Still water stickies

[alison]

The other day the waterfall pump had got clogged up and risen to the surface as it does when it is full of weed and gunge, then it sinks again and the water stops flowing down the waterfall. It was late at night and I didn't feel like venturing out into the dark to clean it so I just turned it off to do the following morning. The next day as I was getting used to the eirie sound of 'no running water' I looked down into the still water and to my delight there were lots of sticklebacks all swimming in the still deep water. They were in lots of different sizes from the largest I usually see which are a good 3 inches or so, to some tiny 1/2 inch babies and all the sizes in between. When the water is running from the waterfall the water gets churned up a bit and so nothing is really visable so it was lovely to know that they are doing so well. I can usually just see a few in the shallows and thought that was all I had, so to know that they are doing so well in the deeper water even though they are usually hidden by the moving water was a real treat.

[alison]

Since the pond has been cleaned it has been a great time looking for all the sticklebacks and actually being able to see so many. Now the area is so clear the fish are venturing up into the shallows and all the larger fish are also staying in the shallows so it is nice to see all their lovely colours. I am feeding them every so often just to give them a better chance in the winter as a lot of their food will have gone due to throwing so much mud and silt away.