These creatures are the wild life I watched in and around my pond most days from a very young age and so am able to describe their life cycles in a hopefully colourful and informative way.

Please consider these life cycle briefs as purely an introduction to pond wild life of the British Isles. The information presented is intended to fire your imagination to want to explore these creatures and other wildlife in more detail by further reading and research.

Most of the creatures presented can still be found living in and around our back garden ponds, although all have declined significantly in numbers over the last 30 years.

Newts are now a protected species. You would be fortunate to see one in a garden pond these days as they are now quite rare.