Pond Study
On Saturday May 27, 2023, WRN Kids went to Huron Natural Area in Kitchener to do a pond study led by Laura. It was great day to be outside. The pond looked very small from the outside but we soon learned there were many creatures living in it together.
We each had nets to scoop out the creatures and put them into containers of water to examine them. We had a picture guide to help us identify them.
Sometimes it looked like I had found nothing, but if I looked closely a little dot be swimming and it was alive! Someone found a tadpole with legs and it was pretty big. I found a dragon fly larva. It was a big size. Laura explained and showed us how it has a cup like mouth that can scoop and catch its prey. It is a good hunter. We did find a leech, but nobody had one on them.
We saw lots and lots of frogs. Most of them were Leopard frog. We found some Green frogs as well and they sound like one banjo string being plucked. We learned how-to pick-up frogs properly and to hold them close to the ground in case they wanted to get away.
We found some Backswimmers and nymphs of Damselflies. We also saw a Garter snake in the water! There were lots of snails of many different sizes.
We found some adorable little baby Painted turtles. I also caught a little minnow.
At the end we said thank you to the pond. We all learned a lot that day. It’s important to learn about what lives in ponds so we know how important they are.
Reported by Hunter