A year in the life of a pond

Reception pond

When the new reception hide and facilities were built in 2016 the pond, that is now referred to as the reception pond, was created. It was excavated in a clearing created from the removal of windblown larch and the resulting clay topsoil was used to form the access ramp to the reception hide. The pond is up to 2m in places and is mostly self-lined by natural clay but there are pockets of peat around the edges, so some areas had to be bunded by conventional pond liner and puddles clay. It was left to fill naturally, which continues, from rainwater and the roof run off from the reception hide, acting as an ‘aqua green’ to contain any excess water before it is released into the surrounding ditches. When there was only 30cm of water the first inhabitants were recorded; great diving beetle, several species of dragonfly, midge larvae and the ‘endearing’ marsh frog. Since then the aquatic wildlife has been left to colonise.

When schools visit, they have several activities that they can choose to take part in and one of those is pond dipping. This gives the children a great opportunity to do some very valuable scientific sampling. They learn how to use the simple equipment safely and correctly to sample the water from the dipping platform. They then use identification keys (FSC charts) to name all the organisms that they catch, which they then record. The identification key is not detailed to species level for many of the invertebrates, but it is an appropriate tool for primary age pupils to use as they rarely have undertaken pond sampling before, so most organisms are new to them. Once back in the classroom we record everything centrally giving an indication of species diversity and abundance. The counts are not accurate full counts, they are recorded as present or absent across the ten working groups, eg a score of 1 is given if only one group found that species, regardless of how many they actually caught. Since its creation the pond has only been sampled by visiting school children, so their role is key in recording the changing biodiversity of the pond and in so doing values the importance of their work as visiting scientists on the reserve.

For last year, 2019, I have collected all the data and it provides an interesting picture of how the pond changes over the year, starting in April right through to November. In that time 25 species have been found; 23 invertebrates, 1 fish and 1 amphibian. The most common species throughout the year, seen in every class sample, are lesser water boatmen, ramshorn snails, stickleback and damselfly larvae. Some species; burrowing mayfly nymph, stonefly and hairworm have only been recorded once over the year. Certain species are found at certain times; marsh frog tadpoles are not seen until early July as would be expected, whereas damselfly larvae numbers peak in the autumn, suggesting that these individuals are overwintering in the pond, contrasting to dragonfly larvae which are seen in abundance in June but are not recorded in October and November. Stickleback numbers reach a peak in June and July, but the data does not specify whether these have been adults or fry. The number of pond skaters drop from the end of July and are not recorded in autumn. Ramshorn snails and lesser waterboatmen as well as being recorded in every class sample during the year are also the most abundant throughout the year, being seen by large numbers of the groups in the class; in July all groups in the class caught lesser waterboatmen.

From these records the pupils can see the biodiversity of life in the pond and appreciate that some species are more common than others. Their favourites have to be the sticklebacks and the marsh frog tadpoles, maybe because these are species they are more familiar with. Research shows that children are able to learn and retain specific species names and so introducing them to burrowing mayfly nymphs and hairworms is beneficial to their subsequent recall of a pond habitat and its feeding relationships. Highlighting the tremendous jaws of a dragonfly larvae or the pincers of a pond stick insect engage pupils with an unfamiliar but equally fascinating pond organism, widening their knowledge and understanding of the pond as a habitat, adding value to the simple activity of pond dipping.

Watchful eyes

Hopefully everyone is managing to get some great wildlife from home;  One of our volunteers managed a nice little ringed plover locally on a daily excercise walk:

And Brian our camera guru has his own home network so he can watch the blue tits in a nest lined of his own hair after being DIY pruned in the middle of the lawn...

We've purposefully not been posting information from Tophill Low on sightings as we feel it unfair to tantalise our regulars (and indeed incite people to visit).  We will be adding some trail camera footage now and again but not giving a running commentary.  Once some breeding species are firmly established we may put an update on later.  Suffice to say all is well - a few scenery shots to show it still exists:

The main point we would like to get across is that whilst Tophill Low Nature Reserve is closed to the public; It is still staffed with site monitoring being undertaken every day. 

Whilst getting to see the wildlife is undoubtedly a perk we have a rota of checks to ensure that environmental permitting is upheld, sluices and water controls are working and not blocked or flooded, livestock checked, and our safety and security responsibilities as a landowner upheld.  Tophill Low's main purpose is a drinking water supply and as key workers we do not want our process engineers needlessly placed in contact with members of the public that shouldn't be on site.  In addition we also have constant updates from residents at Tophill Low keeping a watchful eye and reporting all incursions - suddenly having to drive 3 miles to the nearest village for years has come into its own and they would undoubtly like to keep it that way.  We also have the usual CCTV and various trail cameras monitoring all corners of the site. 

