This year Tonji spent 21 days building ponds. He started building in February to give himself enough time to get a few ponds in before the start of the rainy season in June. He would have continued building even longer except that we were not able to go the the farm regularly for two months.
The first pond he built was Pond No. 5. It was slow-going and took him 9 days to complete because the area was wet and sticky. In March, we got an unexpected day rainy day and were thrilled to see puddles forming at the bottom of the pond!
When the real rains came around in June, the pond got filled up half way! It takes a lot of rain to make all the soil settle down and form a waterproof layer that will hold water.
It was nice to see the pond fill up with water, but had the wildlife discovered the ponds yet? Were the Philippine Ducks using it? Did they know that they now had seven ponds at their disposal? We inspected the pond for signs of life. We found lots of small feathers around the pond edge!
This month we’ve resumed our regular farm visits and are thrilled with the results from the pond building! We’ve been having the most amazing views of Philippine Ducks!
I also had a wish fulfilled. I was finally able to take the photo I’ve been dreaming of — a Philippine Duck standing by one of our ponds!
And even better, there were TWO of them! There may have been more ducks in Pond No. 5, but we didn’t want to disturb them by going closer. So all of us including Momo and Barkley walked away quietly and left the ducks to enjoy their pond.
That same morning we inspected Pond No. 7 and seven Philippine Ducks flew out of the pond. This pond took ten days to build.
The smallest of the three new ponds is Pond No. 6. It took only two days to build and we’ve also seen ducks in it!
It is so gratifying and encouraging to see our projects working! It’s a thrill to be able to share our space with wildlife.
Tonji and Sylvia's Wildlife Refuge 
Will the ducks lay eggs around the pond? Maybe getting pet mongoose would kill snakes!
Hi Timmy! They lay their eggs in tall grass, that’s why we have a lot of grassy areas around the pond. Maybe the Grass Owls can eat the snakes, if the snakes aren’t too big!
Inspiring work! Wish more people with resources would follow your example. kudos and God bless. Doc Pete
Thank you Doc Pete! I also wish more people would do this, I think they would get a tremendous amount of fulfillment and satisfaction for for their time, effort, and investment. The returns are huge! 😀
I really look forward to your stories from the field.
Give yourselves a pat in the back for doing such an excellent job at making the wildlife thrive at your farm by planting native trees and other plants and for building those ponds for the animals to enjoy.
Your farm is already a haven for so many creatures.
Well done, Tonji and Sylvia!! So proud of you guys!!! ♥️