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Pond Visitor?

februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 701
in Wildlife gardening
Set up a barrel pond a few months ago and have been fascinated by the bugs swimming around in it. First came the water beetles and then it was inundated with mosquito larvae pretty quickly. They were followed by water lice, snails and mayfly nymphs (initially thought they were damselfly nymphs but mayflies are still good). I noticed a couple of days ago that the mayfly nymphs had gone which was a little disappointing as I was hoping to watch them grow but there were still lots and lots of water lice and mosquitoes. I've gone out there this morning and there was nothing other than a few mosquito larvae. I have seen a frog a couple of times down that end of the garden but didn't know whether or not it was using the pond. Would you say that the frog has had an all-you-can-eat binge in there and cleared all the bug life?

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,005
    The nymphs can spend a long time in the pond - a couple of years, so if you've only had the pond a few months, they're probably still there.
    Frogs don't spend a lot of time in ponds, apart from in winter, when they're down at the bottom in hibernation, but yes- in a small area, Freddo may well have had a nice lunch. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 701
    I know, I was so excited to have something I could watch progress for a couple of years but now it seems my hopes are dashed. There were loads of them resting on the bricks, rocks and driftwood and they literally disappeared over night. Same has happened with all of the other pond beasties. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited there's a frog in my garden but I didn't want it to eat everything in the pond!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,005
    It's the problem with a very small pond of any kind. Captive audience...literally
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 701
    Very true unfortunately. A handful of water lice have appeared, nowhere near the amount there were, but so sign at all of any surviving mayfly nymphs. I was happy to see the large water beetle swimming around and even happier last night to discover that I actually had three. Two of them were having a punch up, God knows what about!
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