Caught!

Cats really do pick their places to sleep. Here is one of next door's cats in the fishing net which is kept by the pond. I'm sure there must be a funny caption for this photo. Any suggestions?

Slow worm

I'd just popped out to check if my tomato plants needed watering when something long and silver caught my eye. It was a slow worm gliding smoothly over the pebbles surrounding the pond into the shrubbery. Then I saw a butterfly on the busy lizzies. It was very small with brown outer wings and bright orange on the inner surface. Any ideas what it could be? It was definitely a butterfly, not a moth, as it closed its wings while sucking nectar from the flower.

Sunbathing frog

The netting has been rolled back to allow the damsel flies access for laying their eggs. This frog took advantage of his nice, open surroundings to come out for some air. I took one shot, then he (or she) obligingly stuck his head a bit further out of the water to have his portrait taken.

Strange insect

Saw a really peculiar insect in the garden. It was like a bumble bee but had what looked like a pair of filmy blue wings trailing behind it. Anyone got any idea of what it could be? It darted over the pond a few times, then hovered over blossom on a tree.

Mating damsel flies

I spotted these two yesterday. On the right, you can see a pond skater. Every time the damsels got settled, the beast would skate over and nudge them. Was it hoping to eat the eggs that were about to be laid?

Temptation!

There was Flad having a snooze, when down came a magpie to see what grub was on offer. What cat could resist? But resist he did. He just couldn't be bothered to move - or perhaps he was bright enough to realise that it would have flown off before he could pounce.



I put a plastic bowl on the lawn and filled it with pond water for the birds. They ignored it for several days until this young starling decided to have a bathe, then drink its bathwater.

Bathtime for starlings

The pond is netted to stop herons eating the fish. Today, the young starlings discovered what fun they could have on the netting. Mummy (or Daddy) stood on it first, testing it for safety, then gave the youngsters the go-ahead. Soon they were using it as a trampoline, bouncing up and down until it sagged as far as the water surface, whereupon they all had fun splashing around, and having drinks and baths.