With my growing interest in dragonflies and damselflies this year continuing and my latest pursuits of dragonfly larvae I thought I would make a small pond in my garden to see if I could attract any odonata next year and maybe raise a few larvae through the winter in there. I managed to find a bit of land that the kids didn't want to use, the rest of the garden having various trampolines, etc in there. After receiving a preformed plastic pond liner I set about digging the shape out and adding a few rocks etc. Its only about a metre and a half in length and nearly a metre wide but hopefully it will do the job I wish it to perform. The overall target is to witness the larvae of damselflies climbing up the stems and hatching out with me being able to capture the sequence on the camera, with a nice cup of tea and chair next to me of course! I would like to rear some hawker larvae in there but it may be too small for them but maybe I will have a go next year when its more established.
The 'New' Pond
Anyway its something to look forward to and i'm sure the kids will be interested with other insects etc that turn up as well. If you have any advise on how to improve it then please let me know. I made a quick trip out this afternoon to see what was on the wing. It was quite dull and cloudy and I only spent a few minutes looking. All I saw were a few Common Darter and 1 Common Blue Damselfly. I think they are really hanging on now and I hope this is not the last sighting I have of one this year.
Common Blue Damselfly
Hopefully they have had a good season and the water and grasses will be alive with them next year. Weather permitting and with one of my daughters on half term with me next week, we will do a bit of pond dipping to see what larvae we can find.
You have a pond, and it is very good at Dragonflies, let it get some odonata Marc.
ReplyDeleteMarc I guarantee you'll want a bigger pond next year, or at least another small one :-) You will probably get blanket weed develop at some point, I find putting barley straw pouches in the water helps reduce this a great deal, just put one in and let it rot down under the water, then replace it out after 6 months ;-)
ReplyDeleteI built a small pond last year and have been mothering mum and dad all this year to let me have a bigger bit of the garden for a bigger one. I hope you get loads of great stuff in yours. From Findlay
ReplyDeleteIn ground pond looks natural. Pond building has become very common. It can be build easily by using Pond Repair stones rocks fish and plants etc.
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