Pond Ponderings: Update From Dan Brawn’s Impressive Emperor Pond in Felixstowe, Suffolk.
29/06/2020
My previous blog described the emergence in spring 2019 of twelve Emperors after one year as larvae. On the 31st May this year 2020, I noticed seven Emperor exuvia which came as a surprise as I had not spotted or fished out any Emperor larvae during pondweed maintenance since last spring. That same evening in the fading light of the day, I spotted an emperor emerging from its exuvia right at the tip of a rather short horsetail pond plant. I made a plan to get up before dawn to see this one fly off. However when I returned at about 4am on 1st June ,there were two exuvia the one clinging onto the back of the other. Clearly, a second Emperor had chosen to climb the same short horsetail as the first nymph.
I wonder if the first managed to fly or was knocked off into the water where one of the frogs might have had a tasty meal! Anyhow, I waited from dawn at around 4am, until a very late 9am for the second (a male) Emperor to ready himself for flight. It was a perfect day for it, low wind, dry, sunny and warm.
So far, over its two years of existence, this pond has nurtured twenty-one Emperors to the point of emergence, ready to begin their purpose in life. The pond, as I write on the 18th June 2020, has a rich tapestry of life including common darter and damselfly larvae and much more. Garden ponds, when designed for nature, are truly magnificent. They bring rich life to a garden.