A small crescent-shaped water body at the foot of Blackford Hill in S Edinburgh, Blackford Pond lies between the districts of Cluny and Blackford, a quarter-mile (0.5 km) northwest of Royal Observatory of Edinburgh and a half-mile (1 km) southeast of Morningside. Accessed from Cluny Gardens, the pond was created in the late 19th C. within a glacial hollow and bought by Edinburgh Corporation in 1906 to form part of the public park which had encompassed much of Blackford Hill.
Blackford Pond and the surrounding wetland forms part of a local nature reserve which is important for water birds such as swan, little grebe, heron, mallard, pochard and tufted duck. Coot and moorhen nest at the edge of the pond, amongst the reeds. An island within the pond is also an artificial feature, created primarily for the benefit of the wildfowl. There is little flow of water through the pond and it is notably eutrophic - over-rich in nutrients - due to runoff from the allotments to the west. This gives rise to algal blooms, which poison the water.
There is a modest childrens' play-park nearby.