So all incidents like the couple in a vehicle attempting to drive in off the river bank today (illegal without Environment Agency permission), or these two trespassing and illegally fishing on Watton Nature Reserve on Friday (and potentially disturbing schedule one species) have been reported to Humberside Police. 

Whilst it may seem a good place to isolate and exercise 'away from people' please respect the site and its wildlife and particularly those whom live and key work at Tophill Low and stay away.  As many have observed this is a once in a lifetime event for wildlife also - and even if not this season we expect some of the increases in species and nesting on site will return for next year if everyone is sensible and is something positive to look forward to out of this. 

Wildlife on your doorstep

April 1st 2020

Due to the current circumstances I, like all the staff and volunteers, am missing being a part of the incredible team at Tophill Low. It's been a few months since a school group has visited the reserve as the last group visit was at the end of November. Meanwhile, I have been in local schools working with pupils learning about all things to do with water and in particular the problems of flooding in Hull. Ironic when you consider the situation at Tophill back in January. So learning has been taking place; whether it's inside the classroom or out on the reserve working alongside children who are so enthusiastic about everything new that you can teach them, is a great buzz.

Now, for everyone, it's completely different and I've been producing, along with my colleagues, some on line resources for Yorkshire Water's education web pages to get pupils learning at home. There are activities on the site about cleaning water, poo power, saving water, the water cycle and also learning about the environment outdoors. Please visit Education resources to access a wealth of information you can use with your children at home.

One pond in my garden is made from an old sink

Purple violets are now flowering and attracting insects

And I have been learning at home too. By taking the time at home that we all have a little more of, I've been spending much more time observing the birds and wildlife just outside my door. My garden is obviously not on the scale of Tophill Low but if you plan and manage your garden in a wildlife friendly way then you can create your very own nature reserve. I have a couple of ponds where about a month ago we saw mating common frogs, there is a log pile harbouring woodlice, millipedes and spiders, flowering purple violets attracting early emerging bees and a clump of ornamental grass which I know has been used by a hedgehog over winter. Even spending time weeding my flower beds I have discovered a type of bee fly and there's been plenty of ladybirds. But with all these animals I know the family but not quite the species so I've been trying to learn them which has been quite a daunting task on occasion but fascinating too. There's always something to learn about the wildlife around you.

Even in fields where you might think you have a good knowledge of species, in my case birds, there is always something to learn. Common garden birds make an ideal subject in the present circumstances and by spending more time watching I'm finding out more about some of the common visitors to my garden. Feeding hierarchy at the bird table and feeders is very prevalent with a pack of long tailed tits only ever visiting early in the morning. Coal tits very rarely stay long on the feeders, quickly taking their seed and flying off, whereas blue tits and great tits spend much longer with great tits preferring to use the perches on the seed feeder, the blue tit clinging onto the wire on the fat balls. The size difference in coal tit and great tit is very noticeable if they arrive together but looking at these two species the plumage pattern on the face is very similar. Top of the pecking order in my garden are a very healthy colony of tree sparrows who seem to nest everywhere, from the dedicated line of boxes we've put up to behind a wall bracket for a flower basket. There is so much more to learn and I am looking forward to taking the opportunity of doing so.

Coal tit and great tit showing their very similar face plumage

Yesterday I took part in a challenge that gave a bit of competition to my garden birding and that was to join virtual teams across the globe in their own bird races to support the Champions of the Flyway project that runs every year in Israel to highlight and fund raise for projects linked to the plight of migrating birds. Every time I went out in the garden or looked out of the window I recorded the species that I saw, whether they were feeding in the garden, flying over or I could see them in the fields that adjoin our property. By the time night fell I had recorded 37 species and my husband had also seen a red legged partridge from his office, so 38 in total. Although there had been some omissions like the great spotted woodpecker that normally visits every day and the barn owl that hunts across the fields that I can usually see at dusk from the house, I was pleased with the total and especially delighted to find a pair of prospecting pied wagtails around some ivy in the garden and a roosting little owl in the field hedge. 

Pied wagtail on the lawn

There are plenty of images, challenges, videos, quizzes, reports and fantastic photos to enthuse and inspire you on a variety of social media platforms as well as all those books on our shelves that we haven't dipped into for a long time. So if you can, seize this strange opportunity that we have to stay at home and really enjoy the wildlife that we have on our own doorsteps.