Making a Pond

In 2004 I moved from my cabin in the woods into a house I bought in town. I lived in that house for two years without furniture while my cabin looked 'homey' for the few people interested in a home off-grid. It was hard, but when the cabin sold, I immediately set out to get my home remodeled. I'd purchased the place purely for the 4-lot yard and the lovely location; the house was a mess, but...that is another story.

This is about the pond I've dreamed of since I looked out the kitchen windows (there were several, miss-matched windows across the back wall of the house. Unfortunately, about the only thing to look at was the old root-cellar just ten-feet away.

The only photo I could find of the old cellar included a very embarrassing shot of my poor dog. We'd just moved down from 9000' to two-thousand feet lower and he was going to be very hot. Yes, there is snow in the picture, but it was already spring...and he was miserable. I'm quite sure he was more-so after his shave! I'd asked for a trim...and this is what he got; poor guy was as pink as a new-born hamster. But, back to the story at hand...you can also see the lovely view out the old windows; mostly roof and one bears had fallen through, to boot. It was ugly.


As I said, as soon as I could I remodeled the kitchen and ended up with beautiful, new windows that still spanned the entire kitchen. As soon as I could, I removed that old roof.

I can't understand why someone would live with such a lovely view possible, and leave that ugly ol' roof in the way. It's not like we don't have refrigeration in La Veta; we're rural...but on the grid.

Here you can see just how close the pit, as I called it for a couple years, was to the house. It's about 9 x 11' and 3' deep. Not as large, nor as deep as the pond I built in Denver...but plenty big enough. I believe a girl should work with what she's got!

When the house was remodeled, I had the guys pile all the organic stuff on the far side of the pit. A pond needs a water-fall and I remember buying some 20-tons of dirt and having to move it last time. Thank goodness my son John was there to help...but it still took us three weekends. This 'rip-rap' as a base would mean I'd have to buy less dirt. Gotta use the ol' noggin', huh?

Just above are a couple more shots showing the pit in relation to the house and the rest of the yard. In the one on the left, you can also see where the steps led down into the thing. The stairs had to be walled off in line with the side and made a perfect place for the skimmer I wanted.

This one was taken from the top of the rip-rap just before the dirt arrived...and then one of the dirt; another 20 tons or so. They did a good job, not much actually fell into the pit, and they missed burying the volunteer currant bush that had sprung up. Well...pretty much.

You can see how close that old cloths line was; it was going to have to be moved. I choose to live without a dryer, so the line is important...and for more than just holding up more bird feeders! Oh, and you can see the beginning of the place for the skimmer, which would also house the pump. That hose was to give me an idea of where to put the biofilter up on the berm.

Here is my neighbor Rob, working on the hole for the tank that would become the bio-filter. The skimmer pulls water in, the pump pumps it up to the bottom of the tank. Inside the rubber tank is a grate holding a net bag of bio-medium. It looks like a bag o' rocks, but I believe they are a man-made medium on which bacteria will grow and flourish. It is that bacteria which helps to keep the pond clear. On top of the bag go several rounds of additional medium that will assist in keeping the water clean and clear all the time.

Poor Rob...I was absolutely no help with the heavy liner. First a felt-like underlayment went down, with the thick rubber over top. The liner helps protect the rubber, which is a special, untreated rubber that's safe for fish and animals that might drink the water. We used rock to try to hold the liner in place...and discovered the thing was too small. Sigh

You can just see the top of the bio-filter in the above shots...as well as the shoot that would become the waterfall. Rob included a small pond at the top, too; it's really pretty...or will be when it's finished, rocks and plants are placed and everything grows in.

Another friend, Allen moved that gawd-awful cloths-line pole. Rob had dug up the other one, but couldn't move it and just having moved here, didn't yet have tools to break up the concrete. Allen discovered the pole he worked on was at least two-feet below ground and had about 300' pounds of cement around the thing. He used a chain, a board and a huge jack...and very carefully managed to lift the block up and out. Unfortunately, he's not yet moved the broken cement. I'm also thinking I might need more dirt...or perhaps more rocks. The idea is NOT to see the tub up top...which temporarily has a lid while we worked on things.

