A Year in the Valley

Mr C and I spent a while pond-watching yesterday.  We spotted tadpoles, whirligig beetles and pond snails.  The snails were bladder snails and were cruising upside-down along the underside of the water’s surface.  Bladder snails eat dead plant matter.  They are prolific breeders and the American Bladder Snail (Physella acuta), often used for cleaning up aquariums, is considered an invasive species.  The Common Bladder Snail (Physa fontinalis) is pale, oval in outline and is common throughout the British Isles.  Bladder snails swim upside-down on the surface of the water to breathe, as they have lungs, not gills.