Tadpoles in May I'm really pleased with the new solar-powered fountain, which you can see working in the video above. It's much stronger than the year-old one. Do solar-powered gadgets have a life-span? Last year's fountain has taken to emitting occasional squirts of water reaching 4" in height at the most. I've thoroughly cleaned the filter and panel, and wiggled the wire to see if there's any obvious break, but no joy there. Meanwhile the pond has begun growing an unpleasant crop of green algae, some of it bubbly, some of it fibrous; hence the new fountain, which shoots jets of water 24" high and should help to increase oxygen levels in the water, which should - in theory, at least - reduce the algae. Green algae and tadpoles! (Click on the images to view them larger). An adult frog basks in the pond. On Thursday, I'll be giving a talk at St James's Centre in Birkenhead. This will be for a cr