Dragonfly Pond

I named my pond Dragonfly Pond. Lots of dragonflies flying all about whirring past me and fighting for territory.

Also, lots and lots and lots of baby american toads hopping about all born in the pond. I catch the little toads and put them in my raised beds to help with insect control.

 

For anyone interested in attracting dragonflies I'd recommend visiting this link.

Odes For Beginners :: Projects :: Create A Pond

In the way that many things happen I ended up making a nearly perfect dragonfly pond purely by accident. Shallow gently sloping sides and about 2.5' deep.

That is what happens when you did a pond with a tractor vice a dragline, bulldozer or backhoe.

I also put in mosquito fish...which will give the dragonfly nymphs a run for their money...but hey the tadpoles made it!

I just caught a bunch of mosquito fish for a friend at work. Here are some pictures.

 

Just the other day some of the neighbor kids came over. They were thrilled that a person could actually pump water out of the ground. They all had to get hands on. The shallow pond, actually the terminal end of my rainwater cachement system was an equal thrill for the visitors.

I enjoyed showing the kids around and am going to try substitute teaching to see if I like the vocation of teaching.

Mrs. Carolinajim and I are concerned about lawsuits however. NC is supposed to have a law that protects landowners like myself but I'd hate to be the test case because someone was bit by a snake or injured by a widowmaker.

So, until I can consult with a lawyer about the risks of giving tours, tours are on the back burner except via photos, forum posts, my website and occasional real world walk around with a friend or family member.

As a landowner maybe I am overprotective but that's the way I feel.

Ahh...that was grim. Here is something a little more uplifting unless you are a tiny bug. It is a little wetland jewel called the ruby red sundew. The real plant is roughly 1/3 the size of the photo.

 

I have some pitcher plants on the place too. As some of you may know we also have the venus flytrap growing in this area...the only place on earth.

Some of you may also be interested in visiting this link on the Longleaf Pine Savannah ecosystem.

The longleaf pine savanna

 

Try half an old whiskey barrel buried in the ground. Maybe put in some water lilies or other plants which can live through the midwest winter. You don't really want fish in a dragonfly pond. From what I have read you should at least be able to attract damsel flies.

One of these buried whiskey barrels would be a good overflow cachement for a water barrel while also attracting some wild creatures to the yard.

 

So what does one call a group of thousands of tadpoles?

Second batch of tadpoles hatched a week ago in Dragonfly Pond.

Today I harvested my first corn for freezing. Being 100% organic I had corn earworms in about 75% of the ears. Solution...cut the damaged ends off. I detoured away from the compost pile and decided to see if tadpoles like sweet corn. They do. The black spots are tadpoles.

 

SSimon, How did the dragonfly project go? Mine now has cattails, water boatmen, thousands of mosquito fish, frogs, a visiting great blue heron, sharp shinned hawk (for a bath), deer, dove, robins and other birds.

I'm thinking of fitting my well with an airlift pump to keep the pond topped off all year long.

Anyway...did the dragonflys arrive?

 

Very cool! I bet you have some naiads lurking. Any dent in the mosquito population?

The catails probably arrived airborne deliver by egret or heron. For my purposes I think it will be ok. I have a shallow end on the pond which will probably fill with cattails. If they grow too thick I'll just scoop some out with a backhoe.

The dragonflys are something to see. Once some termites were flying from an old log and a large dragonfly like the one pictured below made repeated passes eating the drones inches from my face.

They are amazing flyers!


As for the redwinged blackbirds, I don't think I have enough area for nesting. But we'll see what happens in the future.

 

Dragonfly pond is even better today than a year ago. Cattails, willows have naturally moved into the pond. I planted a cypress tree, pussy willow and water hyacinths in and around the pond.

The variety of dragonflies has increased. There are large darners and small red, blue and of course common whitetails flying all around.

Additionally in the pond are mosquito fish, frogs, Mango (he likes to eat mango peels) the snapping turtle, Red the water snake and maybe some bream.

My new solar pump keeps the pond topped off by pumping 50 to 100 hundred gallons a day to supplement rainwater from the roof of my house, yard and driveway.

Here is a picture of the pond today and the pond last year.

 

As for water quality the dragonflies probably do well the better the water quality. My water is muddied from runoff, the snapping turtle and crayfish.

Mosquito control works like this in my backyard. When it is dry the mosquitos go to the pond to lay their eggs. First the mosquito nymphs survive the mosquito fish. There are thousands of mosquito fish in the pond, then if they do survive the dragonflies zoom about eating the mosquitos inflight.

When it rains alot and there is standing water then the situation changes...the mosquitos can breed rapidly in predator free environments. But we never seem to have a big problem in my yard.

Mosquitos in my back yard are usually not a problem. Every once in a while I am bitten. However, If I take a walk into the forest where lots of temporary pools form in low areas the mosquitos are thick.

Now for sand fleas...sand gnats...noseeums...I am still looking.