Wild Weald: Pond dipping in the causeway pond

Alconbury Weald is creating homes for nature as well as people, with an abundance of natural habitats supporting a wide range of wildlife.  To help families explore the underwater world of Carnaile Pond, Urban&Civic, master developer for Alconbury Weald, teamed up with experts from The Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants.

Over 20 families attended a guided pond dipping event at the weekend, to see what creatures they could find living beneath the surface and in the aquatic vegetation.  Each family also prepared materials to install a bucket pond to take home to their gardens to support local wildlife.

Creatures discovered at Carnaile Pond included damselfly, mayfly and dragonfly larvae and some wonderful caddis fly larvae, as well as freshwater shrimp, water louse and backswimmers. There was even a bit of action when a damselfly larva ate a phantom midge larva!

Families were also taught how to create plant dumplings ready to create a bucket pond at home.  The Wildlife Trust carefully selected two emergent plants for each family to plant - yellow iris and water forget-me-not – which were planted into the hessian dumplings, which provide a low nutrient soil to help each plant grow in an aquatic environment.  Emergent plants will provide important cover for wildlife, including dragonflies and damselflies emerging from ponds. Each family was also given a strand or two of hornwort, an oxygenating plant.

Rachel Arnold, Communities and Partnerships for Alconbury Weald, said: "It was great to see the families so engaged with the natural world around them. All our landscaping design incorporates features to create and support vital habitats for nature. Working with the Wildlife Trust BCN helps to bring these to life for people and help them learn about the nature around them, but also how they can play their part in creating spaces for nature in their own back gardens."

Each family moving to Alconbury Weald gets a Welcome Pack with a booklet, developed with the Wildlife Trust BCN, on how to turn your garden into a haven for wildlife.

The next Wild Weald event will be in October, when local nature lovers will have another opportunity to explore the green corridors, ponds and natural habitats around Alconbury Weald with experts from The Wildlife Trust BCN.