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Habitat 2: The school pond

12th June 2020

     

During the last week, Year 6 have spent a considerable amount of time in the pond area.  We have cleaned out the leaves and much of the pond weed and then filled the pond up (it had lost a lot of water in the hot weather).

This week, we have found the following creatures in the pond:

Pond skater Gerrids bearing water mites – Ray Cannon's nature notes
Water boatman Water Boatman Beetle - Z Pond Critters
Dragonfly nymph skin  Molted skin of Dragonfly Larva photo - Sayer photos at pbase.com
May fly Mayflies | National Wildlife Federation

Whirligig beetle

Whirligig Beetle
Ramshorn snail Ramshorn Snails Wheel Snails; Planorbids | MDC Discover Nature
Pond Snail Snails - Freshwater Habitats TrustFreshwater Habitats Trust
Stickleback Stickleback Fish Used Pre-Existing Genes to Go from Saltwater to ...
Goldfish Goldfish Care Guide (for Beginners) | My Pet Needs That

We also found the following plants:

Marsh Marigold Marsh marigold, Caltha palustris
Yellow Flag Iris Yellow flag iris, Iris pseudacorus
Water Lilies Nymphaea 'Tetragona' - BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Ducksweed Could duckweed be the next big vertical farm crop?

Surprisingly, we have not seen any tadpoles or frogs: they may have been eaten by the fish.

Our next step is to clean the paving stones around the edge of the pond: we will pull up the stones which are loose and put fresh cement in the area.  We are also hoping that Big Worle are able to support us in funding an observation deck.