my not so dead wildlife pond

saradelpozo

so, we dug a little pond in my garden last year (very shallow due to extremelly hard clay soil) and other than algae I noticed no signs of life.

Today I found some pidgeons and starlings drinking in it. I decided to clear some of the debris that had fallen in the last few days so they have better water to drink and I found this transparent curly thing stuck to a leave.
Should I get excited that live is finally moving into my little pond? (I've put it back in the water just in case)

wild edges

Looks like it might be a hoverfly larvae. They're given the unfortunate name of rat tailed maggot but hatch into useful pollinators. They're also an indicator of poor water quality though I'm afraid.

saradelpozo

jejeje, no worries, as I said, all I've seen is algae... I know I have to do something about it  :. Just not sure what.
I think I'll go down tomorrow to get some oxygenators as the one I put last year might have died or something.

Skandi

I think it might be a pond snail egg sack? is it like jelly with very small black flecks in it when you look close? if it's what wild edges thinks it'll run away when you poke it!

saradelpozo

yes, it's jelly like curly thing with specks on it,  but white not black. It doesn't do anything when you poke it

Jellyfire

Id agree they’re snail eggs sacks

saradelpozo

hello, I'm pretty sure nobody is read this in a while but I thought I'd post an update

Last week after clearing a fair bit of algae (pond started to look like shrek's swamp), I found that some of the eggs had hatched (or whatever pond life does) and I have some snails and even a frog came out unimpressed by me sticking the hand in the pond. I hope having a healthier looking environment doesn't make them move out.

josusa47

Congratulations on your frog!  I've had a wildlife pond for four years and never seen a frog.

DampGardenMan

josusa47 said:

Congratulations on your frog!  I've had a wildlife pond for four years and never seen a frog.

Have you been out at night with a torch? It's quite surprising what's active in the water when it's dark - our ditch teems with life at night, but nothing to be seen during the day.