Pond Open Days 2010 -
from 10am to 12noon
Sunday 18 April
Sunday 16 May
Sunday 20 June
Sunday 11 July
Sunday 18 April
Sunday 16 May
Sunday 20 June
Sunday 11 July
Nets and pond dipping equipment are provided
POND LIFE
The committee of the Nature Reserves has managed the ponds for wildlife since 2000. The ponds are established and home for all sorts of animals. The Sunday public pond dipping sessions held for the last two years show this. Smooth and great crested newt larvae are regularly found, as are dragonfly and damselfly larvae. Water boatmen, pond skaters and great pond snails are always part of the catch, along with a variety of other unidentified invertebrates. Frogs spawn every year and grass snakes hunt in the ponds.
So - are we doing a good job? Yes....and No, apparently! Pond Conservation is a charity dedicated to conserving ponds and their wildlife. Their website contains a number of excellent fact sheets giving information on the design and management of ponds for wildlife. They contain much informed advice. Clean water is the most important factor. This generally means rainwater. We have had mixed success here. Fencing out dogs has allowed the ponds to clear but last year we topped up the ponds with mains water. According to Pond Conservation they should be left to refill naturally. PC’s fact sheets identify shallows less than 10 cm deep as the richest part of a pond for biodiversity. Only one of our ponds has shallows, particularly as the water level can recede dramatically in Summer. Newt larvae can often be seen in these areas.
So - we are doing OK here. PC’s strangest advice is not to plant up new ponds. We did and that is why the ponds look so well established, but views change. It would now appear it is important to allow all pond life to colonise naturally. Clearly there is an enormous amount to be learnt about ponds. Hopefully we can use PC’s advice to design and create more pond habitats and increase the biodiversity found on the Reserves.
John Madden
(The Lingfield Nature Reserves, Community News April/May 2010)
The committee of the Nature Reserves has managed the ponds for wildlife since 2000. The ponds are established and home for all sorts of animals. The Sunday public pond dipping sessions held for the last two years show this. Smooth and great crested newt larvae are regularly found, as are dragonfly and damselfly larvae. Water boatmen, pond skaters and great pond snails are always part of the catch, along with a variety of other unidentified invertebrates. Frogs spawn every year and grass snakes hunt in the ponds.
So - are we doing a good job? Yes....and No, apparently! Pond Conservation is a charity dedicated to conserving ponds and their wildlife. Their website contains a number of excellent fact sheets giving information on the design and management of ponds for wildlife. They contain much informed advice. Clean water is the most important factor. This generally means rainwater. We have had mixed success here. Fencing out dogs has allowed the ponds to clear but last year we topped up the ponds with mains water. According to Pond Conservation they should be left to refill naturally. PC’s fact sheets identify shallows less than 10 cm deep as the richest part of a pond for biodiversity. Only one of our ponds has shallows, particularly as the water level can recede dramatically in Summer. Newt larvae can often be seen in these areas.
So - we are doing OK here. PC’s strangest advice is not to plant up new ponds. We did and that is why the ponds look so well established, but views change. It would now appear it is important to allow all pond life to colonise naturally. Clearly there is an enormous amount to be learnt about ponds. Hopefully we can use PC’s advice to design and create more pond habitats and increase the biodiversity found on the Reserves.
John Madden
(The Lingfield Nature Reserves, Community News April/May 2010)
POND INFORMATION BOARD
A new coloured display board, sited by the Millennium ponds. This board is in response to many requests for a permanent display showing some of the wildlife living in or visiting these two ponds. With pictures of the pond and different species, this will help visitors to the Reserves adding interest and help with identification. It will also be educational and add enjoyment for the local youth groups at their Summer meetings and for those attending the Pond Open Day mornings.
Our thanks go to the Tandridge Local Committee and to other anonymous funding for the cost, and to Bill Butcher the illustrator and our committee member John Madden for all their hard work producing this exciting interpretation board.
POND INTERPRETATION BOARD CEREMONY
Saturday, 26 September 2009
A new coloured display board, sited by the Millennium ponds. This board is in response to many requests for a permanent display showing some of the wildlife living in or visiting these two ponds. With pictures of the pond and different species, this will help visitors to the Reserves adding interest and help with identification. It will also be educational and add enjoyment for the local youth groups at their Summer meetings and for those attending the Pond Open Day mornings.
Our thanks go to the Tandridge Local Committee and to other anonymous funding for the cost, and to Bill Butcher the illustrator and our committee member John Madden for all their hard work producing this exciting interpretation board.
POND INTERPRETATION BOARD CEREMONY
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Emperor Dragonfly laying eggs - J Madden
Picture by Caroline Ohlson
Azure Damselfly - J Madden
Broad Bodied Chaser - J Madden