Carl Sayer
@carlsayer.bsky.social
Professor at UCL, Restoration of freshwaters, ponds, lakes, rivers, meadows, plants, diatoms, fish, eels, burbot, crucians, palaeoecology, rewilding, Norfolk: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/geography/carl-sayer
Pinned
Carl Sayer
@carlsayer.bsky.social
· Dec 8
Bringing 'ghost' and 'zombie' ponds back from the dead
YouTube video by RAZOR Science Show
youtu.be
POND GHOSTS & ZOMBIES. A film on our #pond #restoration #Ghostponds work in @uclgeography.bsky.social by RAZOR Science featuring Norfolk Ponds Project, Helen Greaves, myself & many. Pond restoration achieves nature recovery so quickly: youtu.be/SYkbDdaUMBY?...
Reposted by Carl Sayer
We are managing previously restored farmland ponds in North Norfolk, eastern England over the next 3 days. Lots of volunteers coming in. Watch this space for top tips & wild #pond conservation action!!!
January 30, 2026 at 7:49 AM
We are managing previously restored farmland ponds in North Norfolk, eastern England over the next 3 days. Lots of volunteers coming in. Watch this space for top tips & wild #pond conservation action!!!
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Solar blue is reflected in the placid water of a Bodham pond while @norfolkponds.bsky.social minions strip its brambley banks bare of scrub. Great pond restoration works are under way this weekend. Work will resume on an even more thorny pond today.
February 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Solar blue is reflected in the placid water of a Bodham pond while @norfolkponds.bsky.social minions strip its brambley banks bare of scrub. Great pond restoration works are under way this weekend. Work will resume on an even more thorny pond today.
Reposted by Carl Sayer
3 days of #pond management completed. We worked on 8 ponds that we restored over the last 10 years. Removing scrub is alot of fun & hugely benefits the ponds & so many species spanning plants, invertebrates, amphibians & mammals. *Thanks so much to all our brill volunteers*
February 1, 2026 at 8:51 PM
3 days of #pond management completed. We worked on 8 ponds that we restored over the last 10 years. Removing scrub is alot of fun & hugely benefits the ponds & so many species spanning plants, invertebrates, amphibians & mammals. *Thanks so much to all our brill volunteers*
Wilding for Conservation. Very proud to contribute to this fab new book with @reagan-envisci.bsky.social @uclgeography.bsky.social www.britishwildlife.com/wilding/ #rewilding
wilding - British Wildlife
Wilding for Conservation: An Exploration of Rewilding in Britain The complete collection of articles from British WIldlife‘s acclaimed Wilding for Conservation series – an unflinching appraisal of the...
www.britishwildlife.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Wilding for Conservation. Very proud to contribute to this fab new book with @reagan-envisci.bsky.social @uclgeography.bsky.social www.britishwildlife.com/wilding/ #rewilding
Reposted by Carl Sayer
A #ghostpond in the gloom. We resurrected this #pond about 8 years ago. As I approached I flushed 2 wild mallards & a snipe. Soon we will need to scrape out the bullrush - but the pond is still doing its thing lifting species populations in the farmed countryside
January 28, 2026 at 6:51 PM
A #ghostpond in the gloom. We resurrected this #pond about 8 years ago. As I approached I flushed 2 wild mallards & a snipe. Soon we will need to scrape out the bullrush - but the pond is still doing its thing lifting species populations in the farmed countryside
Can anyone help the wonderful @hayleymcmechan.bsky.social with this macrofossil from buried #ghostpond sediment? It has been a mystery for a few years in @uclgeography.bsky.social
@bramblebotanist.bsky.social @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @annasolcova.bsky.social
@bramblebotanist.bsky.social @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @annasolcova.bsky.social
Here's another tricky one.. just can't find these anywhere. They look like miniature leaves on a little stalk..in some samples I have 100 and in others I have none. Wondered if they might actually be something fungal. Anyone got any ideas please please
January 23, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Can anyone help the wonderful @hayleymcmechan.bsky.social with this macrofossil from buried #ghostpond sediment? It has been a mystery for a few years in @uclgeography.bsky.social
@bramblebotanist.bsky.social @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @annasolcova.bsky.social
@bramblebotanist.bsky.social @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @annasolcova.bsky.social
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Brilliant fishy #pond conservation. At Kelling Heath Holiday Park, Norfolk, E. England they have fish & non-fish ponds.
Science says that having some ponds with native pond-associated fish & others without fish increases biodiversity at the landscape-scale.
Science says that having some ponds with native pond-associated fish & others without fish increases biodiversity at the landscape-scale.
January 19, 2026 at 8:44 AM
Brilliant fishy #pond conservation. At Kelling Heath Holiday Park, Norfolk, E. England they have fish & non-fish ponds.
Science says that having some ponds with native pond-associated fish & others without fish increases biodiversity at the landscape-scale.
Science says that having some ponds with native pond-associated fish & others without fish increases biodiversity at the landscape-scale.