That's the flower-spike from the Red Yucca I bought for it's architectural, thin, spiky leaves. The other is a sunflower blossom that popped up under a feeder...and a couple friends. I call those bees 'Red-butt Bees' and later discovered there really IS such a creature!

The cloths line was finally out of the way and I couldn't wait to fill the pond. I even went out and got some plants and fish...and had quite a celebration releasing and naming the first three fish I got; Casper is the white one, that Tegan (Rob's daughter) calls Marshmellow; Saffron is the pretty solid-orange one and Spot is what Tegan named the white and orange and black speckled one. They're all Shubunkins...with longer fins. Pretty!

As all ponds do, this one turned green immediately. Before long, things settled down and it's already clear. I can sit at the kitchen table and watch the fish swim. I love it. I couldn't stand it and got more fish at the pet-shop. Feeder-fish that were pennies a piece. That's Jolsen with the black-face, Pretty-boy in the middle...and One, the orange fish with the black line down his back. Doesn't it look like somebody 'numbered' him? They're only about three inches long, but they'll grow. Some say I'm nuts to name them...since I happen to consider the pond a bird-feeder. We have Kingfishers around, ya know!

After one false start were we got rocks that were too big way down at the end of the fall, this is what we ended up with...though things are still unfinished

Yes, the water flows, but it really needs to flow over the lip and not so much under it. I've got a few plants in, up on the berm...which may have died already. I discovered that when I water the berm, mud gets into the pond. Sigh My plan is to cement three layers of rock leaning back into the berm. I think it'll work...but it's just too cold to be working in the water now. Heck, most mornings it's frozen over! It'll get there. What should have been a weekend project has taken me about five years...I can wait till spring. As it is, the birds love it, I can hear it inside the house and I love my new view. It'll get better...

This is the pond I built when I lived in Denver. It's 12 x 10' and 5' deep. I loved it. No Koi this time though; I live with bears and lions not to mention raccoons and skunks. Shubunkins are cheap and pretty...even if I should name them names like Lunch or Sushi.

Location, Location, Location

I thought I’d talk about the difference in my yard and my neighbor’s across town. While we share a great many birds, of course…we each also have birds the other seldom, if ever, sees in their yard.

Case in point, I’ve never seen Bluebirds, they’ve never had Rosy-Finches. I get hundreds of red-winged blackbirds; they get a few. Eurasian Collared Doves don’t seem to be a problem for them, but I get hundreds of them, too. I’ve never seen a Towhee here…but they have several; even an Eastern Towhee visited them! While I regularly have half a dozen Blue Jays, a few Scrub Jays and once a single Steller’s…they get those plus dozens and dozens of Pinyon Jays that I've never seen here. They've never had a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but I get them every year. Once, I believe they even had a Snipe in their yard! I could go on about the difference in birds. And while I am plagued by squirrels, can count a dozen at about any time and can hardly keep them from destroying feeders…they don’t have a problem with them. We both get bears, though my Akbash keeps them out of my yard; same goes for deer.

Like my friends, it was where I bought that got me into birding. Mine, like theirs, is a very birdy yard. Because of that, and also much like them, I’ve started feeding, watching and counting birds, as well as continued to add more shrubs and trees to increase the ‘birdiness’. I’ve discovered old, native, species plants work best; beautiful cultivars are bred for neither nectar nor seed…just beauty or perfume.

I bought the house where I live now because of the large lot (it’s four, long, town lots: 100 x 150’ or about 1/3 acre). I believe it’s on one of the prettiest streets in town; due to the huge willows, old cottonwoods, and assorted evergreens that surround the area and follow the river through town. And many people have planted different kinds of apple trees…most of them quite old by now. The river, a creek much of the time, flows about 100’ from the back of my house; when it’s high, I can hear it. The rectangular lot has an open back-yard with beautiful, southern exposure.

