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What's in your pond?

19 March 2018 (by ballycastle)

BIPS Eco-Council takes part in National Museum's NI CEDaR Survey.

BIPS Eco-Council have been taking part in the National Museum's Northern Ireland, CEDaR Survey, “What's in your Pond?” since the 5th March 2018. This event encourages children and adults to get outside to look around their school grounds and/or back gardens for frogs and newts. These amphibians are considered common across the country, but there is very little evidence to confirm this. Therefore, CEDaR needs our help and asks for everyone to take part in the survey, to tell them where we find these slippery characters, as well as any other pond dwellers which we come across. This is the first time that this survey has taken place and BIPS are keen to assist. Our pond has been in place for 5 years now and over this time we have seen the benefits to the biodiversity of our playground with newts and different dragonflies visiting us regularly. This is in addition to the heron that stops in, along with the mix of birds that bath at the ponds edge. The Eco-Council started the survey on the 8th March and at first found nothing. However on the 9th March, five new clumps of frogspawn were recorded along with several lesser water boatmen and one larger water boatmen. The children had to work out the size of the pond and survey the area for any other pond insects which they could see. This data will all be logged with David Tosh at CEDaR. If you want to find out more visit: https://www.nmni.com/CEDaR/frogs/Whats-in-your-pond.aspx