Whilst the pond is the centre piece of the garden, it also plays a small role in local conservation by providing an additional habitat for plants and creatures that depend on water. There are frogs, toads and newts and they seem to live well with the remaining carp and other fish that haven't been stolen by our visiting heron. The pond has also hosted a mating pair of mallard ducks for the past ten years. The female normally hatches her chicks on her nest just in front of the gazebo and sheltered by the large gunnera leaves. We look forward to seeing them every year but unfortunately last year her eggs were taken by a fox, squirrel or magpie. 

So many birds continue to visit or nest in the garden and we are blessed with their presence. The birds listed below are regulars:-

Birds nesting in the garden

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Jackdaw, Nuthatch, Pigeon, Wren, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard Ducks, Robin.

Birds observed in the garden

Black Cap, Buzzard, Coal Tit, Crow, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Green Finch, Green Woodpecker, Gulls, Heron, House Martin, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker,  Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrow Hawk, Swallow, Swift, Tawny Owl, Tree Creepers.