
Welcome to week 15 of our one year pond study. For the rest of the posts in this series please see here.
This week we decided to make a visit to another local pond and do an informal comparison study. In our village we have not one pond but many, many ponds. Most of these are now managed, but none so much as our comparison ponds. I remember these ponds from my youth (three in close proximity to each other) and decided to take the children up to compare them to our little pond. I knew they had been ‘renovated’ but was very surprised by all I saw. They were unrecognisable from the ponds in my memory. Here is our summer comparison study:





One thing we noticed immediately was the lack of bird wild life in the big fishing pond compared to our little pond. It may have been due to it’s sheer size or the fact it was nesting time, but all was very quiet. However the ones we did see were huge!

We noticed the water wasn’t as clear as our little pond:

We did see lots of nests and nesting birds which seemed to confirm that this was reason for a lack of birds on the pond:



These were all seen in the fishing pond. As we walked towards the Lily pad pond we came across this huge, hundreds of years old Oak tree:

As we journeyed around the corner we were in for a huge treat:



We noticed the lily pads gave the chick a great place to run, and also offered some protection as they grew in the middle of the pond:

It was good fun to visit another pond and compare it with ours. These ponds were so much larger than our little pond that I imagine we would need to do another year-long pond study just to touch the surface of all it has to offer!
I love the different comparisons you came up with. I’m really jealous of all these great parks and ponds you have nearby.
Our little village would be quite unusual I think, but it is situated bang in the middle of lots of protected land, with all the benefits that brings.
Fantastic photos of your visit. What a brilliant place for your pond studies – I also like the fact that they are well managed and the old oak tree is protected. Thanks for coming over and sharing your pond adventures with Country Kids.
Thanks for having us Fiona!
I love the comparisons you made. Both ponds are so beautiful.
They really are. We are very blessed to live here. That said, I miss being by the sea terribly!