Family fun –join us for a 1h dipping session on Sunday 14th July starting at 10am or 11.15am to see what underwater creatures we can find in the wildlife pond near Gid Lane, Upper Froyle. Children will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult. All equipment will be provided and numbers are limited so it is essential to book by emailing info@froylewildlife.co.uk, stating preference for 10am or 11.15am session.

So how did the day turn out?

Families and children enjoyed a lovely few hours pond dipping at the wildlife pond in Upper Froyle. It was perfect weather, lovely and sunny with a slight breeze. This year the pond’s water level was good and we were able to find a great variety of pond life.
The star of the show was once again the newt. Children and adults found many small newts. These were young newts, called newt tadpoles, with frilly gills on the sides of their heads enabling them to live in the water until they are ready to climb out as adults. In the Froyle pond there are two species of newt, the Smooth (or Common) Newt and the Great Crested Newt. Smooth Newts are the most frequently found newt in the UK. When fully grown they have a bright yellow and orange belly with black spots on their throat. They are similar to the Palmate Newt but these have no throat spots. We also have a very good breeding population of Great Crested Newts. When they are fully grown Great Crested Newts are substantially bigger than other newts at 17cm in length. They have dark, lumpy skin on their backs and a bright orange belly. Their name comes from the large, spotted crest that males have on their backs. They also have a white stripe along their tails. Newts breed and their eggs in ponds between February and June. At the end of the summer the young newts lose their outer gills and leave the pond. They often seek shelter under logs and in vegetation. Newts are carnivorous and eat small invertebrates and especially like frog tadpoles. This is why you rarely see newts and frogs in the same pond. Both of these species of newt are protected under law in the UK.
In addition to the newts we also found lots of empty cases of dragonfly nymphs. The young dragonflies will have crawled out of the water and up the tall reeds and broken out of these shells (exuviae). In our trays of pond water we observed live dragonfly nymphs, young water boatmen and diving beetles, fly larvae, pea mussels and ramshorn snails.
Adults and children had fun using the identification cards and learning more about the huge number of tiny creatures that the pond supports.

• Ted Matthews (aged 6) said, “I like pond dipping. You get to find extraordinary creatures and find out what they are. My favourite was the Great Crested Newt. Fun fact – newts lay their eggs in the water.”
• “We thoroughly enjoyed the pond dipping at Froyle wildlife pond last month. Seb learnt all about the different species of insects living in the pond, dragonflies plus fauna & flora surrounding the pond with Barry the Volunteer. Seb was taught how to use the net to gently collect boatman, newts and dragon fly nymphs. We were so inspired that we’ve become members!” Rosie & Seb from Binsted.

Jenny Matthews