In spite of all the trees around the perimeter, my lot is actually quite open. While I do conduct what I call 'Turf Wars', there is a good expanse of lawn in the front and back of the house. The house is toward the front; leaving a good-sized open area out back. When I arrived, there was one small Blue Spruce, several old apples (I’ve removed two), a couple lilac, some wild plum, chokecherry, Virginia creeper and a large patch of raspberries. Two, rather small, old Cherry trees are back there, too. Near where I cut down a huge and rather nasty apple tree, I planted a smaller and not so dominating crab apple. I specifically looked for one with 'persistant fruit'; fruit that hangs on all winter rather than making a mess under the tree. When apples freeze and thaw, they make great food for deep winter feeding. This tree has apples not much bigger than coffee-beans; smaller even then the cherries. I love it, as do the birds.

I’ve added a ‘screen’ around the propane tank that sits towards the center in the back of the lot: New Mexican Privet, Low-grow Sumac and Cotoneaster; all of which offer berries. In the corner of the lot is a huge mass of the creeper; climbing where the back and west fence meet. Two more Cotoneaster and a River Birch were planted ten feet or so in front of the two, large chokecherries against the west fence, just up from the 15’ raspberry patch. I hope they make quite a nice thicket; a banquet for birds. Also along that same fence, about 30’ from the house and where the Blue Spruce and apple trees live, I also planted a (thornless) Hawthorn and an Elderberry Bush that’s gotten nearly as big as the huge chokecherry bushes.

Closer to the front of the yard, past the old apple trees next to that Hawthorn, are several Golden Current. At each front corner, on the street-side of my property…there are huge trees. These trees line both sides of the street and are mostly cottonwoods and willows. The bears love to sleep in them. More Virginia creeper lines the lower front fence and a Box Elder grows in the corner, under the bigger trees. I planted some Honeysuckle on the East corner, near the front gate. It offers berries, too, though not as many as the creeper.

Back down the Eastern side of the yard, there are wild plums and on the other side; several more old apple-trees. Past those trees, and all around me, I see more giant cottonwoods, aspen and evergreens, as well as big willows, and more chokecherry thickets and large Maples. Along that fence, near the center of the yard, I’ve planted more Elderberry, Mock Orange, Serviceberry, a cone-shaped little juniper. Curving into the yard behind five or six 50-year old Peonies are now Sand Plums, Mugo Pine, and several Viburnum types. Behind those and towards the very back I planted three, old-variety, own-root roses like the one I had in Denver. It was a huge thing that climbed up over the garage, had clusters of sweet, pink flowers nearly all year…and is thornless! Those three are already about 5’ high; I love that they need absolutely no fussing over. In a couple years they should drape about 25’ of fence. Those are for me, not so much the birds!

Along the back, perhaps 10’ in front of the fence, I’ve planted some goodies I brought down off the mountain where I lived; a foot-tall spruce, an 18” Ponderosa Pine, some Kinnickinnic and Creeping Mahonia. Next to that I’ve added a regular Sumac, and an odd, spiny Cotoneaster. Behind this ‘screen’ are the rather casual compost heap and a brush pile. There is another brush pile behind the two cherries on the other side of the yard. And that’s the loop.

Here and there, especially in the walkway between the house and garage, I’ve planted wild grasses, many native flowers and a couple more Mugo pines. On the little hill where the water-fall starts, I’ve planted several very low junipers, yet another mugo, a Coralberry, two Cranberry cotoneaster, some native, red ‘Hummingbird Flower’ and a sweet clump of what I know of as Sea Oats. Along the water fall is Creeping Jenny, more creeping, purple mahonia (it berries) and other low-growing goodies that I hope fill in and hide the liner. I can see the whole back yard from my big, new kitchen window; even the fish in the pond.

Like my friends across town, I’m protected from winds by both the hill down the street and all the huge trees. My yard stays quite calm most of the time. I’d like to get a few more shrubs, but leave the openness of the yard. Most plants that I buy these days are for bird-food or shelter…and, if possible, 4-season beauty. I like hardy, xeric stuff that I don’t have to mess with. I am an organic gardener; with the water-table less than 3’ below me and feeding birds as I do…how could I be otherwise? I even worry about neighbors spraying as ‘drift’ can kill pond fishes. While I consider the little pond a bird-feeder (there are lots of Kingfishers around), I don’t need a fish kill, too.

