Marsh 3 and new life!

Common River Frog

Dig number 3 would be another shallow endeavour dedicated to increasing the marsh space. At 10m long and more than 2m wide, this would be the largest of the marshes for this project, at least for now. With only around 20cm of topsoil to move, the dig was fairly straight forward - taking Kai and I a little more than 3 days. For perspective, the volume of soil removed was around 4.4cubic metres, and given it was quite compact - was estimated to weigh around 7 tonnes, 1 wheelbarrow at a time...

With the hole dug quickly, we had one bit of trouble - we were short on grass clippings that I planned to use as a buffer between the bare earth and the plastic liner. So we needed another afternoon to cut the lawn and get the hole prepared first. In went the plastic liner, followed by some course sand and a few sods of earth to keep the plastic from blowing away. Rain wasn't predicted for a few days, so to speed up the filling process a little - we emptied around 1000 litres of water into the marsh from our JoJo tank.

Filling the marsh with marsh plants on the other hand was going to take a rather monumental effort. Based on the number of truck loads needed to fill the already completed second marsh, I was looking at the prospect of needing nearly 20 truck loads of plants! That wouldn't work, so instead I lined the border with marsh plants whilst filling the inner section with sods of grass and earth - the flufftails and crakes would need some muddy patches to hunt for earthworms and other invertebrates.

The grass either side of the marsh itself would be allowed to grow at will, providing more cover for birds, amphibians and insects. Indeed, within a week of the pond being filled and the first vegetation planted - we had our first dragonflies, numbers that would increase from a mere handful to well over 50 individuals at any one time (species ID to follow one day...). The previously 'devoid of life, nothing but lawn' property had now seen a sudden spike in the amphibian population too, increasing from just one species of toad when we moved in, to at least 6 species that I could readily identify, I'm sure there are one or two more that I am missing. 

1. Gray's Stream Frog
2. Common River Frog
3. Natal Spiny Reed Frog
4. Painted Reed Frog
5. Guttural Toad
6. Snoring Puddle Frog

Post Ed: Birds have started to make use of the pond in decent numbers, with Hadada Ibis bathing every day, Bronze and Red-backed Mannikins drinking and devouring the seeding grass, and even the skulking Burchell's Coucal snagging large insects on his way through the morass.

Basic layout  - with Marshes 1 & 2 in the background.

Border grass removed, to be used later to hold plastic liner down.

Final depth was a little over 20cm deep

Grass clippings for cushioning between earth and plastic liner.

Course river sand and grass sod for weigh.

Border lined with marsh plants.

Open water and marsh edge for dragonflies and amphibians.

Growth increasing quickly.

Painted Reed Frog calling loudly

Gray's Stream Frog (Clicking)

Natal Spiny Reed Frog

Marsh 2

Marsh 2 was always planned to be shallow and full of dense marsh vegetation. With similar dimensions to Marsh 1, this hole would add little in terms of water volume, but produce 6m² of good marsh habitat.

Long term, our plan is to entice Black Crake and perhaps even a young Red-chested Flufftail to take up residence. They both require similar habitats, patches of dense cover, water edge and foraging areas of mud or short vegetation. Whilst only a small patch to start with, this again would be the testing ground for the much larger ‘Marsh 3’ to come.

Digging commenced on a Sunday, removing the grass layer to expose a small volume of topsoil over the much deeper clay. With a target depth of only 20cm, digging didn’t take long – indeed, only a few hours of labour were required late on Monday afternoon to finish the job. Grass trimmings added, the plastic sheeting was laid a few minutes later. Some helpful evening rain even filled the marsh ahead of marsh plant collection.

Despite its small size, filling the pond with the requisite marsh plants, mud and other aquatic wildlife took 6 trips to various locations. To keep my impact down to a minimum, I collected material from degraded or heavily disturbed seeps and drainage ditches within the area during the late Autumn, before the growing season had started.

Post Ed – a few months after planting and the increased rainfall, light hours and temperatures have spurred on growth. The marsh is now exactly as intended with plentiful cover and an ever-increasing density of frogs, insects and other invertebrates.

Initial grass clearance - not much topsoil here!

Plastic lining went on quickly with a few logs to hold things in place

Even drizzle flowing from roof to marsh.

A day after lining and the mrsh was already full of water

First marsh plants added.

Multiple trips later, still not fully vegetated.

Two months later - the marsh was growing fast.

A heavy downpour showing the growth of Marsh 2 and the beginnings of pond 1 in the background.