One of the most significant garden moments during the first year in our new home was when I built a 3m diameter pond (approx. 1.1m at the deepest point). It has been great over the years to see the pond mature and all the life it has attracted.
One regret I had was building the pond too close to the leylandii hedge! Hence for some time I have wanted to remove the hedge entirely from behind the pond to open up access and give the pond more ‘breathing space’. A week off work this summer enabled me to spend a couple of half days to get this sorted. Below is a photo after just starting the work and then completed job, including some tidy up around the pond.
As already mentioned in the previous couple of blogs about our garden, we are privileged to see a super range of wildlife and birdlife around us. I was intrigued to spend some time after removing the hedge, to see exactly what birds would visit if I stood and watched with the camera. Taking a number of hours over two days, it was amazing the variety of birds visiting the pond area. Here are some of the photos I was able to capture, reflecting the range of species and activities - both at the pond itself and the tree overlooking the pond.
Species included a robin, blackbird, song thrush, house sparrow, willow warbler, chiffchaff, blackcap (female), greenfinch, chaffinch, goldfinch, blue tit, coal tit, great tit, siskin, yellowhammer (juvenile + male and female adults), wren and dunnock - a grand total of 17 species!
A real bonus was when a southern hawker dragonfly visited the pond. I managed eventually to capture a shot of the male in flight - no mean feat when it was hardly stationary, and later a female arrived and started laying eggs around the edge of the pond - I only realised the difference between male and female colourings when reviewing the photos.
Overall very pleased with the change around the pond and exciting to continue monitoring what visits - will the sparrowhawk be amongst the future sightings …..?