Building pond in Israel by a Granny!

[GBBUDD]

I'll definitely find a use for them! To go in the bog or the pond, I'll need to wait until they've been out in the weather for a couple of years (or decades). But I can still use them for retaining walls and the like.

i'd imagine wood out there is almost as precious as is water.

 

[YShahar]

i'd imagine wood out there is almost as precious as is water.

Yes and no. Olive wood is plentiful, since olive trees grow fast and need to be kept cut back fairly vigorously (which is what I failed to do in time, leading to the current mess). On the other hand, actual timber trees aren't grown here. Much of the country was once covered in native oak trees, but those were cut down by the Turkish empire to build railroads. The subsequent erosion led to much of the land becoming semi-desert. One of the goals of the Jewish National Fund over the past hundred and twenty years has been to reforest the country and try to reverse the erosion and water loss caused by the deforestation.

I'm also trying to do my part by planting mostly native species or those that grow in similar climates. The pond is part of that too, as it will hopefully attract some of the birds and animals that help to spread the native mediterranean plants.

 

[GBBUDD]

Your ok for an old bird. !

 

[YShahar]

Your ok for an old bird. !

Speaking of birds, the kingfishers are still at it! See if you can spot the little would-be fish thief in this photo:

Here's the photo zoomed in on the kingfisher:

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the edging on the near side of the pond, gradually replacing the paver bricks with proper rocks. I dug up some nice rocks from the vacant lot next door and should be able to use a few of those here and there. I've also been washing lots and lots of gravel and putting it in the pond one handful at a time. Going to take forever to go through it all! I'm guessing that of the 3 tonnes that I've got left, about 5% is sharp flint, unusable for the pond, but good for paths.

Rock on!

 

[addy1]

pretty bird! Looking good!

 

[YShahar]

pretty bird! Looking good!

Pretty bird with a taste for fish! But so far the kingfishers seem to be deterred by my DIY air defense system and haven't gone after the fish. I saw one of them eating a lizard, and the one I photographed swooped down to grab some sort of insect and then sat on the ground for a bit munching on it.

Oh, and have I mentioned that kingfishers are seriously noisy? The've got a loud call that sounds like "Aack-aack-aack!" and I swear they're daring each other to swoop under the porch awning when I'm sitting there. I can almost hear them egging each other on.

 

[GBBUDD]

king fishers here are less then friendly and daring. they see you and they're moving on. While the battle ship blue coloring is ok your version out there blow away ours

 

[TheFishGuy]

looking great!

 

[YShahar]

Been awhile since I updated this thread, so I decided to add a few photos, just for the sake of completion. First, here's a view of the pond from the West, looking back toward the house:

Here's how it's looking from the main viewing area on the patio:

The whole summer I've been seeing dragonfly nymph exoskeletons on the rocks around the pond, and I kept hoping I'd catch one actually emerging as a new-born dragonfly. Well, it finally happened! The other day as I sat down with my morning coffee, I happened to noticed something on one of the rocks near the intake bay. Here are some photos:

Another of those times when I wish I had a better camera!

 

[YShahar]

And today we "accidentally" acquired our first koi... This happened as a result of my posting a couple of photos on the community Facebook list to celebrate the first rains of the season...

Because, it's the First Rain, after all!

But someone on the list saw this and sent me a message asking whether I would like a fish -- " A very big fish" she said, "that is desperately in need of a new home."

Turns our that she had one surviving koi in a tiny pond that had been set up by her son-in-law. I went over there this morning, armed with a net and an old cooler. What I found was one of those tiny preformed fiberglass ponds filled with black water. No filtration, and a defunct waterfall. And somewhere in the black murk supposedly resided a "big fish".


Well, it took a lot of poking and swooping and splashing, but my net finally caught black and silver koi, who was deposited into the cooler and doused with the horrid water from the "pond" in lieu of anything else to put in there. Once back home, I put the koi in a larger tank and little-by-little added water from our pond until I could at least see what it was I was dealing with. The critter measures about 30 cm long, has a black-on-silver pattern and white fins. Very handsome overall, with large scales along the dorsal line.

When I finally let him/her free in the pond, s/he immediately began chasing the existing goldfish around the pond, but within a few hours seemed to develop a rapport with Fancy Fin, our largest Sarassa. Here are some pics:

From some research online, I gather that the color pattern on this koi is called Kikorukyu. With the large scales along the dorsal line, he looks positively Jurassic!

 

[GBBUDD]

You have to be very happy with your efforts, the pond looks fantastic. Love the two recliners for that afternoon snooze at the waters edge, like a reflecting pool

 

[bagsmom]

SO BEAUTIFUL!

 

[combatwombat]

Damn, that pond is looking gorgeous!

 

[TheFishGuy]

Oh My Lord! This turned out incredible! Such a lush environment, and some beautiful new fish to call it home.

 

[addy1]

Beautiful! Come redo mine!