Reposted by Carl Sayer
We're often asked what we do with all the plastic we pick up from beaches. These rope floats are off to @carlsayer.bsky.social at UCL for use in eel surveys and conservation work
January 19, 2026 at 8:07 AM
We're often asked what we do with all the plastic we pick up from beaches. These rope floats are off to @carlsayer.bsky.social at UCL for use in eel surveys and conservation work
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Many Norfolk farm #ponds have steep sides especially at the old clay/marl pit digging face. Sometimes, if cleared of scrub, a stunning vertical meadow is formed along the sharp moisture gradient from waters edge to bank top. Here Sayer's Black Pit, the first pond we restored in 2011, shows the way
January 11, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Many Norfolk farm #ponds have steep sides especially at the old clay/marl pit digging face. Sometimes, if cleared of scrub, a stunning vertical meadow is formed along the sharp moisture gradient from waters edge to bank top. Here Sayer's Black Pit, the first pond we restored in 2011, shows the way
Reposted by Carl Sayer
One of Norfolk's very special farm #ponds during greenhouse gas sampling. Hello Pickpocket Pit. Treeless & enclosed by lesser tussock sedge & full of all sorts of goodies including the scarce greater duckweed. And bang in the middle of a big arable field. Invisible to all except for a passing eagle
January 12, 2026 at 6:13 PM
One of Norfolk's very special farm #ponds during greenhouse gas sampling. Hello Pickpocket Pit. Treeless & enclosed by lesser tussock sedge & full of all sorts of goodies including the scarce greater duckweed. And bang in the middle of a big arable field. Invisible to all except for a passing eagle
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Happy to share a new paper in Discover Conservation that gives an updated review of fish species reintroductions 🐟 and how they could be utilised in the UK! With @carlsayer.bsky.social from UCL and Michael Chadwick from KCL. Access here: tinyurl.com/28c498fh
January 12, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Happy to share a new paper in Discover Conservation that gives an updated review of fish species reintroductions 🐟 and how they could be utilised in the UK! With @carlsayer.bsky.social from UCL and Michael Chadwick from KCL. Access here: tinyurl.com/28c498fh
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Restored spring fed farm #ponds are the jewels of the countryside! Hence why we exist. They need to be cared for & managed & they should never be filled in!!!
January 10, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Restored spring fed farm #ponds are the jewels of the countryside! Hence why we exist. They need to be cared for & managed & they should never be filled in!!!
An updated review of fish species reintroductions: global lessons to inform future riverine fish conservation in the UK | Discover Conservation share.google/HsNqskxDVhmT...
January 10, 2026 at 7:27 PM
An updated review of fish species reintroductions: global lessons to inform future riverine fish conservation in the UK | Discover Conservation share.google/HsNqskxDVhmT...
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Rare plants often turn up in restored Norfolk farm #ponds: Translucent Stonewort (Nitella translucens), Tassel Stonewort (Tolypella intricata), Bladder Sedge (Carex vesicaria) & Marsh Speedwell (Veronica scutellata). Very special species usually confined to nature reserves
January 9, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Rare plants often turn up in restored Norfolk farm #ponds: Translucent Stonewort (Nitella translucens), Tassel Stonewort (Tolypella intricata), Bladder Sedge (Carex vesicaria) & Marsh Speedwell (Veronica scutellata). Very special species usually confined to nature reserves
Two of my favourite fish species!!! Why not follow Norfolk Ponds Project for very positive environmental news!!!
Fantastic farm #pond #fishes. 3-spine stickleback (Right) & 9-spine stickleback (Left). Both can go to sea! The 3-spine prefers open water & the 9-spine loves dense plant-filled water. The male 9-spine (Lower Left) goes entirely black when breeding. Crackers! @fishtwitcher.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Two of my favourite fish species!!! Why not follow Norfolk Ponds Project for very positive environmental news!!!
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Transforming overgrown farm #ponds by scrub & mud removal. Before restoration this Norfolk pond was anoxic from bed to surface, had an impoverished plant & invertebrate community & lacked breeding amphibians. All of these things were reversed BIG TIME after restoration! @arc-trust.bsky.social
January 7, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Transforming overgrown farm #ponds by scrub & mud removal. Before restoration this Norfolk pond was anoxic from bed to surface, had an impoverished plant & invertebrate community & lacked breeding amphibians. All of these things were reversed BIG TIME after restoration! @arc-trust.bsky.social
Reposted by Carl Sayer
During & 2 years after the restoration of a scrubbed over farm #pond. A massive increase in biodiversity observed. Return of Great Crested Newt & appearance of the mega rare Tassel Stonewort. We can report on 100s of stories like this from Norfolk. Ponds should be a higher conservation priority
January 5, 2026 at 10:08 PM
During & 2 years after the restoration of a scrubbed over farm #pond. A massive increase in biodiversity observed. Return of Great Crested Newt & appearance of the mega rare Tassel Stonewort. We can report on 100s of stories like this from Norfolk. Ponds should be a higher conservation priority
Reposted by Carl Sayer
Happy NY!!! Since 2014 we have pioneered the restoration of overgrown ponds & lost infilled #ghostponds in the UK. Our methods, learnt from a wonderful farmer (Richard Waddingham), are mega successful & lead to massive biodiversity gains for aquatic & terrestrial species. Please support us in 2026 🎉
December 31, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Happy NY!!! Since 2014 we have pioneered the restoration of overgrown ponds & lost infilled #ghostponds in the UK. Our methods, learnt from a wonderful farmer (Richard Waddingham), are mega successful & lead to massive biodiversity gains for aquatic & terrestrial species. Please support us in 2026 🎉
I wonder what route the otter takes to the river?
December 28, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I wonder what route the otter takes to the river?
Spindle brightens up any day. Always in the older hedges.
December 27, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Spindle brightens up any day. Always in the older hedges.
A mystery seed from a Breckland, eastern England ghostpingo core as found by @hayleymcmechan.bsky.social. help oh botanists!!! 1 mm scale @annasolcova.bsky.social @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @bramblebotanist.bsky.social @timholtwilson.bsky.social
December 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
A mystery seed from a Breckland, eastern England ghostpingo core as found by @hayleymcmechan.bsky.social. help oh botanists!!! 1 mm scale @annasolcova.bsky.social @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @bramblebotanist.bsky.social @timholtwilson.bsky.social