Here on our development we are in the top far corner of what once was a meadow. Behind us remains meadow and now it is March the yellow flowers have been out for a month and tiny little blue headed flowers are popping up and delightfully, the grass is all lush and green thanks to the occasional showers we have been blessed with. (Can’t believe I’d come to see showers as a blessing so soon!).

The plot of land at our side awaiting the commencement of building is an excavated mess. To my horror last summer there was a small landslip which convinced me that our house was about to disappear down the next level in front which has also been excavated. Torrential rains in November enabled the pit to fill with water, which for a completely flooded the whole plot, necessitating the construction of a small ditch to the plot next to that one for an overflow. There amidst the piles of bricks, the rubble, a green abandoned builders shed, concrete reinforcing metal criss cross things, a heap of mangled pallets, is a crystal clear pool, which when full overflows to a lower pool.

Now clear water resting on a clay bedded building plot, whether cascading to a lower pool or not, is not exactly picturesque and if anything I have considered it an unsightly potential mosquito magnet, and a risk to our foundations. At the beginning of February when the call of the bull frogs was so loud we had to turn our t.v. up on the chilly nights, little did I imagine that they were conducting their courtship next door! It still didn’t occur to me as I saw the little black squiggly things in the water that they were anything other than amoeba type insect creatures.

However, my observations this week have finally made me appreciate that whilst it may look like an ugly building plot, it is a little eco system. The squiggly things now have a tail and if they are not tadpoles then they are extremely large sperm! There are thousands of them and I keep looking for any signs of legs on the larger ones and can spend quite some time watching them as the water is so clear.

I am usually slow on the uptake, so it may come as no surprise that I have taken this long to appreciate the local bird life. However, these tadpoles are clearly delicious to many of our flying friends who regularly drop by for a tasty morsel. Much to my delight they don’t mind me sitting there observing them and they are so close that I feel I can even see the twinkle in their eye as they decide whether to have just one more. After all, there are thousands of them. The perimeter of the pool is several inches of blackness with them all wriggling and writhing in the water.

Plants are now growing up the landslip and having been reassured by the developer that our house is going nowhere with the concrete wall we paid a fortune for, I can see that it has lots of convenient perches for the birds.

Then, following more recent rain, the frogs chorus is off again, much to Alex’s annoyance as he now has to sleep with ear plugs they are just so loud. On checking on the internet, the decibels they produce are notoriously loud so at least we have normal breeding frogs!! Anyway, one evening I crept out to watch the beginning and just saw one big green chap on a pipe suddenly start puffing out his lower jaw or chin into a membranous balloon shaped chamber and start his croaking. It was like watching a David Attenborough show live! Then, down the landslip, hoards of his mates started scrambling down to join him, each joining in with the racket. Don’t know if they were all male and were going into competition or whether some were male and some were women scrambling down to catch the best croaker! Anyway, I now really appreciate the site and all it’s residents. The ugliness doesn’t seem to matter any more as I know it will go eventually. I am looking forward to watching the progress of the seasons and how nature exploits the site.