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In reply to Clare:
The second lily has showed itself
as has the newly-put-in water hawthorn
The first fringe lily flower is up
The snails have been *very* busy making babies
and yesterday I spotted something about the size of a Viking longboat that turned out to be a lesser diving beetle larva.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
In reply to Maisie:
Lovely pictures, Maisie - you're making me wish that you and your lovely pond were just around the corner from me so I could pop in and take a look!
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
You'd be more than welcome Clare! Alan, I've just been out there enjoying the sun and trying in vain to get photos of a dragonfly the size and speed of a Chinook.
In reply to doggie:
The only dragonfly I can think of that would be the size of a Chinook is....well.....a dragon. I'm not quite sure I'd want to get close enough to such a thing to get photos!!
Seriously, though, I don't think I've ever taken a holiday in your part of the world, Maisie. I might have to look at that. I can recommend holidaying in my part of the world - the East Anglian coast is very beautiful.
I'm playing with font colours as you can probably tell!
Still haven't got any photos of the Chinook, but I have got some photos of things that stay still more...
Fringe lily doing well :)
The white lily (the one the aquatics centre chap picked out for me as having leaves most like the giant Amazon lilies with their ribbing) is also flowering prolifically
The first variable-flowered lily has finally popped, having taunted me for DAYS with a big, fat closed bud
The red-leaved lily is still taunting me!
All the lilies have got plenty of leaves now in lovely colours
The pond ecosystem is also doing well. The water is becoming clearer and cleared, and there are more boatpeople that Vietnam...
and lots of diving beetles
and a whole host of whirligig beetles
All lilies have flowered. The final one's first flower is a bit oddly-shaped so I haven't taken a photo yet, but the second-to-last is pretty spectacular!
All in all, everything's starting to look very well-established now
It's a shame the surrounding area is now overgrown and untidy, but that will have to wait for some free time to strim etc.
I don't know if the sunlight (and UV) is responsible, or the snails, or the plants, but the water is EXTREMELY clear at the moment, which meant that this morning I had a great view of MY FIRST FROGGIE! Saw a huge chap briefly under one of the clumps of oxygenating plants before he retreated further under.
Unfortunately I can't get access to your spectacular lily pic M but the rest look fabulous - try to get pic of your froggie for us to see!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
In reply to WendyBartter:
It's amazing how well it's done in such a short time, Maisie. You'd think it had been there for years! Don't worry about the surrounding area; it doesn't look untidy, just natural, and the wildlife will love it like that. Looks like a good place for a wild flower meadow patch. Thanks for sharing the development; please keep updating us!
In reply to Rose Marsh:
The pond really is AMAZINGLY clear at the moment! You can see the whole bottom. Nevertheless I still haven't spotted that froggie again yet! I have spotted a myriad of baby ramshorn snails (after me worrying that they'd all been eaten by something) and lots of amusing water beetles scooting around the place.
I think I may have to put some netting over the pond soon. Mr and Mrs Woodpigeon have decided to build the usual Woodpigeon half-baked nest in the willow.. right over the pond!
I have to admit it's lovely to get some nice weather to sit by the pond and enjoy the sun and the view. The garden's really parched though so a bit of rain would be nice.