This @freshwaterbio.bsky.social #pond restoration training course 25th, 26th June is well worth attending. Learn how to restore degraded existing ponds & #ghostponds with Norfolk Ponds Project founders Carl Sayer & Helen Greaves: www.fba.org.uk/shop/p/pond-...

A farm #pond we restored in 2014 showing multiple valuable habitats. Open water with submerged plants, a thick bed of Typha, lightly vegetated shallow shelving edge, bramble patch, woodland fringe, mini ancient woodland meadow (promontary on R) with early purple orchid. All this in a tiny footprint

A flooded #palaeochannel #pond on a semi-natural English chalk stream floodplain. A great place for fishes on the move right now & for amphibians in a few months. By summer it will probably be dry. But while it is water-filled all sorts of species will use it

A previously restored farmland #pond managed yesterday. Now you can see the forest horizon. A better habitat for aquatic plants, Great Crested Newt & all sorts of other creatures. This pond is bang in the middle of a big arable field yet everything goes to it

3 days of #pond management completed. We worked on 8 ponds that we restored over the last 10 years. Removing scrub is alot of fun & hugely benefits the ponds & so many species spanning plants, invertebrates, amphibians & mammals. *Thanks so much to all our brill volunteers*

Solar blue is reflected in the placid water of a Bodham pond while @norfolkponds.bsky.social minions strip its brambley banks bare of scrub. Great pond restoration works are under way this weekend. Work will resume on an even more thorny pond today.

What a difference a #pond management day makes. 4 ponds down & 8 to go over the next 2 days!!!

We are managing previously restored farmland ponds in North Norfolk, eastern England over the next 3 days. Lots of volunteers coming in. Watch this space for top tips & wild #pond conservation action!!!

A #ghostpond in the gloom. We resurrected this #pond about 8 years ago. As I approached I flushed 2 wild mallards & a snipe. Soon we will need to scrape out the bullrush - but the pond is still doing its thing lifting species populations in the farmed countryside

Brilliant fishy #pond conservation. At Kelling Heath Holiday Park, Norfolk, E. England they have fish & non-fish ponds. Science says that having some ponds with native pond-associated fish & others without fish increases biodiversity at the landscape-scale.

One of Norfolk's very special farm #ponds during greenhouse gas sampling. Hello Pickpocket Pit. Treeless & enclosed by lesser tussock sedge & full of all sorts of goodies including the scarce greater duckweed. And bang in the middle of a big arable field. Invisible to all except for a passing eagle

Many Norfolk farm #ponds have steep sides especially at the old clay/marl pit digging face. Sometimes, if cleared of scrub, a stunning vertical meadow is formed along the sharp moisture gradient from waters edge to bank top. Here Sayer's Black Pit, the first pond we restored in 2011, shows the way

Restored spring fed farm #ponds are the jewels of the countryside! Hence why we exist. They need to be cared for & managed & they should never be filled in!!!

Rare plants often turn up in restored Norfolk farm #ponds: Translucent Stonewort (Nitella translucens), Tassel Stonewort (Tolypella intricata), Bladder Sedge (Carex vesicaria) & Marsh Speedwell (Veronica scutellata). Very special species usually confined to nature reserves

Fantastic farm #pond #fishes. 3-spine stickleback (Right) & 9-spine stickleback (Left). Both can go to sea! The 3-spine prefers open water & the 9-spine loves dense plant-filled water. The male 9-spine (Lower Left) goes entirely black when breeding. Crackers! @fishtwitcher.bsky.social

Transforming overgrown farm #ponds by scrub & mud removal. Before restoration this Norfolk pond was anoxic from bed to surface, had an impoverished plant & invertebrate community & lacked breeding amphibians. All of these things were reversed BIG TIME after restoration! @arc-trust.bsky.social

A recently restored #pond in arable. Clear plant-filled & fringed water & all sorts of habitats present. Birds will nest in the bushes & feed on emerging insects. Pollinators of all kinds will use the pond & its plants. Every critter in the landscape will drink its water day & night. *Ponds = Life*

Digging a buried #ghostpond in Norfolk farmland way back in 2013. The darker lower sediments are the muds from a pond filled in 70+ years ago. We now know that ghost pond ressurection may be the most successful form of ecological restoration known! @billsutherland.bsky.social

During & 2 years after the restoration of a scrubbed over farm #pond. A massive increase in biodiversity observed. Return of Great Crested Newt & appearance of the mega rare Tassel Stonewort. We can report on 100s of stories like this from Norfolk. Ponds should be a higher conservation priority

Happy NY!!! Since 2014 we have pioneered the restoration of overgrown ponds & lost infilled #ghostponds in the UK. Our methods, learnt from a wonderful farmer (Richard Waddingham), are mega successful & lead to massive biodiversity gains for aquatic & terrestrial species. Please support us in 2026 🎉

Happy xmas to all from Norfolk Ponds Project!!! Crucian carp, stained glass window, Guestwick Church, Norfolk.

A solstice #ghostpond haunts a field with a forgotten name. As the veil thins water rises through soil warmed by the winter sun and the portal opens. Life stirs waiting for the light #solstice #christmasghosts

The glory of a well managed Norfolk marl pit #pond. If a little buffered from the fields & no inflow pipe ponds can be spectacularly diverse even in intensive arable. Ponds are probably the most important farm habitat @farmwildlifeuk.bsky.social

There are 23,000+ extant #ponds in Norfolk. A huge portion of these are in a poor state & in need of restoration. Restoring some of these ponds will make a big impact on biodiversity & help stem declines across aquatic & terrestrial wildlife. Come on!!! @farmwildlifeuk.bsky.social

The invasive plant, New Zealand Pigmywort Crassula helmsii, is a big trouble maker, but can be hand-picked & dug out of ponds & eradicated. Over recent days our Julia Mumford-Smith & 4 volunteers worked hard to clear Crassula from 2 species-rich North Norfolk farm ponds. Crassula can be beaten!!!

