Finally, she released the fish into the pond. She watched it like a hawk as it swam around, snapping up tadpoles and familiarizing itself with all of the nooks and crannies of the pond.

I suggesting removing the above bolded text. The sentence is just as good without it, and I think it reads a bit better if you don't repeat the noun "pond" so closely to the previous one. That's a rule I use myself, but feel free to ignore this suggestion. It would not affect my vote. : )