Ponds in 750 words

PONDS (in 750 words in 3-word sentences only)

Ponds are wet. Ponds are deep. Pondwater is cold. Edges are shallow. Marginal plants grow. Willows grow poolside. Ponds house frogs. Ponds house newts. Ponds house sticklebacks. Fish need ponds. Water lily floats. Frogbit floats too. Duckweed floats too. Dragonflies hunt insects. Damselfly is graceful. Damselfly is smaller. Damselfly looks exotic. Dragonfly looks prehistoric. Dragonfly is prehistoric. Mud is deep. Mud is stinking. Mud is mucky.

Ducks swim together. Ducks can dabble. Drakes are attractive. Ducks attract humans. Humans feed ducks. Humans hunt ducks. Ducklings are cute. Waterfowl need ponds. Grebes like ponds. Grebes are divers.

Swans like ponds. Swans are beautiful. Swans build nests. Water weeds choke. Parrot’s feather invades. Pond weeds invade. Canadian pondweed invades. Watercress is edible. Pondskaters surface walk. Water crickets skate. Water measurers walk. Pond surface fascinates. Flowering rush flowers.

Tadpoles form shoals. Frogs spawn annually. Male frogs croak. Toads gather too. Males grab females. Males kick males. Ponds are source. Spawn is jelly. Amphibians need freshwater. Dragonfly nymphs hunt. Nymphs eat tadpoles. Nymphs are masked. Camouflage works well. Nymph transforms magically. Caddisfly larva hides. Herons hunt frogs. Herons eat fish. Herons stand tall. Herons stay still. Herons seek ponds.

Water boatmen sing. Water bug predates. Water bugs bite. Water beetle hunts. Water beetle flies. Water boatmen fly. Reedmace is edible. Summer evaporates water. Newts all leave. Water snails feed. Water scorpions hunt. Leeches sometimes swim. Pondwater is home. Ponds are stagnant. Flatworms are weird. Moths need reeds. Waterfowl need reeds.  Bats like ponds.

Ponds are fascinating. Ponds smell natural. Ponds are ornamental. Winter ponds freeze. Water is icy. Pond surface freezes. Spring returns life. Ponds attract kids. Kids catch tadpoles. Ponds are dangerous. Deep water drowns. Humans drain ponds. Ponds are needed. Rare pondlife exists. Ponds have parasites. Humans destroy pondlife. Humans destroy ponds. Wildlife find ponds. Wildlife seek ponds.

Snakes need ponds. They hunt frogs. Snakes eat newts. Human ponds help. Ponds get fewer. Ponds were childhood. Ponds were traditional. Village ponds existed. Farms had duckponds. Parks had ponds. Parks use ponds.

Ponds supported wildlife. Ponds give life. Ponds are natural. Humans need ponds. Ponds form habitats. Ponds are worlds. Ponds are wetlands. We explore ponds. Pondlife is amazing. Pondlife must adapt. Microscopic pondlife lives. Microscopes view rotifers. Cyclops are crustaceans. Water fleas swarm. Water mites vary. Amoebas can divide. Ponds appeal aesthetically. Lily pool appeals. Ponds inspire artists. Ponds are photogenic. Ponds were youth. Ponds were upbringing. Ponds are missing. Pond explorations excite. Ponds can stimulate. Ponds inspire poetry. Ponds inspire art. Some pondlife float. Some pondlife swim.

Some are mud-dwellers. Some pondlife arrive. Some pondlife depart. Ponds are fun. Ponds are intricate. Ponds delight naturalists. Ponds delight botanists.

Ponds delight people. Ponds are visual. Ponds are seasonal. Ponds dry up. Ponds fill up. Ponds are fleeting. Ponds are alive. Ponds are memorable. Ponds look ancient. Ponds look new. Ponds form connections. Ponds are green. Ponds reflect sunlight. Ponds reflect moonlight. Ponds show seasons. Ponds can drown. A pond protects. Ponds get cold. Ponds can endure. Ponds are leafy. Ponds absorb death. Ponds cause death. Ponds engender life. Ponds use decomposition. Ponds feed animals. Ponds feed birds. Ponds feed amphibians.

Ponds feed insects. Ponds feed invertebrates. Ponds feed mammals. Ponds provide water. Ponds can shine. Ponds can sparkle. Ponds go dark. Ponds fool us. Ponds scare people. Ponds are joy. Each pond differs. Ponds age well. Ponds change quickly. Ponds process life. Ponds are polluted. Ponds are clean. Ponds show cycles. Ponds show signs. Ponds give clues. Ponds take water. Ponds need water. Ponds are temporary. Ponds inspire thinking. Ponds can flood. Ponds can lessen. Ponds can disappear. Ponds can return. People make ponds. People desire ponds. People sell ponds. Plastic ponds work. Ponds are artificial. Concrete ponds endure. Ponds need protection.

