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Photographic lap of pond
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01-05-2010 2:53pm#1Actually half a lap and it's a large pond. I was blessed with a opportunity to create a large pond in my garden about 10 years ago and I've been reaping the rewards ever since.
A pond is a wonderful addition to a garden. It is such a wildlife magnet and while something on this scale is an option for very few, perhaps this may inspire consideration to putting in a pond of a size that suits the space available.
I felt that things were happening today so went out with kids and camera
Male swan (cob) arousing from his rest
He's on the move and in a defensive pose. The Marsh Marigolds are throwing their splash of yellow everywhere and the oak just into leaf in my favourite tree in the garden.
These guys were trapped under ice for a while after spawning, but they are lapping up the warmth now
This is a floating nest of the Little Grebe. They quickly cover the eggs with water plants when disturbed. One egg can be seen. Its white but by the time they hatch the eggs are brown from the water plants
Nearly stood on a frog! I think 2 years old, about half adult size.
The first dragonfly of the season. a female Hairy Dragonfly/Spring Hawker (take your pick) emerged today. The exuvia (larval skin) was what she was in only a matter of hours before. Despite the lack of sunshine she had flown an hour later.
At the far end of pond we have herself on the nest for past 5 weeks. Today was due day and they were on schedule.
Can just see a glimpse of a grey body
And this is why he had defensive pose. He kept himself between us and nest
The cygnets showed themselves an hour later. At least 5 though only got 2 with camera
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Managed to witness the first splash by the cygnets. They were very reluctant! This was the second attempt by mum to get them in. First attempt about 30 minutes earlier was aborted after only 2 cygnets entered. It took about 2 minutes from first to all in the water.
First one
Three in
5
6
Final one
Then the proud mother came to me to show them off. I think this is the seventh year nesting here. We're well acquainted
And here they are before they left the nest. When I first got a full count
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Not nerdy to meI learned the old names when I did the dragonfly recording course for the Dragonfly Ireland project. Find the new ones harder to remember.
Do you catch them and then look at the marks behind their necks? I find it easiest to photograph the neck segment so that I can identify at leisure. This sounds a bit nerdy.
I have close focusing binoculars but often use net to identify, particularly the females. I contributed records to Dragonfly Ireland as well and "grew up" with the old names, the names that as far as I know all the current guides use, and I find it very hard to adopt other names0 -
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It makes sense to continue a story here about the swans. I mentioned earlier that the swans leave each year when cygnets are a few weeks old.
They left yesterday and the following is the detail of the journey....
I was heading out to do some work at about 7.10am when I noticed the tail ends of the 7 swans. We lost a 2nd cygnet about 2 days previously, so down to 5. I knew immediately that they were heading out along my lane.
So informed the family that I was dropping everything and going with the swans. My daughter accompanied me.
On my lane at 7.19am
Onto road at 7.28. At the end of the straight is the entrance they usually head in, about 200m and with it being straight, it's relatively straight forward, but the swans tend to walk down the middle and I try to usher them to side so they are only blocking one way.
7.35am and the only traffic and just reaching this entrance
8.02 am and still on the road :eek: and they are getting tired with all of them sitting down at times to rest. Alas they continued passed the previous entrance. It may have been because a car just happened to appear in this entrance at just the wrong time, but it seemed they were going to stay on the road anyway. Plenty of traffic including one car that had to make a rapid stop when he came across us when he went round corner.
So this is about 600m further on and just approaching the next entrance. I was determined to force them in here because the next entrance another 600m on would have involved many dogs.
8.03am and they didn't need encouragement to go in. They pondered for about a minute of how to get through the gate but they managed to fit under.
The ow er of this field caught up with me at this stage and told me the lye of the land and where the drains are. These drains lead to Broadlough. They also put in their dog.
8.18am and stuck in a corner of field. I knew they would be but also knew there was nothing I could do until they reached it. So now I'm attempting to move them along the hedge to a gap, but it is against their sense of what direction they need to go in
8.27am After me trying to manhandle them to go this way and they giving out me I asked my daughter to lead.........and they followed ....phew
There is a bank (new hedgerow) in the distance
8.35am. Up and over the bank. There is a house here and drain starts not far from it.
Last photo but it took another 25 minutes because they refused despite my best forcing efforts to direct them to take the short way under a post and rail fence.
They arrived at pond. I left them at this stage. I hear they left this pond aout half a hour later and continued across fields. They didn't find the drain I was trying to direct them to. Eventually they will have reached one of a number of drains and all I can assume is that they did so safely.
The journey covered about 2km and took 1.50 hours.0 -
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