Armed with a net, a white tray & guides to pond invertebrates and pond plants our group of 5 set off to survey some of the Gibside ponds. Our first port of call was to the pond in the field adjacent to The Orangery which, sadly, was bone dry!
Next stop was Warrenhaugh where there were 2 ponds to survey. The smaller pond had 3 mallards swimming on it, or it did until we arrived!
A red kite hovered overhead as we commenced our survey.
A red kite hovered overhead as we commenced our survey.
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| Mallards on small pond - Warrenhaugh |
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| Frog Spawn |
Then it was time for a coffee break which was taken in the Pontop Hut before heading off to Parkfields which had another 2 ponds to survey. On the way up to the Parkfields Ponds we noticed that the blackthorn in the hedges was in blossom.
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| Blackthorn Blossom |
Arriving at the larger of the two ponds we came across some of our volunteer colleagues who were busy digging a hole in preparation for the creation of a logpile which will hopefully provide shelter for newts.
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| Matthew & Mike hard at work |
We had our catch of the day at the larger of the two ponds, a small fish of some sort.
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| Andy examines his catch |
After lunch taken sitting by the Ha-ha in Parkfields we headed off to The West Woods where there were three small ponds to survey.
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| Fishing |
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| Dragonfly Nymph |
Hopefully we will be able to repeat the survey in a few weeks to see how the pond life is developing.
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