It’s January and down in the pond most creatures are sleeping. The larvae of aquatic and flying insects are buried in the mud, waiting for the water to warm up in spring. The only obvious sign of life above water level is the heron. You probably can’t spot her but she’s standing right in the middle of the pond in the photo above. In fact she was so still and her colours matched the grey surroundings so well I didn’t spot her until I walked along the road and she took flight. Sorry heron, I distubed your lunch.
The bulrushes are looking raggedy as you might expect after a year of vigorous growth. Too vigorous actually, because they are starting to take over too much of the water surface. The huge tuberous roots slow the flow of water and cause silt to settle, which will eventually block the pond. One of the FVWPA tasks in the coming year is to carefully thin out the bulrushes and keep the pond water flowing gently.