On Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:18:05 -0000, "sweetheart" hotmail.com wrote:

I have a "problem" with my pond. I used to have a large colony of frogs.
Last year they didn't come. This year it seems they are not coming. I live
in Cornwall - so no bad weather this year and having looked around I see
other people have frogs now.

I did have newts last summer. Not too many.

So I decided to take a look at what might be in the pond. I found one frog
( he/she seems to have gone now) one newt last night and a net full of
something I cant identify. I looks like a fish . Its about half an inch
long - some slightly smaller , greyish brown translucent .

I have no fish in the pond and never have. I have trawled the internet for
something like it to no avail. Any suggestions?

PS - I don't want any false trails but if I didn't know better I would
suggest baby sticklebacks but I don't have any fish in the pond, nor could
they have got in ( nearest river 2 miles away).

Also - anyone suggest what might have caused the demise of my pond since I I
seem to have lost everything in there?

Its smallish but I keep the area with long grass and a rockery for habitat
and only strim once a year. I have lilies and oxygenating plant and it looks
clearish , although it was full of stinking tree leaves until I set to last
year.

Any suggestions to a healthy pond ( and about my unidentified) would be
welcome

Thanks.

My garden wildlife records show that the first signs of frog activity
can vary considerably, from 16 January to 8 March here in South Devon.
Two frogs have only just arrived in our pond and we now have 4 newts
visible, so I suggest that there is still plenty of time for more of
them to arrive.

In the event that you were a bit over enthusiastic with your pond
cleaning it is possible that you removed some of the layer of mud and
detritus at the bottom of the pond that amphibians and invertebrates
like to hide in.

As to the tiny fish-like things a photo put somewhere on the web would
help considerably. Given your description, the only thing that I can
suggest without an image and bearing in mind that your pond is fish
free, is late developing newt larvae - have a look at
http://tinyurl.com/72fk7no for an example. As with tadpoles I have
spotted them over winter in this 'legless' state and in slightly later
stages of development, with front legs only and then eventually with
all 4 legs.
--
rbel