About



	About Spencer’s Pond, designated as a City Park by the City of Langford, BC, is a seasonal (vernal) pond located between Leigh Road and Spencer Middle School. It is home to a wide variety of insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. There are no fish as the pond dries up completely in the late summer for a short time. This keeps the potential bullfrog epidemic at bay because the tadpole stage of bullfrogs is longer than one year. Insects include damselflies, dragonflies, backswimmers, water boatmen, giant water bugs, diving beetles, water scorpions, caddisflies and mayflies. Amphibians include Pacific tree frogs, red legged frogs and salamanders. Because of the healthy assortment of insects and amphibians, as well as the work of birds and bats, there are very few mosquitoes present at the pond.

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One of the reason this ecosystem is so successful is the forest buffer that surrounds a good part of the pond. The Red Legged frog, a blue listed species, depends on the forest as this is where it does much of its foraging. The salamanders which can be found under rooted logs begin their life in the pond, hatching from aquatic eggs. The pond at first glance appears to be a tranquil setting, however, the ecosystem is not without its dangers. Snakes, raccoons, herons, King Fishers, to name a few, make life for many of the insects and amphians a real challenge.

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