Ponds beautify parkland. Ponds beautify gardens. Ponds need attention. Ponds are returning. Ponds were common. Pond mud sets. Pond mud cracks. Clay ponds exist. Marshes surround ponds. Bogs surround ponds. Streams form ponds. Trees overlook ponds. Reeds surround ponds. Ponds warm up. Ponds can chill. Ponds are environments. Ponds support vegetation. Ponds need conservation. Ponds feed us. Ponds are worldwide. Ponds need rain. Ponds collect water. Ponds drain land. Ponds provide sustenance. Ponds nourish lifeforms. Ponds are calm. Ponds are peaceful. Ponds are balanced. Ponds show harmony. Ponds are mirrors.

Ponds reflect faces. Ponds are dreams. Ponds inspire introspection. Pond snail sticks. Ramshorn snail spirals. Kingfishers like ponds. Ponds fill depressions. Ponds swallow excess. Ponds fill fast. Vernal ponds expire.

The Coal-yard

The Coal-yard That Became Housing

Restharrow - Ononis repens (Photo: Public Domain)

Today, I am going to write about somewhere my family called “The Coal-yard.” It was on the other side of the railway line and railway bank behind where we lived. As a child fascinated by nature, I used to go there to look for wildflowers, butterflies, moths and once common reptiles. The coal-yard was a wonderful unrecognised nature reserve because it supported so many species of wildlife. It was presumably viewed by the local authorities as little more than waste ground, of no use now the coal mines were no longer a thriving business and British Railways were no longer using it. What was once my coal-yard was destroyed and became a site for housing and a short road, together with the almost obligatory lawns.

All of the wildflowers and wildlife have gone, including the common lizards that lived there.

Small Copper (Photo: Public Domain) 

I recently blogged about habitat destruction and natural environments that I have seen destroyed and vanish locally. The same picture is happening globally. Just think about how many woods, fields, ponds or other wild places that have gone from the area you live in. I am sure you will know what I mean.

Here is a poem I wrote describing the coal-yard and what was once there.

Common Lizard (photo: Public Domain)

The Coal-yard of my Vanishing World

The coal-yard has long gone,

Once there were wildflowers in the abandoned sidings,

Pink restharrow, golden bird’s-foot trefoil and purplish tufted vetch

Added colour to the picture

And nectar for the bees and butterflies;

Small heath, small copper,

Common blue, grayling,

Wall brown, meadow brown,

Small tortoiseshell, and the day-flying burnet moths,

Once added their beauty on the wing,

Flitting from one floral delight to the next,

Basking in the sunlight.

Lizards sunned on sleepers and anthill mounds,

Slow-worms slithered under rusty corrugated iron;

Catch them if you can, and I often did.

It was a boy naturalist’s paradise,

Over the railway bank,

A secret heaven,

A pasture of delights.

Now apartment blocks, a cul-de-sac

And manicured lawns are the replacements.

Plums and apples fall in season

And rot on the grass,

Where tenants leave them,

And passers-by pass by.

People are starving elsewhere in my vanishing world.

About the Butterflies

Several species of the butterflies mentioned are now recognised as being in a serious decline in numbers throughout the UK. The small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) is, as its name implies, a small butterfly and fairly inconspicuous with its yellowish-brown wings. It likes a grassy area and its caterpillars feed on various grasses. It was once very plentiful, and although still widely distributed, many of its former colonies have gone.

The wall brown, or simply wall butterfly (Lasiomammata megera) was once very common but has suffered serious declines, although Climate Change is thought to be a reason behind its disappearance. Like the small heath, its caterpillars feed on grasses, so lack of food-plants is not a problem for these species.

Small Tortoiseshell (Photo: Public Domain)

The small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) was once one of the most common British butterflies and was found in a  wide range of habitats, including our gardens. Over the past decades, however, it has experienced a dramatic slump in its number. This is not adequately explained because its food-plant is the stinging nettle and there are plenty of these plants about. It is thought that changes in weather brought about by Climate Change are negatively affecting this pretty butterfly.

