Frozen pond

[alison]

The snow had fallen very quickly onto the pond and we had frozen ice to a couple of inches thick. The waterfall had a great clump of ice like a rock which the girls have been watching since we pulled it off. Although now the snow has very much disappeared the ice rock is still there. The pond still has various ice areas but the ice is much thinner now. What was nice was seeing all the birds come down and land on the frozen pond to take a drink from the two openings that the running water had managed to create. Even the black cat had ventured all over the pond but got very near the thinner ice that I was worried about him. I don't know whose cat he is. Our cat Velcro had better sense and didn't venture anywhere near.
How have your ponds fared? There is talk of more frozen weather to come so I hope the lovely fish and other creatures within the pond are all going to be safe. It is good to see the fish at the bottom as with this cold weather the pond has become very clear. The only problem I have at the moment is that because I have been quite ill lately and with my mum passing away I haven't done the usual cutting back and the plants are still fully grown in the pond. Not too bad with the Iris but some of the other plants are like sludgy leaves so I will have to get them out soon.

[retropwr]

Been no ice on the pond here, even during last weeks snow and cold weather. The pond has been around 2c for the last week or so but has now 'warmed up' to 5c.

It seemed like the wildlife (birds and squirels) were taking it in turns with the local cats for drinks from the pond.

It was like a scene from a cartoon when we opened the door for the cat to go out the first morning after the snow as he ran to the door and then put the brakes on turned round and tried running on the polished wooden floor.

I don't envy you having to go out to sort out the pond plants this time of year, it was bad enough a few weeks ago. (and it's warmer down here).

[alison]

Yes it is very cold here at the moment but at my son's who is further north in Catterick the weather is severe again with tons of snow falling tonight. By the time we had finished a short conversation on the phone the snow had completely covered the path he had just gritted and the car was hidden completely by thick snow. What I did think was good was the fact that they have a grit bin on their street to be used by all the residents. We haven't anything like that in Leeds and our roads have been terrible. The gritters don't do any streets except the main roads so it has been hard going.
The small pond I used for the tadpoles had ice over 2 inches thick all over and unfortunately no running water. I found a year old frog dead inside. I felt awful that I hadn't left anything in it that would keep an open space.
Once it dries out a bit in the garden I will get into the pond plants, luckily they are staying mainly on the surface. I am worried that I might find the remains of my golden orfe which was poorly and hasn't been seen for a while now. The last time I saw him he was under the bogbean which is one of the plants that is quite sludgy.

[Tricia]

My pond is a bit murky still, but has no ice formed so all the birds go for a drink at the 'beach' end. The bird bath is a solid block of ice that I tried to break up with a sledge hammer - had to stop though as I was afraid I would damage the stone bath itself!

The filter seriously needs cleaning but I can't find anyone to do it for me. Oh well! the fish don't seem to mind so far, so I will just have to keep trying to find someone to help with the jobs I can no longer do myself.

[alison]

I must admit that I worry about that too. I know I can manage the pond filters etc now but I do think about the future when I will find it too hard to do on my own. I hope one of my boys will do it for me when the time comes. By then of course they will probably be the age I am now so I must stop calling them boys. My oldest is already 33 and the youngest 29 so I should think of them as men. It's hard to do
The pond has frozen over again with last night being the coldest yet. Tonight by 5.30 my car had iced over and the doors and windows wouldn't open. So if it stays even just this cold I think it will be colder than last night. At the moment it is -2.8 so nearly minus 3 which I reckon it could reach over night. It is good having a weather station in the garden as it tells us exactly what the temperature and wind chill etc is each day.

[kaz]

Hmmm... wondering how things are back at the old house. Hopefully Scott and Matt are keeping an eye on things there. I do miss having a pond... even at this time of year, but come summer you could discover a rather depressed me . Sorry to hear about your frog Alison. Tricia... I'm trying to imagine you with a sledgehammer!

[Tricia]

Kaz - it's a short handled thingy - quite heavy, but it was no good for breaking the solid ice on the bird bath.

Alison - last night it was -2.6C here in my garden and tonight it is already -2.8C at 10:30pm. Hope the pond doesn't freeze. No snow as yet, but we are being warned to expect some tomorrow night and Wednesday.

I don't like this cold weather - not one bit!

Gosh - my weather avatar says it is -5C. My garden is very sheltered, so maybe that's why it's showing only -2.8C.

[alison]

We woke up this morning to a Narnia garden again. There was no sign of it yesterday and most of the snow had gone with just small bits of ice left. Today it is a winter wonderland again with quite a few inches of snow. The sycamore tree looked splendid all covered in snow which was quite thick on the branches. The grandchildrens schools are closed and it is just chaos. The pond is well covered again in snow on top of the ice that hadn't melted from before. I hope the fish can stand these arctic conditions. I put out new food for the birds as they can't see any on the ground and we have plenty of blackbirds. They show up so brightly in the white world.
Kaz I bet your garden looks spectacular in the snow. Have you calmed down now and had any thoughts of changing an area for a pond in the future? Have you made friends and feeling a little more like it is your home?

