Advanced Pond Training

Yesterday I joined some other volunteers and our local PondNet coordinator Anne and we had a relaxed and informative training day on a site near Gateshead in the north east of England. Despite the early start and the long drive, the visit was worthwhile as it gave the opportunity to visit a new site which offered a range of biodiversity. Whilst I carry out amphibian surveys for the PondNet project, there are other strands to the project. Combined, these aim to get a view of the overall health of ponds. Volunteers can choose survey specialisms such as aquatic plants, pond invertebrates, and dragon/damselflies. This was a chance to see what was involved in those other survey strands, and record some useful data for the pond whilst we were being upskilled.

On arrival, the sun was out and we spent half an hour or so chasing butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies from plant to plant. Skipper butterflies were most abundant, and I was able to add azure and emerald damselflies to my seasonal tick list.

For the rest of the morning we had a slow walk around the pond and identified all of the plants either in the pond or around its margins. These included grasses (a good opportunity to practice from the weekend!), several different species of reed and other wetland plants including bur-reed and spearwort. From within the pond we also pulled out some ivy-leaved duckweed and crystalwort, a type of liverwort with an antler-like structure. The full plant list is as follows:

Water starwort species undt. (Callitriche sp.)
Waterweed, Canadian (Elodea Canadensis)
Crystalwort, Channelled (Riccia canallculata)
Duckweed, Common (Lemna minor)
Duckweed, Ivy leaved (Lemna trisulca)
Pondweed, Broad-leaved (Potamogeton natans)
Angelica, Wild (Angelica sylvestris)
Bent, Creeping (Agrostis stolonifera)
Bird’s-foot-trefoil, Greater (Lotus pedunculatus)
Bur-Reed, Branched (Sparganium erectum)
Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis)
Forget-me-not, Tufted (Myosotis lexa)
Foxtail, Marsh (Alopecurus geniculatus)
Iris, Yellow (Iris Pseudacorus)
Mint, Water (Mentha aquatic)
Rush, Jointed (Juncus articulates)
Rush, Soft (Juncus effuses)
Rush, Sharp-flowered (Juncus acutiflorus) 
Spearwort, Greater (Ranunculus ligua)
Spearwort, Lesser (Ranunculus flammula)
Stitchwort, Bog (Stellaria uliginosa)
Sweet-grass, Floating (Glyceria fluitans)
Willowherb species undt. (Epilobium sp.)

After lunch, we focused on invertebrates and carried out timed nettings around the margins of the pond, taking samples from different habitat types including open water and amongst the vegetation. We then discussed what we had found, and tried to identify them. For the purposes of the
PondNet invertebrate survey, identification is to family level.

One of the other volunteers had an amazing device - a lens that fitted to his i-phone and acted like a microscope. As well as seeing the insect at a high magnification, he could take photographs of the detail. I was slightly jealous! This would greatly help with identification, especially of the smaller species.

Beetles (Order Coleoptera)
  Dytiscidae (Noteridae): Diving Beetle
  Hydrophilidae (Hydraenidae): Scavenger Beetle

Water Bugs (Order Hemiptera, Suborder Heteroptera)
  Corixidae: Lesser Water Boatman
  Gerridae: Pond Skater
  Naucoridae: Saucer Bug
  Nepidae: Water Scorpion
  Notonectidae: Water Boatman
  Pleidae: Saucer Bug

Caddisflies (Order Trichoptera)
  Limnephilidae

Damselflies (Order Odonata, Suborder Zygoptera)
  Coenagrionidae: Red & Blue Damselflies

Dragonflies (Order Odonata, Suborder Anisoptera)
  Libellulidae: Skimmers, chasers, darters

Flatworm (Order Turbellaria)
  Planariidae (Dugesiidae)

Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera)
  Baetidae: Olives

Water Slater (Isopoda)
  Asellidae: Water Hog-Louse