Why Tenerife is a paradise for naturalists

Tenerife is a naturalist’s dream

Tenerife forested mountains

Tenerife is a popular island in the Canary Islands for tourists who spend their holidays there but it is also every naturalist’s dream. With its forests, mountains, semi-desert areas, cliffs, sand dunes and range of beaches there is a real diversity of habitats. There are so many types of countryside on the island, and also a range of very different microclimates. This is why so many forms of flora and fauna can be found there, both endemic species and introduced and naturalised plants and animals.

Laurel Pigeon (Photo: DrPhilipLehmann)

There are two main sorts of forests: pine forest and ancient evergreen laurel forest. The latter of these is very important because the patches of this type of woodland that still stand on Tenerife and some of the other Canary Islands are some of the only remaining stretches of this form of forest in the world. Rare birds, such as the laurel pigeon (Columba junoniae) and endemic plants like the Canary Islands foxglove (Isoplexis canariensis) can be found in the laurel forests.

Viper's Bugloss species

Red Bugloss

Tenerife has a very great range of species in the Echium genus of viper’s bugloss. The most spectacular species is the red bugloss or Teide bugloss (Echium wildpretii), which as its name suggests has red flowers that form in tall spikes, and it is found growing high on Mt Teide where there is a very extreme habitat. Because it is so high the sunlight is very strong but it gets very cold at night. The ground is dry and rocky and it looks like another planet in the Tenerife highlands.
There is a shortage of naturally occurring freshwater in Tenerife because it drains quickly into the ground and down to the sea after it rains but this has not prevented a fascinating selection of freshwater creatures and water birds being found on the island. Many species of dragonfly, two species of frog and the mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) mainly depend on the reservoirs and irrigation tanks used by farmers for collecting water for their crops. The frogs, by the way, are the Mediterranean tree-frog (Hyla meridionalis), and the Iberian water frog (Rana perezii). In the village of Erjos, however, there are some large ponds that formed after the topsoil was removed many years ago. These pools attracted all sorts of wildlife and make a wonderful area for appreciating nature and walking in the surrounding hills and forests. 

Grey Heron

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a bird that uses natural and artificial freshwater pools to search for fish and frogs and is often seen on the island. It will also take goldfish from ornamental ponds in parks and gardens.

Tenerife has lizard species, two types of gecko and a skink but no snakes, despite having excellent habitats for these reptiles.

Monarch butterfly

There are many interesting insects to be found on the island. A butterfly to look out for is the monarch (Danaus plexippus). It was able to colonise the Canary Islands because the tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is often grown in gardens, flower borders and parks. This large and beautiful butterfly can be seen flying all year round and is most often seen in cities, towns and resorts where its caterpillar’s food-plant grows in gardens. The massive and strange looking death’s head hawk moth and its larva are often found on Tenerife. This moth gets its name due to the skull-like marking on its thorax. The fact that it can squeak too has added to its weirdness and has made it the subject of various superstitions. The caterpillars are very big and feed mostly on thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), which is a very common weed on the island, and also on the shrub Lantana (Lantana camara).  There are also some species of praying mantis that can be found on Tenerife.

Mantis

Botanists will be excited by the very large number of succulents that grow wild on Tenerife. There are many endemic species of Aeonium and Euphorbia. The Canary Island spurge (Euphorbia canariensis) looks more like a cactus and grows in large clumps on arid and rocky ground around the island.

Look out too for the prehistoric-looking dragon trees (Dracaena draco), which can still be found occasionally growing wild but are very rare. They are much more commonly seen in parks and gardens around Tenerife, and there is the famous “Drago Milenario,” said to be 1,000-years-old that is in its own park in Icod de los Vinos.

If you are interested in wildlife you will find plenty to interest you wherever you are on the island.

Stinging Nettles are a very useful edible plant

The Stinging Nettle (a poem rescued from the defunct Bubblews)

Stinging Nettles (Photo: Public Domain)

Most people think that nettles are just nasty weeds,

But actually they are the plants that a butterfly caterpillar needs,

For the larvae of the red admiral and the small tortoiseshell too,

They eat the leaves of this plant; it is what they must do.

The peacock butterfly is another that depends upon this weed,

It is what its little ones have to have to feed.

And people can eat stinging nettles too cooked in water in a pan,

They lose all their stinging power, so you can enjoy them, yes, you can.

Or nettles can be employed to make a herbal tea,

Full of minerals and vitamins and good for you and me!

