ED Nature Watch

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

There are some magnificent gorse bushes in full bloom on Ladlands/Dawsons Heights.

[Sue]

The Minkey Wrote:

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> Sue - where are you based?

xxxxxxx

Off North Cross Road, so maybe not near enough to woods or parks for goldfinches :-S

Hoping to get some frogs though as have just got a tub from a forum member to make a tiny pond with!

[gedwina]

Hi All

Interesting reading, I was wondering if anybody had any ideas on a small nature pond? Our back garden is tiny but I would love to have a tiny pond, I think it would have to be raised as the main part of the garden is paved.

Thanks

[Moos]

Come on, you damn' Goose Green daffodils, you're starting to make me look stoopid, and PGC will give me the fish eye.

[Sue]

gedwina Wrote:

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> Hi All

>

> Interesting reading, I was wondering if anybody

> had any ideas on a small nature pond? Our back

> garden is tiny but I would love to have a tiny

> pond, I think it would have to be raised as the

> main part of the garden is paved.

>

xxxxxxxx

There are various internet sites advising on small wildlife ponds in raised tubs etc - if you google something like "wildlife pond tub" it should come up. If I get a minute I'll see if I can find anything.

I was looking last night, but I'm a bit pushed for time at the moment (shouldn't be writing this :)) )

My tub is 60cm in diameter and 60cm deep, but I'm hoping to sink it into a corner of my garden. Hope there will be enough sun.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Ha! My evil Global Freezing scheme is working.

[mynamehere]

A bathtub makes a fantastic instant pond: dig a hole and sink the tub if it is ugly or if it is elegant and you want it as a feature let it stand regally

[Moos]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

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> Ha! My evil Global Freezing scheme is working.

Zoicks!

[citizenED]

We've had a fox nestling down in a quiet corner of our garden. I moved large green bag full of fallen leaves and behind it was revealed a cosy bed. Felt close to feral nature.

[Sue]

Not sure if this counts as nature, but some beautiful Camellias out at the moment and others about to burst.

Lovely pale pink one at the ED end of Oglander Road.

[BrandNewGuy]

Lots of goldfinches and great tits tweeting (rather than Tweeting...) this morning. They seem to have replaced sparrows in the 'small birds' department. Except for a small but noisy colony by the junction of Glengarry Road and Trossachs Road, there don't seem to be any sparrows left in the Dulwich Hospital area.

[lousmith]

Hi Sue, got a surplus of frogspawn if you want to start your frog nursery this year. I'm just on Barry, near st Anthony's

As with any sort of tub pond it is important to make some kind of easy egress point for froglets ( or hapless small mammals } that need to get out to prevent drowning as the sides are usually smooth and slippery.

Lou

[Sue]

I get lots of sparrows in my garden (North Cross Road area).

I'll happily swap them for your goldfinches :)

[Sue]

lousmith Wrote:

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> Hi Sue, got a surplus of frogspawn if you want to

> start your frog nursery this year. I'm just on

> Barry, near st Anthony's

> As with any sort of tub pond it is important to

> make some kind of easy egress point for froglets (

> or hapless small mammals } that need to get out to

> prevent drowning as the sides are usually smooth

> and slippery.

xxxxxxx

Hey, that's really kind.

But I've heard you shouldn't transfer spawn, but just wait for your pond to be colonised?

Will check it out again and get back to you - I'm planning on installing my mini-pond this weekend, weather permitting (and hangover permitting after my Goose gig tonight :)) ). Though hoping I can dig down two feet before hitting air raid shelter rubble!!!

I'm not sure what to do about the exit point for mammals. Apparently there's no point putting a ladder going from the middle of the tub as mammals go round the edges only, looking for a way out.

I have read that chicken wire around the edges will help them climb out, but I'm a bit worried they may get caught up in it.

What have other people done? Would a pile of stones in one corner (as it were) of the tub work?

[lousmith]

Hi Sue

I would normally agree about transferring spawn, though as you don't have an ecosystem established to potentially upset I wouldn't worry. If the spawn was impaired in any way it simply won't develop. I have never witnessed any of the dreadful viral infections that some colonies of frogs are prone to in this area. I think increasing the distribution of breeding populations in cities is a good thing. I would say leave 'wild' populations alone, though generations of tadpole crazy youngsters did nothing to dent numbers really. Nearly all ponds are in fact man-made except in boggy, marshy places, so we have a long history of helping frogs breed.

A pile of stones is a good way to go (or use bricks or old broken concrete slabs for stability under the surface and nice rocks above).You can run across the edge of the tub with them onto the land to landscape the edge. Frogs love to hide in the damp crevices. I've got a few pieces of york stone you could have which is ideal and get colonised with moss and algae pretty quickly. Was it you who had concerns about sun? Ideally a pond should be in full sun at least for a good part of the day, with aquatic plants providing the shade essential to keep water temperature down during summer, Oxygen levels go down when temp goes up, but most pond plants don't thrive in shady conditions.

Lou.

