A sparrow chick on the verge of fledging thrusts its head from a nest box, beak agape with an orange gape ringed in creamy yellow – an unmistakable signal to parents: Insert Invertebrates Here. From behind the pond, I watch this scene while also observing the aftermath of another emergence. Atop a bur-reed, the hollow legs of a dragonfly exuvia grip a leaf blade; a split in the cuticle marks where the adult forced its way through.
First arrivals at a new pond
When the pond was filled last June, we waited only a day before the first dragonfly arrived, streaking around the garden like a Golden Snitch, trailing sunbeams and smiles. Then a female broad-bodied chaser – often the first species to colonise new ponds – began ovipositing, tap-tap-tapping with the tip of its golden-brown abdomen, christening the water with the promise of new life.
Nymphs and exuviae signal success
This spring, we removed blanketweed, rinsing it thoroughly in a bucket to release any pondlife. When we emptied the sediment back, out sludged a procession of dragonfly nymphs – six, seven, eight or more – so large and muscular I thought for a moment they were froglets. Then, during a dry spell, the water level sank, revealing muddy margins and jagged holes where, I suspect, magpies had winkled out unfortunate nymphs preparing to emerge.
When the rains returned, the pond refilled. Now the exuviae – once I get my eye in, I notice several hoisted up the bur-reeds – signal that the water-dragons have taken to the skies. I hope they won't meet the same fate as a newly emerged broad-bodied chaser in my parents' garden. Having spent hours moulting, inflating and hardening its wings, it was ambushed on its maiden flight by a house sparrow.
Biodiversity in action
But if they are, so be it. We created the pond to enrich biodiversity, whether that means bloodworm to midge to bat, rat-tailed maggot to hoverfly to crab spider – or, from nymph to dragonfly to the insistent gape of a house sparrow chick. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024, is available now. Nic’s book Land Beneath the Waves is now out in paperback.
