Tadpoles

There used to be a small pond in this aggregate quarry up the track from our house which supported palmate newts and frogs. With the massive increase in the amount of aggregate being removed, the filling-in of the pond, and the recent prolonged dry weather, the last things we expected to find there this morning were tadpoles.

However, there must be a natural spring under the quarry because, at its down-hill end, there's a rill, a seep, a tiny trickle of water - at bottom left in this photograph - which....

....when we looked at it closely, was populated by....

....black clouds of tadpoles, thousands of them, obviously enjoying the gentle flow of clean, clear water.

In what, by local standards, is almost a drought, because of the rill these tadpoles stand a good chance of surviving. However, as they grow, there will, surely, be intense rivalry, perhaps even cannibalism, in order for the fittest to survive. And we know there's a visiting heron which we've seen when the pond held water, and I'm sure it would relish a meal of tadpoles.