[BrandNewGuy]

Sue Wrote:

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> I get lots of sparrows in my garden (North Cross

> Road area).

>

> I'll happily swap them for your goldfinches :)

You're on, Sue :) Goldfinches were popular cage birds back when it was legal, but I find their song a bit insipid and wheezy. Much prefer the happy chatter of sparrows - even at five in the morning.

[Sue]

lousmith Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Sue

> I would normally agree about transferring spawn,

> though as you don't have an ecosystem established

> to potentially upset I wouldn't worry. If the

> spawn was impaired in any way it simply won't

> develop. I have never witnessed any of the

> dreadful viral infections that some colonies of

> frogs are prone to in this area. I think

> increasing the distribution of breeding

> populations in cities is a good thing. I would say

> leave 'wild' populations alone, though generations

> of tadpole crazy youngsters did nothing to dent

> numbers really. Nearly all ponds are in fact

> man-made except in boggy, marshy places, so we

> have a long history of helping frogs breed.

> A pile of stones is a good way to go (or use

> bricks or old broken concrete slabs for stability

> under the surface and nice rocks above).You can

> run across the edge of the tub with them onto the

> land to landscape the edge. Frogs love to hide in

> the damp crevices. I've got a few pieces of york

> stone you could have which is ideal and get

> colonised with moss and algae pretty quickly. Was

> it you who had concerns about sun? Ideally a pond

> should be in full sun at least for a good part of

> the day, with aquatic plants providing the shade

> essential to keep water temperature down during

> summer, Oxygen levels go down when temp goes up,

> but most pond plants don't thrive in shady

> conditions.

> Lou.

xxxxxxxx

That's all really useful, thanks so much.

I'll get back to you once I've actually got the tub sunk in the garden - hopefully soon :)

The other problem I have is that I don't have a rainwater butt (I know I know but no room) so I will have to use tap water, which is apparently another nono because of the chlorine?

[lousmith]

The sun will remove the chlorine in a matter of days, so is not a problem. The dissolved minerals (scale-forming) are however nutritious to plants and will tend to cause green algal growth, This in any case is almost unavoidable in the establishing phase of natural pond formation. If all else is good this should clear up when more advanced aquatic plants out compete the simpler forms and strip the water of its nutrients. You could always leave the tub in the garden to fill naturally, then get some burly helpers to lower it into your hole. Subsequent top-ups with tap water are ok if they total less than about 10% of the volume, the rain will naturally keep up the level most of the time.Good luck with it.

[The Minkey]

Lou has the most densely populated pond I've ever seen - it's a froggy paradise. Thanks so much for letting me come see them :-)

[lousmith]

Pleasure Sue, nice to meet a fellow amphibophile! x

[Sue]

Thanks Lousmith, that's all very helpful.

If it's as cold as this tomorrow though I'm not sure I fancy being outside digging a hole!!!

How long do you think I have before the frogspawn hatches? (not sure if hatches is the right word, but you know what I mean!)

[lousmith]

Hi Sue,

I think it does hatch. albeit slowly. I guess you've got a couple of weeks before they are out of their jello, depending on temperature to some extent. I'd spread out the digging over two or three days, doing I guess a spade depth per day. I always find if I wait til I feel like I've exerted myself digging, then its too late and I'm gonna feel stiff for a few days. I've got a pickaxe if the going gets tough. Chances are as I mentioned earlier you're going to get an inpenetrable green soup for a while, while things get established. I can give you a 'seed' of primordial mud which will contain a load of good stuff (like probiotics) and a sprig of oxygenating weed. If you want a Lily you will need a dwarf variety so as not to take over, that will be the only real expense. I'm pretty sure Marsden Road nature reserve still has a small selection of indigenous aquatics you can pick up for a donation. Tadpoles will pretty much cope with all the changes, though not overly warm or polluted water as it contains too little oxygen. I mentioned getting a Lily as it will shade the water in an attractive way, but duckweed is just as effective. If you take a while, you can always pick up the tadpoles.

Lou

[mekon]

LIVE: WAXWINGS ON CROXTED ROAD

About a dozen of them in the biggest tree overlooking the petrol station opposite the garden centre - they were feeding in the berry tree next to the garden centre a couple of hours ago..

[Sue]

Such a weird thing - what I now realise is a fox has been digging up a bed in a wall at the front of my house, which I gather is to get at daffodil bulbs.

BUT the other night I came home and found a raw egg buried in the earth there - complete with little lion mark, so must have originally come from a shop, not a local henhouse.

I've just googled it and found the following:

"I've just researched this and it appears to be foxes that bury eggs of all kinds in gardens. They gently pick them up in their mouth and carry it to a safe place, dig a hole and come back later to eat it. My neighbour and I have been finding goose eggs in pots and borders!"

Well this poor foxy won't find his or her egg, because I put it in my wheelie bin thinking it was someone taking the piss :))

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

How cruel of you Sue. Replace it immediately with half a dozen of ED's finest organic ones!

Saw a lovely drift of violets today, they are such a pretty flower. And the plum blossom seems to be miles ahead of the apples and cherry.