Most of my feeders are away from trees; an attempt to keep squirrels off of them. I offer different food in different feeders and don’t offer much mixed seed. I find it a waste of both money and seed; common millet is a filler-seed that most birds don’t especially like. Most of my feeders have Black Oil Sunflower Seed, some have Safflower Seed (Evening, Black-headed and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks LOVE it) and every morning I offer unsalted, in-the-shell peanuts on a flat-bed feeder, along with a cup of large dog kibble for the jays and magpies. Sometimes I also dump leftover bakery goods, cooked pasta and a bit of meat scraps. A bunch of grapes brought in Robins.

Smaller seed on an open feeder would attract flying pigs that decimate the contents in minutes. I also offer home-made suet during the winter and orange halves during the spring along with a small cup of grape jelly. Everything from Grackes and black birds to uninvited doves and starlings mob the suet; but if I can possibly avoid them, woodpeckers, chickadees and the flickers love suet too. Black-headed Grosbeaks, Summer Tanagers and Bullock’s Orioles love both the oranges and the grape jelly. Once, a Baltimore Oriole did, too!

Lastly, several feeders are for small finches only. In those feeders I do use a mix. It’s called Finches Feast and is an equal blend of black thistle, canary seed and sunflower-heart chips. The mix works in any finch feeder and is half the price of the Nyger seed sold as thistle for finches. Oh, and in the spring, when I put out nectar feeders for the hummers, I also make sure all the holes are enlarged enough to accommodate both Orioles and Tanagers, too. They love nectar.

Perhaps this spring, I will offer one feeder (set for only light-weight birds) with White Proso Millet. I understand common millet and milo (sourghum) (cheap birdseed fillers) attract mostly doves and sparrows; White Proso is also favored by finches, juncos, siskins, sparrows, titmice, towhees, woodpeckers and…buntings! I love the Lazuli and Indigos that come through.

Polly Wren who lives just outside of town, amid fields of grazing cattle, nestled amongst the tall trees that follow the river. Their quite different habitat is wilder and thicker than mine, with many trees. Many, if not all, of their feeders hang from or are built beneath the overhand of trees. Their yard is beautiful, and quite different from mine. She writes:

"Our personal property consists of 2.5 acres. Paul's parents own the adjacent 4 acres (all running along the stream) so the family parcel is 6 acres. We have a stream about 100 ft. from the house with a completely natural screening of old cottonwoods, choke cherry, box elder and other shrubby stuff between the house and stream. This provides us with much needed protection from the winds...While the winds might be howling all around us...our yard most times is relatively calm. We are about 7,000 ft. elevation.

In the actual 3/4 acre that we call the yard...we have natural grass, and have planted lilac, aspen, Newport plum, cherry, crab apple, one elm tree, purple and mountain ash, weeping willow...white fir, bristle cone pine and blue spruce...in other words: it's a jungle out there.

The strange thing is we did not set out to make our yard "bird friendly"...we were not birders when we built the place 16 years ago. We became birders because of the birds that would "just show up", and then we have sort of discovered some things along the way.

Deer tend to be a problem here...so we have deer fencing around the base of the trees...this we noticed protects the trees from the deer but is a pain to weed...so we don't...by simply being a little lazy we created great little hiding places for the birds at the base of our conifers and shade trees. We are also pretty lazy about cleaning the brush completely off the property...hence we discovered birds like those "brush piles"...more shelter.

For the most part I think we just really sort of lucked out by building in a place that was already "birdy"

As far as seed goes I discovered these great seed blocks at of all places Safeway. Birdola brand, Deck and Patio blocks...peanut hearts, sunflower chips; no hulls. Nuthatches, Pinyon Jays, Blue Jay, Chickadees, and Goldfinches all love it. Next is plain Black Oil Sunflower Seed, and suet blocks. Beverly turned us on to Purina Mills Wild Bird Chow called Finches Feast. That is about it.

