Carl Sayer

The great Helen Greaves representing us at the Norfolk Biodiversity Partnership Community Biodiversity Fair today @theforumnorwich.bsky.social promoting ponds, #pond restoration & of course #ghostpond resurrection

And same place too!

A simply magnificent @uclgeography.bsky.social MSc Aquatic Conservation & MSc Conservation team at Blakeney Point NNR in autumn weather to dream of @tonyjuniper.bsky.social @craigbennett3.bsky.social

The Bodham Beavers, upper River Glaven. North Norfolk MSc fieldclass for @uclgeography.bsky.social MSc Conservation & Aquatic Conservation 2025 with Jonah Tosney from Norfolk Rivers Trust & 9 beavers

Sampling #ghostponds before & after ressurection today with @hayleymcmechan.bsky.social & the MSc Conservation & MSc Aquatic Conservation teams on our @uclgeography.bsky.social fieldcourse to N. Norfolk. Utter madness!

The MSc Aquatic Conservation & MSc Conservation @uclgeography.bsky.social North Norfolk fieldclass in full flow in superb weather. So far no sign of #Blackshuck! @tonyjuniper.bsky.social @craigbennett3.bsky.social

Good taste!

Beautiful Spindle with pink berries in the hedge

Close up of spindle berry

Spindle at a pink peak. My favourite plant of the autumn for #wildflowerhour

A resurrected ancient ghost pond see from a drone

A resurrected Ice age #pond in Norfolk, E. England. Dug to draw in extraterrestrials. It took 1 day to bring back. The black soil is full of seeds. The excavation will fill over winter & be amazing by summer. Photo @hburningham.bsky.social @hayleymcmechan.bsky.social @timholtwilson.bsky.social

‘It’s resurrection’: 1,000-year-old seeds could grow ancient plants in England’s ice-age ghost ponds An expert team are resurrecting ice age ponds and finding rare species returning from a ‘perfect time capsule’

‘It’s resurrection’: 1,000-year-old seeds could grow ancient plants in England’s ice-age ghost ponds

So excited to be quoted in this article about our resurrected #ghostponds with members of our fantastic team @carlsayer.bsky.social, @hburningham.bsky.social, @timholtwilson.bsky.social

‘Just add water’: how to bring back ancient plants in a Norfolk ghost pond An expert team are resurrecting ice age ponds and finding rare species returning from a ‘perfect time capsule’

Our work resurrecting ice age #ghostponds in the Guardian today @timholtwilson.bsky.social @hburningham.bsky.social @uclgeography.bsky.social ‘Just add water’: how to bring back ancient plants in a Norfolk ghost pond | Wildlife | The Guardian share.google/kO6HQaC4PAUJ...

Many volunteers smiling in an overgrown pond

1/4: We restored the biggest Norfolk farmland #pond we have ever worked on over the last 3 days. 50 x 25 m. Huge amounts of willow was removed by our volunteers followed by much chainsaw work @patrickbarkham.bsky.social

A stunning dreamy planty pond. Pond covered in pondweeds

We have been described as "THE BEST NGO THAT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT"

Please help by following us & reposting!!!

A pond with lots volunteers clearing scrub

Same pond but much scrub removed

1/4: It's Norfolk Ponds Project Pond Week. Despite the wild weather hampering things today we are now 4 ponds in! Look at this pond in the morning compared with the afternoon. All done with hand tools & brill volunteers clearing scrub (phase 1)!

A day of 'ghostpingo' #pond resurrection in the Norfolk Brecklands with @timholtwilson.bsky.social & other wonderful experts. By the end of tomorrow Norfolk will have 2 more of its lost ancient ponds back

A team of crazy pond restorers in a pond in a meadow

This week we are working with volunteers to restore around 6 farm #ponds by major scrub & mud removal. Today we got almost 2 ponds done through pure weight of numbers helping!!! A truly brilliant crazy team!!!

Ditches as waterways: Managing ‘ditch-scapes’ to strengthen communities and the environment A global study reframes ditches as multifunctional waterways with the potential to improve community resilience, water quality, biodiversity and environmental outcomes.

Check it out: www.vims.edu/newsandevent...!
@jwcat757.bsky.social at VIMS popularized our article (www.nature.com/articles/s43...)! Enjoy with ditches, folks! 🧪

Not pictured: journal article co-lead @peatymike.bsky.social, section leads @fluitans.bsky.social,
@drtatariw.bsky.social, & others...

Getting ready for this year's 'ghost pingo' restoration campaign on farmland in the Brecks - whatever tomorrow's weather may throw at us! @carlsayer.bsky.social @norfolkponds.bsky.social @brecksfarmerswn.bsky.social
#Breckland #biodiversity #geodiversity

1/2: Ponds were often filled in at the same time that hedges were removed & so burnt wood & hedgebank soil was dumped in the disappearing pond which was a convenient hole. Big tree stumps could not be burnt so often come out whole when we restore #ghostponds. Often we find loads of big stumps

A pond restored in 2015. Stunning structural complexity & very high biodiversity in its 3 planty zones. Right in the middle of an arable field but no drainage in & a good buffer. Farming & conservation working together. This is what we MUST DO! @wildernorfolk.bsky.social @tonyjuniper.bsky.social

A tree covered pond

An open sunny planty pond

This is what we do. Since 2014 we have restored (& guided others to do the same in the UK) 100s of #ponds with **MASSIVE** measured benefits.

See this mid-arable farm pond before & just 1 year after restoration by scrub & mud removal. A freshwater jewel in the landscape @davetickner.bsky.social

It's a great when you change the map! 2 resurrected #ghostpingos, just 1 yr old, look like they have been there forever. Working with the brill @timholtwilson.bsky.social & funded by Norfolk Wildlife Trust, BFER & Heritage Lottery we have helped 22 lost ancient Ice Age ponds back to life since 2021

Pond full of white flowering fine-leaved water dropwort

Pond full of flowering greater yellow cress. Yellow pond!

Restoring farm ponds can be very good for pollinators. We wonder why!!!???

doi.org/10.1111/icad...

People watching a digger

New excavation

Beautiful pond colonising with plants

People at a lovely pond full of plants

1/2: A Norfolk #ghostpingo #pond during, just after, 1 year (2024) & 2 years (2025) after ressurection. The pond now supports well over 35 wetland plants. It is stunning & getting better & better. An old seedbank was surely exposed allowing rapid plant colonisation

Wooded over farm pond 1

Wooded over farm pond 2

Wooded over farm pond 3

Wooded over farm pond 4

1/2: The charm of overgrown ponds. In Norfolk Ponds Project we reset succession in wooded-over farm ponds by major scrub & mud removal. This hugely increases biodiversity at the landscape-scale. But so there is a mix of successional stages we always leave some ponds. Here are 4 we will not touch

I'm in if you'll have me :)

Really like the atmospheric cover pic! :)

Cley-Salthouse marshes. A land full of birds & birdwatchers. But this area is so important for European eel which is critically endangered & declining in North Norfolk. Let's focus on eels too please. Eels are more than just bittern food!

Such a shame really as not native to this bit of Britain. So many other native species to river system prob need help.

Pepperoni & loam