Welcome to Pond Ponderings – a pond blog by gardeners of all experience levels
Here you will find regular blog posts, Pond Ponderings, about garden ponds of all types and sizes created by gardeners of all experience levels and different budgets levels too. These posts will be honest accounts of the issues and joys that wildlife gardening and ponds in particular can bring. Including highlights of which species move … Continued
Smallford Pits update: no charges from Crown Prosecution Service
Last month, staff and volunteers at the BDS were outraged to learn about the apparent deliberate poisoning of ponds at one of Hertfordshire’s top dragonfly sites: Smallford Pits (read here). This criminal act followed a previous incident in September 2020 during which the ponds were trashed with heavy machinery. Smallford Pits is a designated Local Wildlife … Continued
Neonicotinoid pesticide will not be used in England in 2021
In 2018 EU members banned the use of most neonicotinoids on outdoor crops as a result of growing evidence of the severe impact the pesticides have on the survival of bees, as well as other pollinators. However, the UK and nine other countries decided to continue to allow emergency use of the chemicals. Earlier this … Continued
County Dragonfly Recorder Reports 2020
British Dragonfly Society County Dragonfly Recorder Reports for 2020 are now available. Download them here to review the highlights of the 2020 dragonfly season in your County.
Meet Cephalozygoptera! The newly described, and sadly extinct, Odonata suborder
Researchers from Simon Fraser University, Canada, announced the classification of a new suborder of extinct Odonata after conducting an extensive review of fossil specimens and scientific papers dating back as far as 162 years. Within the historic studies they found descriptions of specimens that matched fossils collected from British Columbia and Washington State. On first … Continued
Dragonfly-inspired nanotechnology in the fight against disease
After almost a year of dousing ourselves in hand sanitiser we are all well aware of the importance of disinfectants in the fight to control the spread of COVID-19. However, scientists at the Imperial College of London are investigating other means of killing pathogens without the use of harsh chemicals. Just like the COVID-19 virus, … Continued
Top Hertfordshire Dragonfly Site Criminally Destroyed
Police and the Environment Agency are currently investigating the destruction of two protected ponds at Smallford Pits Local Wildlife Site near Saint Albans. Local residents were left aghast after discovering that the ponds at their treasured wildlife hotspot had been polluted, with either diesel or petrol, in December 2020. Earlier in September, of the same … Continued
Pond Ponderings: Chapter One of My Pond Story by Carolyn Cooksey
Our Secretary Carolyn Cooksey is our newest Pond Ponderings writer. In chapter one of Carolyn’s pond story we hear about the creation of a garden pond at her new home in Huntingdonshire: Inspired by Fiona’s campaigns on ponds, in my Autumn 2019 update in Dragonfly News, I rather rashly committed to putting a pond … Continued
National Insect Week Photography Winners 2020
The Royal Entomological Society has revealed the spectacular winners’ and finalists’ images from the 2020 National Insect Week photography competition. Of course, the dragonfly photographs are our favourite! Visit the National Insect Week website, including the 2020 photography gallery, here. National Insect Week will return in 2022. Follow the event on facebook and twitter for … Continued