Any moving water- fountain or fall? NO Any filter? NO Edges, Rocks or logs around? ROCKS WITH SPACES UNDERNEATH AROUND THE POND, LARGE WOODPILE COVERED IN IVY ABOUT 3 FEET AWAY FROM THE POND Type of weed, STARWORT, AND THAT REALLY COMMON BORING OXYGENATOR WHOSE NAME ESCAPES ME RIGHT NOW... How much sun, ONLY ABOUT 6 HOURS IN WINTER, SUMMER GETS SUN MORNING AND EVENING (NOT FOR ABOUT 3 HOURS MID-DAY) Density of weed- how much clear water? 2/3 When do you normally first spot newts and babies each year? THIS YEAR LAST SAW NEWTS IN NOVEMBER, AND NEWTS APPEARED WITH FROGS LATE JANUARY How tidy is your garden? NOT VERY! BELIEVE IN SEMI-ORGANISED CHAOS Do you also have frogs or toads? YEP!! Do you also have ornamental fish? NOPE Do you also have native fish ie sticklebacks? YEP Do you feed fish in this pond? NO How long have you had newts? or how soon after building pond did they appear? I THOUGHT I SAW THEM AFTER ONE YEAR (SPRING) BUT CONVINCED MYSELF IT WAS A FAST STICKELBACK AND MY WISHFUL THINKING. SAW THEM FOR SURE THE FOLLOWING YEAR (ABOUT 6 INDIVIDUALS), SO I THINK IT WAS A FLASH OF NEWT I SAW THE FIRST YEAR AFTER ALL. Mine are common newts (although a mile away there are great crested newts, so I keep hoping). Garden is triangular with two sides busy road, so I am amazed they found the pond. Other corner backs onto gardens which back onto woods/lake. Never seen babies, but that does not mean they are not there, as each year there are consistently adult newts about. I think though that the main predator would be the big dragonflynymphs. Deepest part of pond is 3 feet, so glory knows what happens there. Noticed that the newts congregate near the rocky houses, and some extra holes between the rocks have appeared near the water surface.... What is your situation?

I hope your mum is now fully recovered. Last week I had 48 frogs return to my pond. (t least thats how many I could count there may have been more in the depths) They have laid more spawn than ever this year. I put in a very small prefab pond last spring to keep some spawn in as the main pond also has a lot of hungry fish in and I wanted to be able to guarantee some survival of my frogs. This year I found 12 frogs in it producing spawn along with those in the main pond. I am thrilled about this. I may not have to transfer any from the main pond. This looks like my best year ever so I hope many survive. They have laid on every available clump of plants even in the small one in the middle of the pond. I have heard that if frogs lay spawn in the middle of a pond it is going to be a hot summer. We will have to wait and see if that is the case. I just think they wanted to use the plant in the middle.

Lucky you! It is fun to watch, and really, just let them get on with it. This year I noticed that the ones that sunk actually did hatch too, I think because overall the pond was warmer this year. Whatever happens, they will gradually eat the stuff. They do eat constantly! Go out at night with a torch, and you will see some of what really lives in your pond. When they get their legs, they will need to safely be able to get out of the pond and live on land for awhile (or they drown). So make sure they can get out of the pond, and not onto paving slabs (poor things are so delicate they stick to the slabs and fry). The froglets are quite amazing (tiny perfect frogs) and will need to find shelter under plants, rocks, etc. For awhile you will be spending your time in the garden looking down before each step!! Only 4 in 1000 will make their way to adulthood to spawn themselves. So you can never have too much frogspawn, and anything you can do will help! They start off as algae eaters, but later become carnvivourous and will eat one another. Mostly everyone else eats them including newts & frogs, dragonfly nymphs, but they do survive. Bigger fish though much their way through a lot of tadpoles. There are some really good information websites on frogs and other pond life--just google and you will find! The bugs are incredible too, like the caddis fly larvae and their amazing houses, and damselflies and dragonflies. The latter leave their papery perfect exoskeletons behind on leaves before they fly off. So welcome to the wonderful world of ponding. You may find yourself making a second, bigger pond.... Chip

Lucky you!!! I went home to Liverpool for a week and when I got back there were four massive dollops of frogspawn in the pond. I rescued some and put it in a plastic pedalbin liner which has oxygenators in. Hopefully some will be safe from hungry jaws in the pond. I was watching out of the kitchen window a couple of days ago and I saw the plastic football on the pond (to keep ice from forming all over) bobbing about madly. Thought my frogs had taken up footie, but when I checked, two of them were playing happy families right beside it. They were obviously quite shy and wanted some privacy, so I tiptoed away and left them to it.... Big Kid