Baffins Pond

Lying South of Tangier Road, the pond covers two and a half acres, with a small island in the middle. Next to the pond is a centre run by the Baffins Pond Association with raised beds for growing vegetables and flowers, and a pond of its own.

Baffins Pond is very popular with ducks and geese. You can expect to see Canada and Barnacle Geese, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Swan. You might see Little Grebe, Cormorant and Pochard. What is popularly known as the Baffins Gang presently consists of five Barnacle Geese and a hybrid goose. A Snow Goose now seems to have disappeared from the gang. The numbers of birds, along with a few terrapins, means that the pond is rather short of plants and animals. A bit of pond-dipping at the edge will find mainly Water Flea (Daphnia) and Water Boatman.

In 1994 soil was put along one edge of the pond, and various pond plants were added by local volunteers. Although some plants were immediately regarded as a tasty snack, with the help of some fencing enough survived to establish what is now a dense area of growth.
A recent new record for the pond is a Cetti's Warbler, singing on the main island. Listen for a short explosive song.
Thanks to Brian Fellows for the bird information on this site. He is a regular bird-watcher and counter here so you might see him as well! His own web-site has a page on Baffins Pond.
For a comprehensive view of the past and present at the pond, go to John Bastable's web-site.

East of the pond is the Brent Goose Sanctuary, which consists of about twenty acres of short grass and is intended to be an undisturbed area for the geese during the winter months. It was created when the land was found to be contaminated during preliminary work for a proposed new school. Although the geese do use the site, there are other sites nearby that they also find attractive.

Just down the road from Baffins Pond is this school pond, much smaller but still very useful for urban wildlife.

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