Effort at showing the stage of development of the pond… a snapshot of whats happening in and around the pond in early april… but its one of things a snapshot can’t do…. unless you make a Hockney ‘joiner’. More reason to make the detailed studies so that I can simplify better in attempting the overview.
Components are… soft rush in its new landbound location (used to be in baskets in water).. water plantain having survived the winter is now starting to get its leaves above the surface. Marsh marigold just opening its flowers… tadpoles have now spread over the whole pond (where they had just been in shallow end). Cuckoo flowers and celandines have been flowering for a while. Duckweed multiplying…the shepherds crooks of harts tongue ferns unfurling surrounded by a bed of primroses flowering profusely.

Getting a better look at the male newt… seeing how deep the tail is and the lower portion a milky luminous pale blue with half spots of orange along the bottom. The crenellated crest stretching well up the back. Leopard spotting dark brown on fawn? Coming up for air he exposes his black spotted, orange belly.

Seeing 4 newts chasing each other around the deep end of the pond mid afternoon. Not able to watch immediately but later sketching a couple of them. The female very fat around the middle and has a swollen lipped effect.
The male much more dramatically marked with big spots, which are especially pronounced on the lower tail where they are against a luminous bluish pale background. He chased the female around and would suddenly dart ahead of her and twist his tail around at 90 degrees with a threatening kind of swish. Must be impressive from her perspective.

Pond also teeming with activity. There really are more than a thousand tadpoles in there, now starting to move into the deep end but mainly gathered in huge shoals in the shallows…  mouthing wordlessly as they wriggle and writhe.
Water plantain survived the winter and is just starting to break the surface. Marsh marigold leaves gradually fill out.
A newt briefly showing itself… I thought I saw another more boldly marked one but was called away and by the time I got back it had hidden itself. The one sketched here was marbled with dark spots up to its goaty eye.
Since expanding the pond and introducing the regular feed of freshwater (from the back of the studio roof) there have been many more pond skaters… at least 10 at the moment.
Adult frogs are now scarce but odd ones and twos.