We tend to take the feeders down around the first to middle of June to keep the bears from habituating themselves to them. We put them back up around the 1st of November.

Also as to feed, this spring was the first time we put up oranges around the yard and it really paid off with more that 2 dozen Western Tanagers and over a dozen Bullock's Orioles coming in daily (more than we have ever had before).

Over the years we have racked up quite a nice little yard list of 116 species which does contain some real rarities...again I think this is due to location more than anything else..."

So; theirs is a forest, mine is more open. While I leave brushy, tall grass around the edges, they leave their yard wild, and mow paths through it. They've planted many large trees, I plant smaller trees and islands of shrubbery. I'm guessing habitat makes all the difference...and it's all good. One thing is for sure, their photography is so much better than mine! All pictures here, are theirs. Thank you two, so much!

A Late Hummingbird

Yesterday I worked on my pond...again. Still? Anyway, I was watering some plants I was going to put up on the hill where the waterfall starts. I turned around to see a female Black-chinned Hummingbird feeding from one of the new plants! She's late; only a couple days short of the (late) record, here.

I got some really interesting plants: some spectacular 'Cranberry Cotoneaster' which looks very similar to pyracrantha but has no thorns! I remember, as a kid, watching waxwings get drunk eating the berries.

It seems the older I get, and the more arthritis swells my knuckles, the less interested I am in plants with nasty thorns and stickers. They hurt like hell! This plant, oddly pronounced: Co Tone E Aster and not Cotton Easter, is perfect...and the birds love it. I've got several varieties already; each with its own particular leave structure and berry. Sweet.

The guy at Rocky Mtn. Landscape in Pueblo West, also suggested a Mountain Fuchsia; a pretty 'hummingbird shrub' that is fine at higher altitudes, and is xeric to boot! This is what the little hummer was sipping from, when I saw her on October 9th. I hadn't had the plant in my yard more than a day; it was still in the growing pot.

I also picked up a stunning new plant for the yard: a Red Texas Yucca...which is not a yucca at all. It has long, thin dagger-like leaves, sort of leathery like yucca but instead of sharp hooks along the leaves, it merely has a fibrous look.

I think a single one, planted as a 'feature' plant will look spectacular. It is so architectural looking and yet, each blossom is stunning in its own right.

I like plants that don't bite! I think it will look spectacular even when not flowering, and again; no thorny spikes along the leaves. I like leaves...heck, I a couple years ago I planted some artichokes just for the leaves and found the thistle beautiful, too.

Photos are from Wikipedia, including the hummingbird collage, which I constructed.

Eagles as Yard Birds...

Would that I could...



Don't they sound sweet? Hard to realize they're some three-feet tall!

I am building a pond that serves as a bird-feeder, ya know! [grinz]

Somehow I imagine the biggest bird I'll entice is a Belted Kingfisher...known around these parts! Wouldn't it be neat if I got another, bigger bird; some heron, or perhaps an egret for example? Please though...no ducks or geese; I got those in Denver...not so nice is such a small pond.

The Domestic Cat Gone Wild

What can we do to help? I believe we should talk about it. This is not unlike people who continue to keep ‘outdoor cats’; yeah, I used to be one too. I know (now) that ignorance is bliss. Cats are imports; like some snakes, starlings, rats and rabbits…they were brought to a new world (our country) from far away…some few hundred years ago. They are an invasive species. Who knew?

The local environment, both flora and fauna, have not been able to adapt quickly enough to these exquisite predators. And they are exquisite hunters. A pet cat can, and on average does, kill a bird a day…including well fed cats. Cats kill birds, mice and lizards for sport. Cats make a huge dent on the environment; taking a good deal of food from the native creatures. It is no wonder our hawks and owls are disappearing. It sounds illogical, till one thinks about it. There are hundreds of millions of cats and our song-birds are disappearing to cats, in the hundreds of millions per year! Do the math…

Loose cats spread disease, poop in our gardens and sand boxes; make children sick who play in said gardens and sand boxes, fight and get hurt, are attacked by dogs and wild creatures and suffer, get hit by cars, die horrible deaths and leave us sad when they die.

