Gonna Build a Little Pond

doober

In Bloom
A new bird landed by me a little while ago. I think this pic is the same species. Little yellow mohawk, yellow on throat and chest. I've narrowed it down to some kind of warbler.

View attachment 169333

We put up a few birdhouses a year or so ago. It's so cool when you offer stuff up to wildlife, whether it be a birdhouse or a pond, and they take you up on it. Build it and they will come, right ? Although I did see a mouse nest in one of the birdhouses - not what we had in mind, but that's life !
 

Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
We put up a few birdhouses a year or so ago. It's so cool when you offer stuff up to wildlife, whether it be a birdhouse or a pond, and they take you up on it. Build it and they will come, right ? Although I did see a mouse nest in one of the birdhouses - not what we had in mind, but that's life !
Absolutely, it is cool.
I'm so happy with how it's all worked out so far. "Build it and they will come" for sure.

The pond is functioning beautifully, with fish and insect populations thriving, as it becomes an important part of the local ecosystem. I'm seeing new birds all the time and noticed a bat last night. (I want to build a bat house, have for a while).

I have a regular bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder to hang, just deciding on the best placement, so that should increase traffic further.

The trees and shrubs I've planted are all doing great, and as they grow they add more food and shelter.
Now I just need my border/privacy plants to grow faster. :)
 

doober

In Bloom
Absolutely, it is cool.
I'm so happy with how it's all worked out so far. "Build it and they will come" for sure.

The pond is functioning beautifully, with fish and insect populations thriving, as it becomes an important part of the local ecosystem. I'm seeing new birds all the time and noticed a bat last night. (I want to build a bat house, have for a while).

I have a regular bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder to hang, just deciding on the best placement, so that should increase traffic further.

The trees and shrubs I've planted are all doing great, and as they grow they add more food and shelter.
Now I just need my border/privacy plants to grow faster. :)

Awesome man :clapping:
 

Hugh Jass

Canna-Mycologist
Once a couple of these loudmouths find the pond, it'll be, "Katie, bar the door."
They tell everybody, and I mean everybody, what's going on in the hood.
You put out a feeder, my money's on them to find it first.
chickadee.jpg
 

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Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
I did see a mouse nest in one of the birdhouses - not what we had in mind,
I'm trying to shape things to encourage the species I want around and to not be invasive. I want to let a natural balance occur. For example, there are cowbirds around, which many bird fans hate due to their "brood parasite" reproduction strategy, but I'm leaving them alone.

That said, rodents are to be killed on sight, with squirrels being public enemy #1. Bluejays and magpies are the only other species I'm trying to condition to stay away, at least when I'm around, with lead being the final training tool. ;)

Once a couple of these loudmouths find the pond, it'll be, "Katie, bar the door."
Chick a dee dee dee
I love those little buggers. They should be heading west soon, they are mostly 3-seasonal around here.

My neighbors to the immediate north and east have established feeders, so it's already pretty high traffic and pretty chirpy.
 

Hugh Jass

Canna-Mycologist
My neighbors to the immediate north and east have established feeders, so it's already pretty high traffic and pretty chirpy.

So you're on the circuit already.
My bird action out back that I can see sitting at my desk has dwindled precipitously since getting the hounds.
There are still a couple nests, a thrasher and a cardinal, but they get harassed and chased endlessly.
All my good stuff is now in the front yard - saw 2 adolescent red tails who have been raised within
a couple hundred meters of the house catch and carry off a squirrel yesterday from maybe 50 meters.
No camera, of course.
 

Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
My pond is no longer crystal clear. My theory is that there is just too much going in for the still-establishing filter and small fish population to process. Between pollen, tree fuzz, smoke particles, and the waste of an endless stream of birds, it's just been too much. It still is healthy, but not quite as pretty beneath the surface. If things go well, the available food will kick-start the biofilter and equilibrium will be achieved. If not, I'll formulate Plan B.

A tiny trickle running up the under-side of the outlet and down the outside of the filter barrel is leading to some trouble. The berm in that spot is saturated and compacting. I think I've stopped the leak and will do a reroute of the outlet to either fix the trouble or bypass it if fixing doesn't work. I need to pick up some fittings from town.

The variety coming to drink and bathe is incredible. In five minutes I might see half a dozen or more species of birds.
I'll be standing right at the stream and this one little guy(same species each time it happened, no idea re individual bird) will land 2 or 3 feet away and have a casual drink. I'll say hello and he shows no concern at all.
Even the robins that were wary at first are relaxing around me.

