I built a pond, and the wildlife came. Watch this to see the wildlife that visited during the first year of the pond at Ash Wood. No wildlife habitat is complete without water, so when I started a project to improve wildlife visits to an old ash woodland, the first thing I did was dig a pond. I began the project in December, when my work was least likely to disturb breeding birds or animals.
After digging and lining the pond, I placed rocks around the edge so that the wildlife could easily climb in and out. Then I fitted cameras to monitor the wildlife that visited through the seasons. Once the pond was ready, I placed an owl box in a nearby tree so that new inhabitants had a water supply they could rely on. Then, once the snows melted, I filled the pond.
First visitors
Within just a few days of filling the pond up with water, I spotted the first visitors - fieldfares! Other animals soon found their way to this new watering hole to bathe and drink, including a buzzard, badgers, and even a passing stoat. But just as the wildlife got used to the spot, a cold snap turned the water to ice and the animals found themselves skating instead of sipping! Among them a tawny owl who soon inspected the owl box nearby as possible place to lay her eggs.
Spring
As winter gave way to spring, more animals came out looking for food and water. A female roe deer passed through, moulting the last of her winter coat, and a pair of mallards popped by for a drink. In the nest box, tawny owl pair Ozzy & Bonnie had two chicks.
Summer
In June, the summer heat attracted more birds to the pond. A woodpecker, a sparrowhawk and even the tawny owl, that viewers on my channel named Bonnie, came to bathe. With more hours of sunshine, I even spotted a badger drinking in daylight. Seven months after the pond was finished – a summer drought hit the Yorkshire Wolds and my pond became vital to the surrounding wildlife. A juvenile goshawk even appeared and when a rat wandered through, she snatched it up in one fell swoop. By night, tawny owl parents Bonnie & Ozzy also caught rodents here and it wasn't long before my cameras captured the moment the two tawny chicks, now 10 weeks old, visited the pond for the first time.
Autumn & Winter
As the leaves fell in autumn, the pond remained a hub of activity, attracting young stoats, and wintering bramblings returned from Scandinavia. By December, I had been watching life at this watering hole for a year. It’s had been incredible to see the breadth of species coming to drink, bathe and even hunt. And for me, it's just been amazing to create something so simple, yet so vital, for the wildlife here – a lifeline through the seasons, and a place they can rely on year-round!
