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| Portia Widow - one of 10 dragonfly species we have photographed! |
The pond, the primary goal of the entire project was actually completed a few months ago already. However, ponds take time to develop life, and much of the surrounding reeds, grass and sedges have taken a little while to establish themselves.
Starting the 'big dig' in mid-November was not the greatest plan. The summer rains were in full swing already, and given the clay content of my soil - it could only mean sludgy mud was inevitable. On a normal day, clay soil is actually quite easy to dig through, far better than stony top soil at any rate. Wet clay soil is also easy to dig through, but that is where the similarities end. One's spade gets stuck, you have to pry the gloop away from the surrounds, its heavy to lift and gets stuck to the inside of a wheelbarrow. After a few loads, you end up 'growing' 2-3 inches as your boots accumulate extra layers underfoot - its thoroughly unpleasant. All this 'work' was voluntary of course, I could have binned the project for the winter at any time - but it gave me pause to think of what those on either side of the Battle of Passchendaele had to live and fight in, for months...
For the better part of three weeks, I'd go outside for an hour or two most afternoons and dig another section. At times I spent half the weekend digging and carting tons of clay out of the hole. The hole progressed fairly well until the 7m mark where a significant rock stratum was discovered. Ultimately, there was little choice but to rework the pond according to this rock layer - we would now have a deep section of 7 metres, a sloping incline of 4 metres and a shallow area of 2 metres. This would work just fine as it happened - the shallow section would get some sedges planted and be the perfect sanctuary for fry and tadpoles. By the time that digging itself had ended, I calculated that a total of 10.5m³ of clay soil had been moved by spade and wheelbarrow - which equates to a shade under 20 tons.
The rain increased in volume steadily over the first weeks of December, culminating in a single downpour that filled the mud hole in less than 20 minutes! With the end in sight, I dedicated a full weekend to finishing the pond. Firstly I needed to install a home made filtration system - an old metal bath that would be counter sunk to one end of the pond and filled with gravel, rock and coarse sand. Then it was a case of pumping out all the rain water to fully empty the pond and dump 20 odd wheelbarrow loads of grass cuttings to line the pond before we could unfurl the 15 metre long plastic liner.
A little plastic liner wrangling was necessary as Kaily and I fought the wind to get the plastic into the pond, before we checked alignment and began filling. The pond would hold just over 10 000 litres of water - about 5 average JoJo tanks worth. We didn't have that much water stored, so we planned to put in around 2 000 litres just to keep the plastic in place, we'd let the rain do the rest. It was a long wait - as the last few weeks of December saw little to no rain... Finally, in early January 2021, the pond over flowed for the first time and has maintained a full to overflowing position ever since. A number of sedges have been planted, the volume of tadpoles has exploded and only a week ago we released 3 young Largemouth Bass into the pond. The bass are far from native species - but they will do the job of maintaining carnivorous order until we can find some native Tilapia species to take over.
Would I spend another 4 months of my life digging marshes and ponds? Absolutely. They have brought a plethora of new life to this once dull and stagnant property - life that keeps us gloriously entertained day or night. Indeed, the pond and marshes have brought another dimension to our appreciation for wildlife, as we have now gotten into 'dragonflying'... Meg, Kai and I have spent a few afternoon snapping away at the various species, having already photographed 10 different species, with at least a further 2 having eluded our lenses so far.
1. Broad Scarlet
2. Common Citril
3. Eastern Blacktail
4. Jaunty Dropwing
5. Julia Skimmer
6. Nomad
7. Portia Widow
8. Red-veined Dropwing
9. Smoky Spreadwing
10. Swamp Bluet
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| A few days in, only about 1.5m³ |
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| Digging needed to be done in steps. |
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| Drain, dig, then drain some more... |
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| The muddy gloop at its zenith |
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| 20 minute downpour from an afternoon thundershower |
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| Lined with grass cuttings |
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| Kai and dad - almost done (and the bath filter system) |
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| 15metres of plastic - its longer than you think! |
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| The initial fill and grass sod lining |
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| How things look today |
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The marshes and pond - left to grow wild!
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| Broad Scarlet |
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| Common Citril |
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| Eastern Blacktail |
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| Jaunty Dropwing |
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| Julia Skimmer |
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| Nomad |
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| Red-veined Dropwing |
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| Smoky Spreadwing |
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| Swamp Bluet |
