This month we had two exciting developments at the refuge! Here’s the first one:
We went biking with the Burley Bark Ranger! It rolls very well and is surprisingly easy to pull! It is faster and takes less effort to bike with the trailer than to walk and push the trailer. Having a bike to get around the refuge saves so much energy!
Our second exciting development is a new, very big pond! I like to call it a lake because it is going to be much bigger than our previous ponds. It is still in the planning stages. We watched a lot of videos showing how man-made ponds and small water impounding areas attract a lot of wildlife. Capturing rain water and preventing it from running off is one of the basic concepts of permaculture. It is a way to restore the underground water table and allow more life to thrive in an area.
We were very encouraged by our experience with the water lily ponds. With our other ponds, we didn’t add plants or fish and just observed how the pond would develop. With the water lily ponds, we built the ponds so they were more accessible and easier to view. Adding water plants and guppies made the ponds come alive! It was enjoyable to hang out at the pond and observe all the activity goint on there.
Our goal for the new big pond is to build a pond that is beautiful, deep enough to hold rain water all year round, big enough to paddle around in a small boat, and attractive to all sorts of wildlife, especially birds! We hope it will be a beautiful spot where we can hang out and do relaxed birdwatching.
First we had to find a location for this new pond. With Tonji’s experience building the other ponds, he knew that the ideal site should be as flat as possible. If the site is sloped, then you will need to build up the lower end to make it as tall as the higher end. That makes the pond more difficult to build. We also wanted a site that was shrubby and weedy and not have too many trees to uproot. Another consideration was accessibility since building this very big pond would require big bulldozers, backhoes, and trucks.
Once we selected the site for the new pond. The next step is to bring in the people and machinery to build it. At some point, we will also design a simple structure where we can sit in the shade while watching birds. Something that will function like a bird hide but hopefully look prettier!
I think this is the start of a new phase of how we enjoy the refuge. It’s the biking and the hanging out at the “lake house/bird hide” stage!
Tonji and Sylvia's Wildlife Refuge 