Pond life
Yes we get frogs and newts in the pond. We also have a resident moorhen family who use the pond throughout the year, even building nests on the pond when their chicks hatch, but we also get a lot of other wildlife attracted by the pond as a source of drinking water and insects for food. The ponds have probably had a bigger impact on wildlife than anything else in the garden.
Frogs and Newts - We get frogs, but not so many as we used to. The main culprit is probably grass snake, which we have seen a few times in the garden. We also have common newts in the pond which eat tadpoles.
Moorhens - have lived on the pond for many years, this is surprising because they are very shy birds and the pond is very close to the house. The eggs are usually laid in a nest built high in a hedge. The young chicks once they leave this nest cannot climb back up so they are then reared on the pond where the birds build a new nest in the water lilies. They may have as many as 8 chicks but this years first brood was only 3 and so far two have survived. The main danger seems to be the road.
Dragon fly - regular visitors to the garden. The Four Spotted Chaser dragon fly was photographed as it hatched from the larvae which had lived in the rill. Several other different types have been seen.
Damsel fly - the smaller relative of the dragon fly. We get these in very large numbers in May and June.
Birds around the pond - the pond is used by a lot of our normal garden birds. The blackbirds and thrushes spend a lot of time near the pond as do the smaller birds, especially finches. Swallows use mud from the edges when nest building.