Nature notes

The garden always used to be plagued with molluscs, great fat slugs on every surface in warm weather after night fell, and snails hiding everywhere. Buts since we dug a pond and the frogs moved in (we counted 30+ last time we drained and refilled), the slugs have almost vanished.

Not so the snails. So I was delighted to see a whole mess of smashed snails, and splattered snail-juices on the doorstep this evening, left by no human agency - we must have a thrush who has discovered that there are a lot of easy pickings in this garden.