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Small wild duck pond


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Hi to all this is my duck pond I am the only person who has permission to shoot it. Now just in the next field literally 20 yards away is another pond man made by the neighbour who has tapped into my pond some how according to my farmer. Now what I am looking for is to improve my pond for next season as I love nothing more than getting my kids involved in nature and conservation. Now I will be honest I really don't no where to start to improve things as naturally as possible. There are plenty of ducks about and I have almost got a free rein to improve things. My farmer wants the ducks controlled a little bit as well. As reading between the lines he is annoyed with the neighbour.

 

But I am not looking to cause waves but I have been shooting here for 5 years and I love it

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Are the sides steep or gently sloping? Generally ducks (well dabbling ducks) need shallow marigns to feed, ie less than welly deep

If ur wanting it to flight i would be tempted to cut the whole tree down depending on which side of the pond it is on compared to normal wind direction (not sure which tree either the ash?willow to left or the beech/oak tothe right), duck will almost always flight/land into the wind so if u have a clear line of sight makes it a lot easier

 

Wot's the green stuff? Algae or pond weed? If its algae a put a barley (sure its barley but been a while since i've needed to do it) straw bale in at the inlet at spring time or a few round sides tends to stop algae

 

I'm sure if u went on the BASC or GWCT site there might be more info but all depends wot u actually want just a flkight pond chuck some feed in, but if u want a bit more of a nature pond too might repuire more work, possibly digger work, planting margins. From the photo it looks like it might be quite stagnant (but hard to tell from 1 photo)? usually better if u can get some flow throu it but mibee not possible?

 

I'd chuck some barley in the shallows now and see wot happens, see where the duck fly etc before u start cutting trees down

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Thanks for your responses yes it's algee so I will get a bail so to get this write do I put it in the margin or throw it in the middle.

Also from the photo where the post is it's water logged and goes about half way to sort of welly height and also to the far left hand side is the same.

Edited by michufc
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We used to put a couple of small square bales of barley straw at the inlets to the pond, it was our fishing pond and about 3 acres and 4 bales done it. So doubt u'll need much

Dunno either put a bale at the inlet if it has 1 or possibly split 1 and put it in hessian sacks around the side in a couple of bits (we found the inlets worked better and easier), dunno if will do any good this time of year, althou usually up here algae dies of with the colder weather but ur photo's look as if they could be reletively recent? Only ever put them in in spring to prevent it and it seems to work (no idea why)

 

U could either try to strim the waterlogged part or just get in and try to pull up some of the grass (usually not to bad if water logged but rashes are a ******) by hand, usually not as bad a job as u think. Couple of us tidied up quite a big area on 2 ponds this year of bull rushes, just got to get into it. But if grass not to thick just chuck some barley in the margins and see wot happens, from ur 2nd photo doesnae look to thick

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If u really don't care about upsetting ur neighbours it may be possible just to put some duck deeks out and call them as they come to the neighbouring pond if there as close as u say, u might not even have to feed it that way (if u were good with a caller).

Not entirelty sure how succesful it would be if there feeding there's, but u might be surprised if u had an experienced caller with u, esp when so close

 

Ps Just to say ur farmer may not be bothered about upsetting ur neighbours (or may be encuraging it) but the shooting community is fairly small and tight knit, word will soon get round and no doubt it will b u in the wrong, possibly worth trying to sort some arrangment out first if u can.

And llegally i'm think in eng u cannae go over ur boundry to pick any shot/injured birds or allow spent shot to fall there, so just bear that in mind where u sit/build butts etc

Edited by scotslad
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There is so much algae in there because whatever stream or run off that is feeding it contains alot of nutrients, could be run off from arable fields or livestock waste.. Don't add fish that will only make things worse. If you want to improve the pond for nature and not just for shooting then try and cut out some shallow areas in the sides to plant a reed bed, if there is a feeder stream open it up and add a reed bed. Reeds will be able to reduce the amount of nutrients reaching it.

 

If there is a pond on the land you shoot then whats the problem shooting it?

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Yes I am not so keen on upsetting the neighbour at all but if the moment arises I will stand my ground. The other thing that the neighbour does is allows his dog on the land and it chases his young cattle which doesn't go down to well. Now I have not met the neighbour and he might be fine about it all but I am just trying to be safe. I will always try and drop the birds on my land as he might have a issue with me retrieving from his land. But no dowt on the first shot he will be out so I will see what he's like then

Oh where would I be best getting reeds from aswell thanks

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Willow is quick to take root and grow if you fancy growing some on the margins. Simply cut shoots on an angle and stick 'em in the ground. Can you control the inlet/outlet and therefore the depth?

If your neighbour isn't amenable to you recovering downed birds on his land shot by you, then cut off his supply if in fact he has created his pond by tapping into the pond on your landowners side.

Your kids will love it come Spring and Summer. We have frog spawn, frogs and toads, dragon and damsel flies on ours.

You can feed the margins with **** barley/wheat if your landowner has livestock, and mashed up crab apples go down well also.

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