The weather has taken an upturn and we are having a mini Indian Summer. There was fog when I set off from home at 6.30am but by the time I reached the woods, it was almost gone. Just a hint of Autumn mist and low sunlight gave me some nice photo opportunities. My early walkabout produced some interesting ones. These weird things are called Dead Man’s Fingers. A tiny fungi growing on a mossy dead stick, they are only about 40mm high.
These are small Common Puffballs, looks like one was a meal for something
and we know what kind of creature made this beautiful web
My main aim was to continue the pond build. Last time I came to a halt when I hit limestone rocks, so I took a pick-axe and pulled out some hefty pieces. The pond is designed to have different levels – a shallow end which will have small stones protruding for small birds and insects to land on to drink and bathe. A deepish end that will resist freezing up, so that anything living in the water can find refuge. I smoothed the harder contours with sand then lined it with some old hessian sacking to protect the plastic liner from sharp objects. Hard to see in the contrasty light but here’s the hole – about 1.5 metres diameter.
The liner was placed in and pushed down into the hollows. The stones held it loosely in place while I started to fill with water from my water butt which was full. I sprinkled a small amount of fine soil into some of the hollows, this will give insect larvae somewhere to burrow into.
I sat for a while just enjoying watching the water slowly finding it’s way into the nooks and crannies of the liner, eagerly anticipating the the time when it will become a finished pond.
As it slowly filled, I took a walk to bring some more rocks, old tree stumps and a nicely weathered branch to act as a perching point for birds and small mammals. When the pond is full, the branch will dip into the water and also act as a ramp for anything which might need to crawl out, as the shiny plastic sides will be too slippery. Finally the barrel was empty and the pond was about half full. I will leave the pond as it is for a while to allow the liner to settle. I need some heavy rain now to refill the barrel to top it up. Eventually I will trim back the plastic edges, cover them with rocks, tree stumps and plant a few things around it to make it look more natural. At the moment it’s an ugly piece of plastic with water in it but soon it will be made to look good. Then wait for wildlife to find and use it. I guess they won’t wait for me to finish it though.
I still had some time left and took a break to take more photos. I spotted a dragonfly circling around a sunny spot, sparkling like a golden jewel. It repeatedly landed on a dead twig to bask in the afternoon sun. I crept as close as I could and with the lens at full zoom I bagged this lovely shot. I think the dragonfly is a Common Darter.
The trail camera showed over 900 clips! That was going to take some wading through. Most of them were useless 2 second shots instead of the 15 seconds it should produce. I think it’s a problem with the batteries but I did salvage some nice shots. What it showed me though was how much small wildlife is benefiting from the bucket of water I left. Birds, mice, squirrels are coming to drink and bathe in this small oasis. That knowledge gives me a warm feeling, to know that my small efforts are helping these little lives to survive in the very dry summer we have had. If you can’t build a pond, then just leaving a tray or bowl of water in your woods or gardens is going to be worthwhile. When I get time to edit the camera shots I’ll post a link to it.
