advice needed

[gossy 3]

hi all.

 

i was wondering if u could help me with a few issues iam unsure of with regards to my duck pond.

 

i have a pond that is completely overgrown and this season iam hoping to use it so there is a good bit of clearance to be done. when done the pond will be about 40 yards long and 30 yards wide with gradual edges and an island. i cleared a small area of this pond last year prehaps 10ft by 10ft as an experiment realy and to see what can be done to adjust the water level and i had a few teal there for a couple of days but didnt come to anything could this have been due to the small size at the time?? i was also just wondering when would you start to feed this pond? as it is to establish a completely new flight.

 

thanks in advance for any help.

 

gossy

[waidmann 105]

i would open up the middle of the pond and leave the protective tree's standing(they will reduce wind,stop it icing over as quickly).

if there are no duck nesting there then get stuck in with the clearing and then start feeding(better early than late) little at a time or a hopper on the island once being frequented by wild ducks.

placing a calling bird on the pond will speed things up(indian runner will normally stay near the water and call quite well in my experiance).

 

creating the enviroment for the duck is one part of it,keeping predation down( if duck feel safe they will be happier to drop in) and pests( rats etc) is just as important and ongoing.

the best of luck.

 

p.s. while you are at it try to create as best biotop as possible to benefit as many other(non target/sporting)species as possible,bee blocks,benjes hedge etc etc.

 

michael

[gossy 3]

thanks waidmann that helps alot.

 

the pond as such isnt surrounded by trees but has a good high bank around it so i will leave as much of the vegetation on that as possible. i had heard about a call duck so i think i shall look in to this as i really want it to be a success. by the sounds of it i should get stuck in straight away so thank you very much and hopefully ile be posting some progress and success in the future.

 

gossy.