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February 2002
Three quarters of the one million ponds recorded on maps at the
beginning of the century have now disappeared. The village pond at
Mayford, which can be found on 19th century maps of the area, had been
filled in by the 1920s.
The Ponds
Conservation Trust, established to rescue dying ponds and to promote new
ones, supported the reconstruction of this pond in September
1997. Since then it has become a welcome home for much wildlife in
the area. This picture was taken on 28th February 2002 and if you know
where to look, you can see an enormous mass of frog spawn. It is
half way up on the left hand side of the picture near the bottom of a blue
piece of reflected sky.
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This
is part of the frogspawn referred to above. It has been spawned
about two weeks earlier than usual this year which probably reflects the
mild February we have had.
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The gorse is out in abundance, adding a welcome bit of
colour at this time of year. |
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On the side of the pond away from the roundabout there
is a flowering tree. |
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March 2002
A week later, not much has changed. Moles have been active
here as can be seen from the extensive range of molehills.
Moles are to be found alongside Saunders Lane. Fortunately,
they haven't found my garden yet! |
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This shows the view from the pond looking towards the
Mayford roundabout. The daffodils are still looking beautiful
- pity about the remains of the road works signs that have been left
for several weeks after the work itself has finished. I've
avoided pictures that show them. |
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This shows the remains of an old track where a fox
used to walk across the road by the bridge and then go towards the
pond. Unfortunately, he did it once too often and got run
over. The track is starting to disappear now. |
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It is now towards the end of March and the tadpoles
have hatched out well. You can see several here against the
light brown background of the decaying leaf. Let's hope for
lots of frogs later in the year. |
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The white fronted house by the pond makes a most
attractive backdrop. Today was very still and the reflection
of this house in the pond was delightful. You can also see the
pond plants are starting to grow in the middle of the pond where it
is deepest. |
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As well as pond plants, there are several clumps of
primroses currently in flower. They seem to like the acid
conditions in Mayford. |
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The gorse is still going strong.... (Gorse is in
flower when kissing's in season!) |
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...and marsh marigold flowers on the pond's banks. |
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Celandine flourishes all over the pond and the area of
the village green next to it.... |
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...and by one of the trees can be found an interesting
orange fungus. |
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The view towards the roundabout still looks good,
although the daffodils are coming to the end of their flowering
period now. (23rd March) |
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Finally for March, a picture of the Mayford roundabout
without cars - not easy to come by during the day! |
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