Are cats more important than birds? You may believe the 'natural' life (outdoors) of your cat is far more important than any ol' bird. Consider that all birds are our canaries-in-the-coal-mine. They are supreme indicators of the health of our home, workplace and of our entire environment.

In some places, bird-watching (the fastest growing sport these days), is imperative to the local economy. Birds, like some bats, bees and insects are important to pollination; to the growth of our food. And they belong here; they're native. They feed on and live to feed other native creatures.

I believe sooner than later, we will have to keep cats under control; on a leash or in a cat-run when outside. I’m all for it. Quite frankly, I’ve lost too many of my own cats to dogs and automobiles…would I have a cat today, it would be a 100% indoor cat. And it would live so much longer. The National Audubon Society has declared that “Worldwide, cats may have been involved in the extinction of more bird species than any other cause, except habitat destruction.” Jim Stevenson, former science teacher and director of the Galveston Ornithological Society and publisher of the quarterly newspaper Gulls n Herons is one of my heroes.

Loose dogs make me sad, too...but that's another story.

If you are interested in reading more, click the word 'Cats' in the list of labels just below this post.

An Auspicious Beginning

I just started my new job at the local hospital...and what should I see leaving on my first day?

A Greater Roadrunner! I love these large, chicken-looking birds that have such an interesting personality. This guy is a ground-dwelling member of the cuckoo family that feeds on snakes, lizards, scorpions, mice...and other birds. I've watched videos of these things hunting in the tall grass; they suddenly hop up straight up a couple of feet and snatch birds they've flushed right from the air. Once they've caught something, they bash it repeatedly on the ground; heaving the creature over their heads and bringing it down hard. Perhaps they're tenderizing, too.

The one above seems to be a youngster; they're bronzier and lack the cool, featherless strip behind their eye; hard to see but quite colorful. Or perhaps its a female, they of course, lack those fancy racing-stripes.

Anyway, I like these birds that seldom fly...and which sound to me like a cross between a dove and a purring cat. Auspicious? Well, some Pueblo Indian tribes, such as the Hopi, believed that the roadrunner provided protection against evil spirits! What more could a new employee ask?

An unusual pair showed up in my yard; a couple of (what I believe were) Eastern Phoebes! I'd seen movement in the far corner of my yard and, assuming I'd only see some House Sparrows eating the tops of weeds back there...instead saw a fly-catcher type. It was not a large bird at all, quite dark on top, sort of a sooty-brown especially around the head, with hardly any wing-bar or other marks. The chin was quite light, almost white, and moving down it displayed that 'vest' look with smudgier edges and a pale yellow belly coming to a point up under it's chest. It looked for all the world like a Black Phoebe in a different outfit! The yellow, pale as it was...was stunning.

And then there were two! They seemed to engage in a game of chase through the weed-tops...and less than two minutes later, were gone from my yard. What a treat. I could detect no eye-ring nor wing bars on either bird...and both showed a dark bill. Actually, at first I thought the one I saw first could be a kingbird...but it was not so big.

Eastern Phoebes are solitary birds that seldom come in contact with other Phoebes. In that youngsters are the ones that exhibit that yellow belly and faint wing-bar, I'm guessing these two were siblings recently fledged and out exploring the world.

An interesting fact: the Eastern Phoebe is the first bird ever banded in North America; Audubon attached a silver thread to the leg of one of these birds to track its return in successive years.

While I don't see adult male Calliope Hummingbirds these days, there are still several dozen Rufus, Black-chinned and Browd-tailed fussing over the feeders and lots of Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, House Finch, Red-winged Blackbirds and Eurasian Collared-Doves.

AUGUST YARD BIRDS (EACH NAME IS LINKED TO MORE INFORMATION) * = FLY OVER:

Mountain Chickadee, Canada Geese *, Cassin's Finch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Evening Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, Common Nighthawk *, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Calliope Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Yellow Warbler, Western Wood-Pewee, Black-headed Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Common Grackle, Turkey Vulture, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker: Red-shafted, Black-billed Magpie, House Finch, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove

Photos from Wikipedia