Tweeters -

There are good plans/advice for bird water sources in several of the
"attracting birds" books (Ortho, etc..). I have had a couple of
concrete ponds that required a lot of maintenance (and they still
leaked). I finally gave up on both of these ponds and put a shallow
sand layer in them and used a liner to stop the leaking. Something that
will really help attract birds to the pond is a small pump or even a
"gravity flow" system with a jug and some tubing that will allow for a
trickle or drip of water into the pond - the noise brings in not only
thirsty/dirty but curious birds as well. You also need to have a
"balanced eco-system" in the pond with plants, scavengers, preditors,
etc - also a sun/shade balance - this helps greatly with maintenance.

My grandmother, who lives near Mariposa, California, has her yard pond
raided regularly by herons, and about 30 years ago I remember that she
had regular visits from a Kingfisher that was a resident at a nearby
lake.

In a purely urban setting I had a 10X4 foot pond in my tiny San
Francisco backyard that was emptied of 50 medium sized goldfish in a
week by raccoons; I imagine these guys would be a major problem here if
you want to keep fish/frogs.

Rob Conway
Bellevue, WA

robin_conway at hotmail.com

==================================================================

>Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 11:12:09 -0800 (PST)
>Reply-To: sdownes at u.washington.edu
>From: "S. Downes" <sdownes at u.washington.edu>
>To: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Re: Bird ponds
>
>While growing up in Eugene Oregon, we had an unusual yard visitor for
about three weeks in late spring. A great-blue heron. We had a nice pond
that we had raised goldfish in for about 5 years. One week a certain
person (my dad) decided the pond needed a good cleaning, it was getting
to murky to see his goldfish. Well the nice sparkling color made it
desirable to a GBH passing over and over the three week period the GBH
ate 22 of our 28 4-5 inch Goldfish. He didn't think it was a good idea
to clean it again
>:).
>
>Scott Downes
>sdownes at u.washington.edu
>Seattle WA
>
>
>
>On Thu, 12 Feb 1998, Irene Wanner wrote:
>
>> I have a wet back yard and talked to some landscapers at the garden
show last weekend about ponds. Some people suggested lily pads and koi;
the koi, they say, eat algae. Of course, herons and such find out about
your koi and slurp! But you migh check ideas out at the library,
arboretum or with landscapers whose specialty is yard ponds. - Irene,
Seattle CD
>>
>> On Wed, 11 Feb 1998, Gayle Benton wrote:
>> > We have a small concrete pond built especially for the birds. They
love it but it is a royal pain in the neck. It leaks (and we can't find
the leak), but the main problem is algae....

>


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