Steve Andrews

Nettles as a food source

Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) lose their sting when cooked and are a good example of nutritious "spring greens" that can be easily foraged for. The young shoots and leaves can be cooked like spinach. The nettles should be picked between February and `June and gloves and scissors can be used to help you not get stung. After washing the nettles can be cooked and mashed into a puree, and chopped onion and slat and pepper can be added for extra flavour. Nettles can be used to make nettle soup. Nettles can also be dried and used to make a herbal tea and nettle teabags are on sale at health stores and from online suppliers of herbal supplements.  Nettle beer is another possibility.

Nettles contain vitamin C,  vitamin A and are a good source of iron, as well as being surprisingly high in protein. This means that eating nettles can help stop anaemia developing, because the condition is due to iron deficiency.

Stinging nettles are also widely used in herbalism because the plant has diuretic properties, as well as being a treatment for allergies, prostate disease, arthritis, asthma and many other conditions.

The stinging nettle comes very highly recommended by experts on edible plants, and is included in Richard Mabey's classic book Food For Free which is one of the best books out there when it comes to foraging.

Stinging nettles are very easy to find because they commonly grow on waste ground, on hedge-banks, along rivers and on the edges of fields and the margins of woods. 

Nettles for the Butterflies

Small tortoiseshell caterpillars

Many species of butterfly and moth caterpillar feed on the leaves of the stinging nettle. The red admiral (Vanessa atalanta), the small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) and the peacock (A. io) are three well-known British butterflies that use the plant as a food source for their larvae. The painted lady (V. cardui) and the comma (Polygonia c-album) are two other butterfly species with caterpillars that will eat nettles.

 Peacock Butterfly (Photo: Public Domain)

The garden tiger moth (Arctia caja) is a large and colourful moth with caterpillars known as woolly bears that will eat nettles, as well as many other food-plants.  This once common moth is sadly declining in numbers throughout the UK. 

Garden Tiger moths

So not destroying nettles is a conservation measure that helps many butterflies and moths to survive.  Growing a nettle patch in your back garden is a great way to attract butterflies and to aid them by supplying a plant they need. All good wildlife gardens should have a patch of nettles. The stinging nettle is a valuable plant that has been thought of a a useless weed but it actually has many uses as you can see.

Garden Tiger Moth and its Woolly Bear caterpillar in serious decline

The very large and colourful garden tiger moth (Arctia caja), and its hairy caterpillar, which is known as a "woolly bear," were once very common in the UK but are now declining in numbers fast.

Arctia caja (Photo: Kurt Kulac)

The garden tiger has brightly coloured forewings that are patterned in creamy-white and chocolate-brown and the hind-wings are orange with blackish-blue spots. It has a stout, mainly orange body and a dark brown furry thorax.  The colours and patterns are very much given to variation too, although the moth is easy to identify.

This moth is found, as its name suggests, in gardens, but also on farms, in meadows, on railway and river banks and on sand dunes.  It has a liking for damp areas, though the caterpillars can often be seen crawling rapidly across paths and open ground on hot days.

The garden tiger moth emerges from late June to August. It used to be a very common and widely distributed moth in the UK but over the last 30 years its numbers have dropped by as much as 89%.  This is difficult to understand because its caterpillar will eat a very wide range of food-plants, including many weeds, such as docks and dandelions. It will also eat nettles and cultivated plants, such as rhubarb and cabbage. The caterpillar will feed on various shrubs, including the raspberry, blackberry and broom as well.

Garden Tiger Moth caterpillar (Photo: Acelan)

The garden tiger moth caterpillar is known as a woolly bear because it is covered in long black and ginger hairs. These hair are a good protection for the larva and can cause irritation.  The young caterpillars hibernate and feed up in the spring. It is thought that Climate Change and mild winters have caused the decline in this species, which has failed to adapt to the changes in the climate.

The adult garden tiger is so brightly coloured to warn predators that it tastes very bad and is toxic. The colouration and patterns are a very good example of "warning colours."

The garden tiger moth is one of many British moths and butterflies that have been declining in numbers and are no longer as common s they used to be, which is a worrying trend.

November Moths fly in November

The November Moth

The November Moth (Epirrita dilutata), as its name aptly suggests, flies in November, although it can also be found earlier on in September and October. It is a species in the Geometrid moth family, the family that gets its name because of the "looper" caterpillars that are also known as "inch-worms" because of their habit of extending their bodies in a loop as if they are measuring a short distance.

November Moth (Epirrita dilutata) Photo: ©entomart

The November Moth is still flying in the dark and colder days of late autumn when many other species of butterfly or moth have disappeared into hibernation or a stage that gets them through the winter. The forewings of the November Moth are mottled in dark and light grey. as well as brownish shades and this variable colouration pattern blends in well with the background afforded by tree bark or an old stone wall making the insects well camouflaged. 

