Build it and they will come

So back at the beginning of April I started digging a pond. The first days efforts can be seen here. I've tinkered with it ever since and a couple of weeks ago I finally got my arse in gear and measured up and ordered the waterproof liner. It arrived on Friday and I have spent pretty much the entire weekend on lining, filling and landscaping (grand word for chucking soil, sand and gravel about).

Pond building seems to be one of those de rigeur middle class lockdown things to do along side getting chickens and baking sourdough bread. But that hasn't stopped me from getting very excited about the whole thing and making lots of plans.

So Friday night I lined the hole I had dug with sand. The hole was about 3x4m and at it's deepest about 70cm with shelves at different depths to create different habitats. By the time I went to bed it was looking something like this. 👇

Saturday morning saw me up bright and early getting the protective underlay down, followed by the waterproof membrane and finally another protective layer.

By 7pm I was ready to start filling the hole. I stopped filling at 10pm and this morning began to trim and finish the edges. Covering all the bits with the aforementioned sand, gravel and soil.

This evening the pond looks pretty much like this.

The next job will be to get some plants in but I will wait a couple of weeks to let the water balance out before introducing any. Although with this weather all the water might have evaporated by then!

Imagine my surprise this morning as I was on my hands and knees cutting the underlay when this beast popped to the surface right in front of me

A female Dytiscus marginalis. I caught her to show the kids, who were only marginally less excited than me and the we popped her back in the pond where she's spent the rest of the day. She must have arrived overnight. I love it that these things cruise around at night unbeknownst to most people. I use to get them occasionally in the moth trap but haven't seen one for a few years. 2014 in fact.

By the time I tidied away this evening I had had another two species of water beetle appear. Absolutely amazing and rather pleasing to have had some beetle action this early on in the game.

I'll end with an appropriate song in celebration of my new favourite thing 😊