Still learning, still completing, still adapting, completely loving, my pond and the entire experience. :)
 

Psychobilly

🧀Muenster
My pond is no longer crystal clear. My theory is that there is just too much going in for the still-establishing filter and small fish population to process. Between pollen, tree fuzz, smoke particles, and the waste of an endless stream of birds, it's just been too much. It still is healthy, but not quite as pretty beneath the surface. If things go well, the available food will kick-start the biofilter and equilibrium will be achieved. If not, I'll formulate Plan B.

A tiny trickle running up the under-side of the outlet and down the outside of the filter barrel is leading to some trouble. The berm in that spot is saturated and compacting. I think I've stopped the leak and will do a reroute of the outlet to either fix the trouble or bypass it if fixing doesn't work. I need to pick up some fittings from town.

The variety coming to drink and bathe is incredible. In five minutes I might see half a dozen or more species of birds.
I'll be standing right at the stream and this one little guy(same species each time it happened, no idea re individual bird) will land 2 or 3 feet away and have a casual drink. I'll say hello and he shows no concern at all.
Even the robins that were wary at first are relaxing around me.

Still learning, still completing, still adapting, completely loving, my pond and the entire experience. :)
Have you added any beneficial bacteria? What filtration medium do you have?
 

Psychobilly

🧀Muenster
Nope, everything is natural.

See earlier in thread for more info on the biofilter. There's even a good video showing the concept and the process.

I likely forgot and may even have asked you that before lol. If the turbidity becomes an issue, a water change is usually a good idea though. It may clear up on its own though, as a critter may have stirred the bottom up.
 

Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
No water changes will happen.

This pond is all natural. All I provide is the pump for circulation. As such, achieving equilibrium takes time as various life forms become established. Watching that happen is part of the pleasure of this project. :)

No outside anything, other than the bucket of creek water and the bucket of swamp water, have been added. Adding any bacteria or water-clearing agent or any store-bought shit would feel like cheating myself, and it would also interfere with the natural process.

It's actually already clearing up again. It's improved a bunch since the last post.
It's all good. Mama Nature is on the case. I just have to not get in her way.
 

Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
I think I'll use this as a general backyard thread, not just pond stuff.

This was a little dead stick in a box a month or so. The first Firecracker Goji just opened this tiny, beautiful flower. It's maybe 1 cm across.
fc goji 1.jpg fc goji 2.jpg

I had a rhubarb patch I didn't want so I dug it out for my neighbor. I now had a hole in my yard I didn't want.
I had extra plants inside, so I put a 2 " C-103 Cindy-Lu(for those who have seeds) in the hole. It's doing great, visible growth every day and praying every time I check.

c-103 od1.jpg
Apparently the rhubarb isn't going without a fight, though.

cindy-lu and friends.jpg
 

Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
It would appear that everything is functioning in the pond. It is back to being almost gin clear. My assumption is that as available nutrients increase(bird droppings, blown leaves, fuzz, etc) it takes a few days for the beneficial bacteria populations to multiply to match. That's the working theory anyway.

Adding the extended outlet nozzle with a 90 on the end, and a little silicone, seems to have solved the leakage issue. As the soggy area under the stream-liner dries out I'm building it back up. Onward and upward. ;)


The magpies are making themselves a bigger target. I had to run one that was chasing everything else from the pond. Same with the cowbirds. I was willing to let them seek a balance, but they are also trying to "own" the water source and I ain't having it.


Did one final plant buy. I needed a shade tree in the yard and also had room for a couple more shrubs due to moving the rear fence out to the property line yesterday. I ordered an apple tree developed at the University of Alberta and added another variety of haskap(Boreal Blizzard). I'll be removing my fire pit(my taste for fire has greatly diminished this year), so the apple tree has a waiting spot.
 

Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
Are you getting any ashfall from the fires?
No visible accumulations but there has been smoke in the air for weeks, so there has absolutely been some ash landing across the vicinity.



It's raining right now and has been for a couple hours. It's 13C on my deck, so a cool reprieve from what we've been getting. This is only the second or third time we've gotten any significant precipitation since the snow melted.
 

Amarok

bad mother chucker
Staff member
Moderator
I did NOT spend the last hour and a half out in the rain, playing.
No Way Bird GIF

I'm an adult. I was doing yard maintenance.
Vintage Kids GIF by Det Danske Filminstitut
 
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