30 Days Wild 2022 – Day 1 – Pond Update

Another year on and 30 Days June is here again. My posts have been seriously lacking in between and hope to fix that going forward. Though I would start this years 30 Days of June with an update on my pond.

Since building the pond a few years ago it has become established and a focal point for wildlife in the garden. The Heron still appears and can only look at the all you can eat Heron buffet without the eating part due to the bamboo cage. Most of the lashing had to be replaced on the cage as the twine I first used had degraded, but it is holding strong. The cage provides a lot of nooks and places for spiders to hide and build their webs on feasting on the flies and insects that visit the pond.

Frogs have visited and their offspring have become tadpoles which hide well from the fish within the stones and pebbles forming the slope at the end of the pond offering any animal that wanders in an easy way out of the water.

The plants are thriving well and providing a source of shade and stability to the water. The Iris has grown from a small garden centre purchased plant to a large feature and looks like it might actually flower this year.

Having a pond in a garden no matter how big, is a great way of attracting wildlife of all sizes and worth while investment of time in making it and sitting and watching it flourish.

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day 11 – In the Garden – Green Orb-Weaver Spiders

In the Garden this evening (Bit later with writing the blog post today), came across a Green Orb-Spider (Araniella cucurbitina) busy between the leaves on my Pyrocantha also called Fire Thorn hedge.

A small UK spider at around 6mm found commonly throughout the UK. Identifiable with its green abdomen and green brown body, also known as the “Cucumber green spider”.

Need to do some more research into this spider. Although common, not seen any before. That camouflage works well!

Have you seen one before?