Three new ponds have been created at the reserve and registered them with Pond Conservation's Million Ponds Project. Ponds provide valuable resources for all kinds of wildlife and might also provide some useful watering spots for our visiting Exmoor ponies. These three ponds may prove to be the first of many. It is known that invertebrates can colonise ponds very rapidly, and ponds can quickly develop great conservation value. Our ponds will certainly enhance the biodiversity of the heath. Each pond will be different, interms of water sources, water quality, soils, and biodiversity. We'll watch the progress of these three ponds and, based the lessons learned from the specifics of the site, we hope to create many more ponds on the heath and in the woodlands.
It might not look much yet, but this pond was dug in a slightly boggy area. There might be a natural spring which will feed into this pond. We'll wait and see how it develops.
I'm not sure our volunteers were too impressed with this scrape and natural spring:
The water from the spring is feeding into one of our new ponds:
And, Hey Presto! Less than two weeks later it's almost full, with pond-skaters already whizzing around on the surface.
Once full, the final job is to cut the outflow pipe to the right level. Our multi-talented RSPB volunteer, Alan, got stuck in (literally).
We'll not add any plants or animals to these ponds. We'll let the flora and fauna colonise and develop naturally and without disturbance. Watch this space for photos of the ponds developing.