Creating a pond has created a haven for wildlife

We have created a small pond in an area of our garden, primarily to encourage wildlife into our space.
It has exceeded our expectations being a real distraction from the "work" of the garden. I find myself sitting for hours just watching the endless antics of dragonflies and lizards who use the space, not to mention the visiting cats.
I have detailed how we made it:-

• Mark out the area where the pond will go
• Dig a giant hole
• Flatten out the hole and use sand to make sure the liner doesn´t get pierced with sharp stones
• Lay in the liner, not securing it until the water is in it as the weight of the water can drag it down
• Fill with water slowly (takes a while)
• Leave for at least 24hours before putting plants in
• Dress around the pond with stones (we used what was available as I wanted it to look as natural as possible)

After 24 hours put some aquatic plants in, we made sure there were a few oxygenators and a few tall reed types for the insects to make webs on or for the dragonflies to land on.
For about three weeks all you will have is a dark, murky mess with lots of mosquito larvae but don´t panic, within one more week the dragonflies and other feeders will arrive and munch their way through the mosquitoes so no need for fish (which aren´t wildlife)
Clean out with a small net from time to time so as to keep it cleanish but basically just leave it and enjoy it.
Oh yes almost forgot!!! Get yourself a solar powered pond fountain or bubble maker, this keeps the O2 levels right and adds to the drama. Larvae do get in the pump but as it is a small one it is mainly mosquito larvae which let´s face it is not the end of the world.