Welcome #WensumRiverkin #SaveTheWensum

For your freshwater Friday delight... we're thrilled to present a deep dive with @carlsayer.bsky.social, Prof of Limnology & Freshwater Ecology at UCL, into the fascinating world of #GhostPonds, and their potent power for ecological and palaeoecological regeneration: www.fba.org.uk/fba-voice/gh...

Pond hope!!! Thanks to the @freshwaterbio.bsky.social for some great coverage of our work resurrecting #ghostponds. www.fba.org.uk/fba-voice/gh...

Happy Halloween freshwater fiends! Do you believe in ghosts? Nope. How about ghost ponds?👻 Please allow us to introduce you to a the amazing #GhostPond aficionado @carlsayer.bsky.social for inspiring ponderings on the incredible power of ghost pond resurrections! Check it out: youtu.be/bT1FLPCjEPw

The huge biodiversity gains from restoring farm #ponds. Major evidence coming in from studies at our Heydon restored pondscape, Norfolk, eastern England @tonyjuniper.bsky.social @fwageast.bsky.social @farmwildlifeuk.bsky.social @brecksfarmerswn.bsky.social @norfolknats.bsky.social @epcn.bsky.social

The great Helen Greaves representing us at the Norfolk Biodiversity Partnership Community Biodiversity Fair today @theforumnorwich.bsky.social promoting ponds, #pond restoration & of course #ghostpond resurrection

In case you missed it: lots of amazing and heartening pond restoration going on. Research is likely to confirm that seeds "lost" in the bottom of filled-in ponds can remain viable for 100s of years so ponds and their aquatic plants leap back to life. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Ghost ponds and overgrown ponds in Norfolk are being recovered and restored in an extraordinary conservation project in which sound is being used to measure the health of a pond.... www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

A resurrected Ice age #pond in Norfolk, E. England. Dug to draw in extraterrestrials. It took 1 day to bring back. The black soil is full of seeds. The excavation will fill over winter & be amazing by summer. Photo @hburningham.bsky.social @hayleymcmechan.bsky.social @timholtwilson.bsky.social

‘Just add water’: how to bring back ancient plants in a Norfolk ghost pond

Our work resurrecting ice age #ghostponds in the Guardian today @timholtwilson.bsky.social @hburningham.bsky.social @uclgeography.bsky.social ‘Just add water’: how to bring back ancient plants in a Norfolk ghost pond | Wildlife | The Guardian share.google/kO6HQaC4PAUJ...

1/4: We restored the biggest Norfolk farmland #pond we have ever worked on over the last 3 days. 50 x 25 m. Huge amounts of willow was removed by our volunteers followed by much chainsaw work @patrickbarkham.bsky.social

We have been described as "THE BEST NGO THAT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT" Please help by following us & reposting!!!

1/4: It's Norfolk Ponds Project Pond Week. Despite the wild weather hampering things today we are now 4 ponds in! Look at this pond in the morning compared with the afternoon. All done with hand tools & brill volunteers clearing scrub (phase 1)!

This week we are working with volunteers to restore around 6 farm #ponds by major scrub & mud removal. Today we got almost 2 ponds done through pure weight of numbers helping!!! A truly brilliant crazy team!!!

A day of 'ghostpingo' #pond resurrection in the Norfolk Brecklands with @timholtwilson.bsky.social & other wonderful experts. By the end of tomorrow Norfolk will have 2 more of its lost ancient ponds back

1/2: Ponds were often filled in at the same time that hedges were removed & so burnt wood & hedgebank soil was dumped in the disappearing pond which was a convenient hole. Big tree stumps could not be burnt so often come out whole when we restore #ghostponds. Often we find loads of big stumps

A pond restored in 2015. Stunning structural complexity & very high biodiversity in its 3 planty zones. Right in the middle of an arable field but no drainage in & a good buffer. Farming & conservation working together. This is what we MUST DO! @wildernorfolk.bsky.social @tonyjuniper.bsky.social

A starter pack for people & organisations that love #ponds! Whats not to love!!! go.bsky.app/5ZMVBB1

This is what we do. Since 2014 we have restored (& guided others to do the same in the UK) 100s of #ponds with **MASSIVE** measured benefits. See this mid-arable farm pond before & just 1 year after restoration by scrub & mud removal. A freshwater jewel in the landscape @davetickner.bsky.social

The Great Silver Water beetle is the size of a small building. It is strongly an East Anglian species & we see it regularly in farm ponds that we restore. A largely vegetarian species. An absolute corker

It's a great when you change the map! 2 resurrected #ghostpingos, just 1 yr old, look like they have been there forever. Working with the brill @timholtwilson.bsky.social & funded by Norfolk Wildlife Trust, BFER & Heritage Lottery we have helped 22 lost ancient Ice Age ponds back to life since 2021

1/3: The how & why of #ghostpond resurrection was the focus of a workshop that we ran for Norfolk FWAG & the Royal Countryside Fund this week in Cawston, Norfolk. Around 30 farmers saw 2 lost ponds brought to life

Restoring farm ponds can be very good for pollinators. We wonder why!!!??? doi.org/10.1111/icad...

1/2: A Norfolk #ghostpingo #pond during, just after, 1 year (2024) & 2 years (2025) after ressurection. The pond now supports well over 35 wetland plants. It is stunning & getting better & better. An old seedbank was surely exposed allowing rapid plant colonisation