there was some evidence of life right in the mud:

From paw prints and Moorhen foot prints..
From paw prints and Moorhen foot prints..
To bird prints...
to bird prints…
Shells, which must have come from the floor of the original pond
Shells, which must have come from the floor of the original pond…
And what's this?
And what’s this?
Some sort of pond crustacean?
Some sort of pond crustacean?

Maybe a water scorpion or a great diving beetle?

It is sad that so many of our friends have upped and left the pond, but it is interesting to watch the process of conservation happening on our doorstep, and the odd wildlife treat it is unearthing (literally).

Of course for me, the most beautiful creatures at the pond were…..

Three of my gorgeous girls
…three of my gorgeous girls!