Wild Pond Habitat Management

[William_Montgomery]

It's a fairly good sized pond (as an estimate, I'd say around 12-15 metres). It's home to a lot of wildlife. There's a healthy population of great crested newts, a family of muntjac spend the hot days hunkered down in the shady undergrowth around the outside, bats roost in the trees above and all sorts of other creatures slither, scuttle and fly back and forth over the course of the day. There's also a nice variety of wild flowers present.

It's very overgrown and hasn't had much in the way of management/maintenance for a while.

Ponds are completely new territory for me. That being the case, I'm trying to figure out how much, if any, maintenance I should be carrying out. And, when those jobs should be done to minimise disturbance to the wildlife (mostly winter, presumably). The hand-over of this piece of land will most likely happen mid/late summer.

Some of the things to prioritise are:

- To encourage an environment that will support a diverse range of wildlife. If that means leaving the area to do it's own thing, that's fine. Likewise, if it means having to get my hands dirty and do some work, that's good too.

- Specifically support and maintain a breeding habitat for the population of great crested newts. They are a protected species and suffer from habitat loss, so finding out whether or not I should be actively working to support their habitat is important. There are also some organisations I will look to make contact with regarding this.

- Maintain it as a pond, rather than having it develop into a bog.

Any thoughts on the above points would be gratefully received, as would any other input about general management of wild pond areas. Like I say, ponds are totally new to me, so feel free to chuck in any advice.

Thanks.

Here are some photos of the area in question.







Edge of the pond


Approach to the pond

 

[nigelp]

Can’t answer your question but it looks really good.

 

[slowworm]

I would try and get advice from someone experienced in great crested newts BUT take care, I have found some organisations can be too much 'do as I say not as I do' and if it's not widely known you have the newts people may wish to interfere.

The normal advice with wildlife ponds is don't introduce anything and keep a good eye out for anything invasive (pond weeds etc) as they can be spread on wild birds.

When you clear stuff out leave it on the edge of the pond for any animals to go back to the pond. I never know when is best as in winter things will be hibernating in the pond and may not wish to be disturbed.

I'd also be careful around the pond at night as our garden pond has loads of newts and they often go foraging around the garden at night and could be stepped on.

 

[Pattree]

I have no deep knowledge but I do know that you never do anything to the whole pond in one year. If you have to clear the bottom then have a schedule and cover the area over several years.

 

[Broch]

OK, I have a fair bit of pond creation and management experience but can do no better than point you to the Freshwater Habitats Trust - they have a great website with loads of good information about ponds - here https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resources/

They presented at our symposium last year.

However, you will need a licence to work in a pond with Great Crested Newts unless you are sure they are not present when working - your local wildlife trust will be able to advise you on that.

The general opinion is, if you have the space, to leave an old pond to transition into its next natural phase (marshy bog) because it will have developed rich biodiversity and species reliant on that state, and, if you want water, to dig a new pond nearby - not always possible I know.

 

[William_Montgomery]

I would try and get advice from someone experienced in great crested newts BUT take care, I have found some organisations can be too much 'do as I say not as I do' and if it's not widely known you have the newts people may wish to interfere.

I hear what you're saying. I'll thoroughly look into any organisations that I might contact. I'm not always overly keen on getting 'outsiders' involved in this type of thing, but I could do with the advice, so I'll be selective.

I have no deep knowledge but I do know that you never do anything to the whole pond in one year. If you have to clear the bottom then have a schedule and cover the area over several years.

Good advice.

OK, I have a fair bit of pond creation and management experience but can do no better than point you to the Freshwater Habitats Trust - they have a great website with loads of good information about ponds - here https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resources/

I'll have a scout through the website, thanks. They were one of the first organisations we were looking at contacting, so good to hear from someone who has had dealings with them.

The general opinion is, if you have the space, to leave an old pond to transition into its next natural phase (marshy bog) because it will have developed rich biodiversity and species reliant on that state, and, if you want water, to dig a new pond nearby - not always possible I know.

Do you know, would GCNs continue to use a marsh/bog as a breeding habitat, or would they find another pond to visit?

 

[Broch]

Do you know, would GCNs continue to use a marsh/bog as a breeding habitat, or would they find another pond to visit?

They need water to lay the eggs on plants and require deeper water than other newt species. They will continue to use ponds as long as there's enough water to last the development stages but prefer larger ponds. They will relocate to water close by and, indeed, travel to find new water some distance. They have been doing this for millennia as natural ponds are not a static habitat and fill in over time - sometimes just a few years and others over hundreds of years. They particularly like weed filled water as opposed to open water type ponds and spend more time in water than other newts - even the whole year.