The Secret Lake

Some years ago ,a very good friend had a dream ,he wanted to own his own lake and being a hard worker, he saved his money up and over time a piece of land came up to be sold, he purchased the land and put his dream to task and last year after many adventures ,setbacks and problems the lake was filled with stream water and his dream had become a reality.
Very kindly he has let me monitor the lake and although at the moment it is in a very raw state nature is finding its way there and over the next year i will show how over a period of time insects,birds,flowers all find there way to a new safe haven.

A view down the Lake.

The lake itself is various depths and has both shallow and deep banks ,one of the first things i noticed was the large amount of Deer tracks all the way round, and round the shallow banks where they must come down to drink.The lake is fed by a natural stream so the water level should remain pretty constant and the banks of the stream are full of wildflowers that will spread by means of seed dispersal all around the lake area.

The feeder Stream.

Some beautiful Bluebells and Wood Anemones.

The wildflowers spotted on my first visit which was a cold showery April day were
Dandelions
Cow parsley
Lesser Celandine
Garlic Mustard
Hairy Bitter Cress
Bluebells
Wood Sorrel
Wood Anemone
Colts foot
Mouse Ear
Honesty
Buttercup
Mayflower
Daffodil
Other plants that were not in flower were
Dock
Nettles
Himalayan Mountain Balsam
Horse tail
Fern
Yellow Flag Iris
Reeds

All around the open flowers were numerous insects feeding on the nectar and helping to pollinate the flowers.

Hover Flies on Dandelion.

Bee Hover Fly resting in the sunshine.

Green Dock Leaf Beetle eggs.

The insects spotted on the day were
Crane Flies
Red Tail Bumble Bee
Buff Tail Bumble Bee
St Marks Day Flies
Violet Ground Beetle
Hover flies
Green Dock Leaf Beetles
Numerous Spiders were also spotted but i need more identification on these.

Birds seen on the day were
Pheasant
Carrion Crow
Heron
Buzzard
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Reed Bunting
Curlew
Lapwing
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Canada Geese
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove.

All the surrounding trees have nest boxes in them three were occupied by Great and Blue Tits and some cheeky squirrels had been trying to gnaw the holes larger to get at the eggs inside.There where numerous Vole and Mice holes in the banks and 2 frogs and one toad spotted ,there was signs all over of Rabbit activity, and also of a Fox ,the only fungi spotted was King Alfred's Cakes.

Mouse Ear
At a time when more and more Greenfield sites are being lost it makes a fantastic change to see a new lake and surrounding area being created it will become a oasis of wildlife and i will visit every month to see what new life has started and taken residence this lake is just 3 Miles from the village of Longridge.

Horse Tail.
Have a great weekend,and keep your eyes open for the nature all around you Nature man Andy.