[kaz]

Near me is a lake. This is how it looked just after the snow a couple of weeks ago... then the freeze, the mad angler... then the mega freeze yesterday... followed by frantic tapping on my patio door... poor little buggers:











The lake in summer:



Alison...I am considering doing something totally mental and that is building an inside pond! I don't think any fish would survive outside due to huge numbers of herons and kingfishers. I'm thinking of converting a waste of space conservatory into a sort of orangery. As for making friends here... it will take time, but I really miss my mates back in Essex. I'm far more settled though.

[alison]

What a lovely place you can go to. You must be quite close to have the ducks knocking on your windows.
I think it is a wonderful idea to have an orangery and an inside pond. You will be able to see all the fish without ever getting cold and wet
The weather here has got much worse overnight and the pond is well frozen with about 6 inches of snow on the top. A blackbird was having a bath in the only little hole at the shallow end of the pond. He looked quite comical as he was partly hidden by the snow all around him and you could just see little black wings fluttering about.
Sonny has been and made them a lovely dish of lard, bread, peanuts and sunflower seeds so we will cut it up later when it has hardened and put it out. We have been throwing so much out for them but it just disappears under the snow. I cut up an apple and threw that out and one blackbird has finally found a piece as it sunk down immediately it hit the snow. The mealworms at least stayed on the surface so I hope the robin finds them before the starlings eat everything else.
Tricia how it is down in Devon. The bad weather seems to have hit there as well now. Are you under snow and ice?

[retropwr]

I like the idea of an indoor pond as well. If it's somewhere that stays warm you might be able to grow some tropical lilys with their different colours.

Having seen those pictures, if it stops snowing I might take a stroll to our local lake to see whats going on.

Still snowing here and everything in the garden is looking a bit squashed now.

Garden1.JPG

Garden2.JPG

[Tricia]

We had about an inch of snow overnight - it's still lying as it snowed again for about three hours over midday. It is the first time in the 10 years I've lived here that we have had snow last for more than a couple of hours. Even the beach was snow covered today, so I'm told!

'My' birds are gobbling the suet pellets faster than anything else at the moment, but I have to chase the gulls away or the smaller birds wouldn't get a look-in. I have such a variety of birds this year too. My favourite is a yellow wagtail who spends most of his day pecking at the bits that fall to the ground when the goldfinches are feeding. 'My' blackcap pair is back again, as is the song thrush that I saw several times over the late summer. I spend a lot of time watching 'my' birds!

[kaz]

Tricia... like you, I love the birds. I used to have yellow wagtails in my last garden and they favoured the bread over birdseed (maybe it's the unhealthy Essex diet). Whilst I've been feeding the blasted ducks here (a loaf a day ), a pair of grey wagtails are almost at my feet picking up the crumbs. I left my birdtables behind so have chucked seed and water on the waterbutt right outside my study window... over the past couple of days the nuthatches have been the most frequent visitors, then blue and great tits and today for the first time, a great spotted woodpecker. No sparrows... where are they all?

Ahhh... just remembered, I took a couple of photos of a nuthatch... If it has come out ok I'll post it.

Well my pics didn't come out too well ... I've only been using the waterbutt as a feeding station for a couple of days and it is literally a yard from the window, so the birds are a bit nervy seeing me. Maybe once they're more used to me I'll get better (closer) shots... it was great seeing the woodpecker drilling the plastic lid, but it flies off when I move.

[Tricia]

Lovely photos Kaz - my feeders are only about 3 meters from my patio windows and every time I move all the birds fly off. I'd love to get some photos, but the glass always shows a flash and I can't get any closer. Today I saw an air ballet between two yellow wagtails - beautiful (though they were probably fighting!) Even the song thrush has come out from the shrubbery to take food from the ground close to the patio windows. I have lots of sparrows, though I don't know what they will do for nesting in the Spring. We had the sofitts redone late last summer to prevent the feral pigeons from nesting in the loft space, so nothing can get in any more. It's a shame about the sparrows, but the mess the pigeons made - you wouldn't believe, so we're glad they are gone.

This year my blackcap pair are back again - don't know where they go in summer but they always turn up each winter to use the bird feeders. I also have blackbirds, collared doves, greenfinches, goldfinches, robins (2 and they fight for the territory), dunnocks, blue tits, great tits and coal tits, chaffinches and wood pigeons. No nut hatches though.

I don't get out as much any more since my failed knee operation so I spend a lot of time on my recliner watching the birds and getting up close with my binoculars.

[kaz]

Tricia... sorry to hear about your knee. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be not being able to be as active as you like. You have a wonderful diverse collection of garden birds... very like the ones that used to visit my garden in Essex. Here it is very different... I've not even seen any collar doves, thrushes or sparrows. It is early days and I've not been very attentive... actually, I've been more distracted by a troublesome mole and rabbits... this is something new for me to deal with.

One of my neighbours has just knocked to ask if I need anything from Tesco (we're snowed in but they have a 4 wheel drive). I told her I need loads more bread for the very hungry ducks. By luck (but unfortunate for her), their freezer has just busted so she brought round armfulls of loaves and buns part thawed.

Have you tried taking a photo without the flash?

Richard... did you go to your local lake yet?