Pond microclimate
We had another fall of snow last night. Again, it wasn’t much – only about 5 cm. Already the snow is melting rapidly in the sunshine.
There is a great contrast between my two ponds in terms of temperature. The raised pond is covered with the full dose of snow and underneath there is thick ice. The shallow pond has no snow on it, and is covered only with a very thin, weak layer of ice through which I can easily push a finger.
Raised pond covered in snow; shallow pond covered in thin ice
I had expected the raised pond to be more prone to getting frozen than the shallow pond, but even so the contrast surprises me. I wonder if the wall of the raised pond is giving some shelter to the shallow pond, thus preventing it from getting too cold. If so, it is good news for the wildlife. If I want to keep fish in the raised pond, I will need to be careful about remembering to break the ice for them. I am hoping that in time the pieris (see snow-covered plant behind the far corner of the raised pond) will grow big enough to give some shelter to one corner, thus impeding the ice formation in that corner.