We have newtpoles. Or rather we have newtlets, since they have already lost their external gills and grown legs.
We have newtpoles. Or rather we have newtlets, since they have already lost their external gills and grown legs. The first was just hanging from the water surface, but disappeared down into the gloom with vigorous wiggling of its tail. Since the initial sighting I've seen several, or the same one several times. I'm assured there are at least two, but they seem to be more than slightly disturbed by my shadow falling over the water and don't seem to notice my smiling, non-threatening face.
Although we've had frogs and toads in the garden for years, they've never bred successfully, and we've never had tadpoles in our small pond. I'm hoping the newts will have better luck. Since I re-made the pond after its leak last year, we've not had much else in there. There are no skaters. They were usually the first insects to arrive and we used to have a squadron of them zooming over the surface. This bunch took advantage of a drowning spider. And there are no boatmen or beetles yet either. But Saturday saw several damselflies in tandem mating pairs so recolonization is happening, if only slowly.
The water level has been going down slowly in the hot weather, only 7 or 8cm, but enough to show the ugly liner at the edges, so I topped it up with a hose at the weekend. It was only when I was looking at the RSPB Homes for Wildlife website that I notice they advise not to use tap-water. Since the new ring-main was built through South London about 10 years ago, the chlorine levels in our drinking water have gone down drastically. There was a time when the water was only potable after using one of those tabletop filter devices to get rid of the chlorine smell, but now it's as clear as bottled spring water. I've always told people that the tap water is now fine for ponds, but the RSPB factsheet tells me it contains high levels of nutrients, likely to cause algal blooms.
Our water went slightly cloudy when the sun came out a month or two ago, so the algae are already at work. But I'm hoping that London's water nutrients went down with the chlorine levels and that my newts are not going to soon be swimming in murk.
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