This is an old revision of the document!
Table of Contents
News
26 Jul 2026: The Southern Hawker dragonfly returns
Yesterday, when returning the Palmate Newt tadpoles to one of the aquatic wildlife refuge tubs, after they had made a star appearance on our stall at Damerham Fair, I saw a hawker dragonfly hanging around the tub. I assume it was the same species (Southern Hawker) that visited another of the tubs on 9th August 2022. You can see a photo of the latter, a female, at the News item for that date.
25 Jul 2026: Damerham Fair
We will have a stall at Damerham Fair on Saturday 25th July 2026. As well as the craft and trade stalls and events in the arena, there will be the Damerham & District Horticultural Society's Summer Show. There will be a free bus service from Fordingbridge via the Railway Hotel and Sandleheath (see the Damerham Fair web site) .
If you are visiting, please drop by our stall (c. 11 am to 4 pm) to see what we are doing and have a chat.
22 Feb 2026: Frogs spawning
Work started late at today's session at the Pond, because we were treated to a poolside view of at least twenty frogs spawning in a small area at the eastern side of the Pond near the houses. The frogs were very active, the males trying to hang on to their chosen females, with much thrashing about, circles of ripples spreading out, and croaking. Clumps of frog-spawn could be seen in the water. Meanwhile, a pair of mallards were waiting for the fuss to die down, and were later spotted moving in to feast on the spawn.
Update 14th March: Some of the frog spawn contains wriggling tadpoles on the point of hatching. Because the water level in the pond has dropped about 30cm from its maximum, much of the spawn was in danger of drying out, so we shovelled it into deeper water. However, it is normal for there to be far more small tadpoles than can possibly survive into adulthood.
2 Feb 2026: The Pond is even fuller!
Obviously it was a mistake to claim that the pond was full on the previous occasion — today it's even more full, as is the moat into which it overflows.
Snowdrops are in full bloom, wild daffodils will be soon, and catkins are festooning the hazel bushes. As well as various other fungi, now mostly dying off, we found one or two freshly growing Scarlet Elf-cup fungi (Sarcoscypha coccinea) at the northern end of the woodland where we've seen them before in early spring in the last two years (see 04 Mar 2024: Spring colours). A surprise though was finding a scattering of seven or eight individuals and small groups in a new area behind the main log stack near the pond. This species has also been spotted recently in the “Sweatford's Woodland” area which is starting to be managed by the Woodland group of Fordingbridge Greener Living.
A pair of mallard have taken up residence. They may be the same pair which visited us last spring. No doubt they are waiting for frog-spawn to appear on the menu, and probably also looking for a suitable nest site is a hidden spot or nearby garden.
25 Jan 2026: The Pond is full
The pond is now full, thanks presumably to all the rain we've had recently, and more water coming in through the inflow pipe at the southern end, The outflow at the northern end will prevent the water level rising any higher, reassuring to the occupants of numbers 12 – 15 Cottage Mews right by the pond.
The outflow has no doubt contributed to the water level in the ancient moat just to the north of the pond. This moat is believed to have surrounded the Woodfidley Manor house, the remains of which lie in the grounds of the neighbouring property. .
Following the discovery of the small Horse Chestnut tree last year (see 24 Aug 2025: New tree discovered), and the identification of an area with Elm saplings (1 Sep 2025: We have elms!), today we noticed several small Beeches about 50–70 cm high. So even the species list for trees is increasing! The species list for fungi is also increasing, but their identification is more challenging!