WILDLIFE LOVERS have rushed to the defence of animals left temporarily left high and dry while general maintenance is carried out on a tranquil Uppermill pond.
Willow Bank pond near the village green has been emptied by the Willow Bank Management Group so silt can be cleared out and the pond cleaned.
But when villagers noticed the drained area, concerns were sparked about the wildlife, including ducks and geese, which can usually be found splashing around the pond.
One resident, who wished to be unnamed, said: “This has left the ducks, some of them with ducklings or nesting, very vulnerable.
“The pond needs refilling as soon as possible to reinstate their habitat. It’s a shame the work wasn’t arranged to be carried out at a different time of year.”
A spokesperson for the Willow Bank Management Group confirmed the pond was drained as part of general maintenance which is expected to last a couple of weeks.
He said: “The pond is part of the river and so of course the silt moves down with the flow. It can accumulate in the pond and stop moving down.
“What we have to do now and then is open the sluice gate and drain the pond so we can clean it out.
“It has been done before by Willow Bank as it is our responsibility to maintain the pond. If we had left it, it would just get blocked up and cause more problems.
“We will get rid of the silt and then fill the pond again once the sluice gate is closed.”
He added: “We are aware of the wildlife in the area and of course we take that into consideration and we make every effort to accommodate that.
“But we have got to do the work and it should be complete in a short period of time.”
A spokesperson from the RSPB team in Uppermill added: “We understand no machinery is being used and hopefully wildlife interests will not be too badly affected.”
No effort at all as been made to protect the wildlife, the nest of newly born Moor Hens as been left high & dry with 2 baby Moor Hens gone in the first 24 hrs of this happening as they had a little nest on the Rocks in the pond which keep them protected from Foxes & other prey as it was surrounded by water, now no water & the baby Moorhens can’t climb the rocks to get back to the nest…they have tried to rebuild a new nest right in the center of the pond on the ground so are very vulnerable. The Canada Goose is nesting .. as are a lot of the ducks the Gander keeps struggling if he walks in the wrong place on the pond & gets stuck & bogged down it’s terrible to see him struggling like this it’s damn right cruel.The timing is absolutely atrocious & disgusting. No one is working on the pond no one is doing anything …all the agency’s i have spoken to said this is against the law to do this in the nesting season & you would have to be an half wit not to know this if you own a pond you should know this !!
This work could have been carried out when there were no ducks nesting. This is very sad and shows little thought for the wildlife there.
Another day gone by no work even started ….little bit of kidology going on here..man came out did a bit of digging for half hour yesterday then nothing again…the poor Moor Hens are now building there 3rd nest after losing another little chick last night…disgusting !!
only 1 moorhen chick has made it,all the others have been destroyed by predators (probably the mink)I know because i have fished them out of the pond and buried them!!!this has nothing whatsoever to do with the draining of the silt trap.If you are avaiable you can help me clear the tons of canada goose droppings evey morning!!!