What a difference a day makes

Sat. 16th Jan. 2010.
                                 
                 
                       3 Days ago

  Today



                Yesterday there were 9 inches of snow in the garden but after heavy overnight sleet and rain most of the loose snow has been washed away but the surrounding moors are still white. With the ground still being frozen the surface water runoff  from the nearby fields has caused a river to run down our garden path and then down through the gardens lower down the avenue.Looking around the ponds there has unfortunately been some casualties,the top pond which is only 1ft deep the ice was too thick(several dead adult frogs and minnows) but some have survived.

 . The main pond is deeper so the ice has protected the deeper slightly warmer water from freezing. I know what's caused these fatalities, I had to switch off the circulating water pump because the frogs had crawled up the water pipes to hibernate and blocked them, which caused the filter tank to overflow and start emptying the pond (left on this would have prevented  the ice from becoming too thick in the top pond) these pipes supply the stream and top pond with a continuous supply of circulated water which runs down into the main pond and the cycle is continued back into the filter.

The pebbled beach and open water

Some of the casualities

 The flower stalk of one of last years Common Spotted Orchids

                                         

After more than 4 weeks under the snow the Snowdrops have come to no harm.