The Pale November Moth (E. christyi) and the Autumnal Moth (E. autumnata) are in the same genus and so similar in appearance to the November Moth that it can be hard to tell one from the other.  The last-named species is the most common and widely distributed of the three moths though, and it occurs in a wide range of habitats, including our gardens where it can be a pest. 

Pale November Moth Epirrita christyi, Davos-Sertig, Switzerland Photo: Dumi

The November Moth has a green and red caterpillar that feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs, including apple, hawthorn, hazel, ash, birch and oak. The eggs overwinter and hatch in the next spring. 

The November Moth is found throughout the UK and in Europe from Scandinavia down to the Mediterranean. 

Actually there are a good number of moth species that can still be seen flying in November, moths that can withstand the colder temperatures. Many of these insects will feed from the last flowers growing in our gardens and also from the blooms of the ivy. Look out too for the attractive and rather aptly named Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) moth  and the Silver Y (Autographa gamma).

Angle Shades Photo: ©entomart

The Angle Shades is a migratory species that is very common in some years with a green or brown caterpillar that feeds on many garden plants and weeds. 

Silver Y (Autographa gamma) Photo: Olaf Leillinger)

The Silver Y has a Y-shaped letter on its wings and is another migrant that has a larva that accepts a wide variety of food-plants. This latter species feeds by day as an adult too and can be seen flying in the late autumn sunshine. Both the Angle Shades and Silver Y are Noctuid moths and are not related to the November Moths in any way, apart from still flying at this time!  

But why not get a great book about British moths and find out what species you can find in any season, and yes, there is a December Moth and a Winter Moth?

Forests in Portugal growing on sand

Sand bank in a forest showing the depth of the sand and what the trees are rooted in. Photo by Steve Andrews

In some parts of Portugal there are mixed evergreen forests that are growing on sand and very sandy soil. There are some of these woodlands around Quinta do Conde, a town in the municipality of Sesimbra between Lisbon and Setubal. 

For some reason there is very little information available on the Internet about these areas of forest and heath, although I would have thought they would be especially interesting to naturalists, as well as anyone who likes rambling in the countryside. Although you are miles from the sea you are walking on sand!

Not in sand dunes but inland. Photo by Steve Andrews

 The forests merge with sandy heathland and offer a very interesting habitat for many plants and animals. In many places the ground is nearly pure sand and, although this is inland, it looks far more like an area close to the sea.

Cork Oak Photo by Steve Andrews

 There are a mixture of evergreen trees that somehow manage to thrive despite the poor quality of their soil, evergreen conifers including the Stone or Umbrella Pine (Pinus pinea), as well as the Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) and Cork Oak (Q. suber), the Eucalyptus and other trees. The undergrowth consists of many shrubs and wild flowers and is very colourful in spring.

Silene species Photo by Steve Andrews

 Pink-flowered Catchfly species, (Silene), and the bright blue Scrambling Gromwell (Lithodora diffusa) provide floral eye candy, along with the white, pink and yellow Rockrose species (Cistus spp). The French Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) can be found on the outskirts of these woods and in clearings.

Shrubby Gromwell Photo by Steve Andrews

 Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) grows in aromatic anise-scented clumps and this herb provides a food-plant for Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilio machaon).   The Swallowtail is a very rare British butterfly but is quite common in Portugal.

Swallowtail Photo by Steve Andrews

 There are also plenty of Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria ssp aegeria) butterflies. The Speckled Wood found here is a subspecies of those seen in the UK and have lighter coloured wings. 

Pine Processionary moth caterpillars In Public Domain

 The caterpillars of the Pine Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) spin their overwintering nests in the branches of the pines and then descend in March to look for suitable places to pupate. This species of moth is named after the long head-to-tail processions its larvae make. These caterpillars should not be touched because they are covered in hairs that can cause extreme irritation. Look but don’t touch if you find any of these!

Coronella girondica in the Peneda-Gerês National Park, Portugal. Photo by Esv - Eduard Solà Vázquez

  I would think the dry sandy conditions would be good for reptiles so was not surprised to find a Southern Smooth Snake (Coronella girondica) hiding under a slab of stone in a grassy area near one of these forests. 

As its name suggests, this snake is very similar to the Smooth Snake (C. austriaca), which is a very rare species in Britain and confined to a few sandy heaths in England. These snakes are harmless and they feed on other small reptiles and mice.

The forests growing on sand in Portugal make a wonderful place to explore all year around.