MoonShadows said: Another enjoyable pond video, Cal! 
Thanks, Jim!
I like those ducks playing and splashing around while George seems to stand there calmly overlooking everything. I didn't realize how large herons are until I looked out the window one afternoon about a month ago and one was standing next to our new pond.
Good thing the pond is iced over now....they're persistant, & patient, and
have taken some of my 8" goldfish, down the hatch!
What was George after when he flopped into the pond?
Do you think the cat would attack George? George is awfully big?
He was after fish....he'll take whatever he can get, even the little mosquito fish.
"Big Bird" George is probably 5'6" heads up.
He could easily take out the cat with that sharp beak, but glad he didn't.
"Miss Kitty" is a neighbor cat that comes around regularly hunting for mice,
and to mooch....she knows I will give her treats. She holds her fluffy tail high,
and swishes it back & forth. I'm a "dog" person, and like cats, but never had one
warm up to me like she has.
I'll be working in the garden, totally oblivious, and next thing I know she's
running between my legs with her fluffy tail! Kind of startling to say the least.
The ducks came back 2 weeks ago....just a couple, Bonnie & Clyde that ruled the pond last season, too. The next day, they had one boy in tow, then another,
showing them the ropes, but also letting them know who's boss.....Bonnie!
Usually the males are the mates that go after other ducks, with the females backing them up with beak pointing to the side, "Back off! Back off!".
More ducks came, and B&C can't keep all of them in line, but at least one other
female fought back against Bonnie (just guessing as there were so many)
but it was quite a girl-on-girl-free-for-all with both claiming victory, i.e. by dunking
forcefully several times, then rising up & flapping at the same time.
Males & females both do that after a fight, when something spooks them, or even when they're embarrassed because they can't make it onto the coving from the water, like "I'm good! I wasn't scared! I'm tough! I showed them!"
Just like humans.
Before the ducks came back the hyacinths covered ~80% of the pond
so I pulled out a bunch of large ones from the back of the pond to make
some safe little "bays" so the underdogs can go there to stay out of trouble.
Bonnie & Clyde actually drive the younger ducks there like they're being made
to stand in the corner like a child.
Next I had to take out almost all the hycinths in front to give the ducks more room
when they try to come up to eat....they were kind of being funneled before between the lotus & the water lilies. But I also had to leave some hycinths over a lotus tub a few feet from the front to protect some fish would sleep there, and would be basically like shooting fish in a barrel for George. :rolleyes:
We still have lots of hyacinths, and more will have to come out....the tall ones will die back....I'll keep the small ones for next year. They grow so fast, especially in Autumn.
2 slideshows:
The pond at different times of day from 11/5~11/7/2022
https://cal3d.com/POND2022/NOV...
Bonnie & Clyde 11/13/22 when they first arrived after
leaving for points unknown in July.
https://cal3d.com/POND2022/NOV...
More pics...
"Before" taking out hyacinths.
Note the aqua oval floating tub on the right...
"After' (taken just 15 min ago)...
the oval lotus tub is missing!
I thought it was safe floating a few feet from the edge, but
one of our little raccoon friends, Rita, was playing with it, and managed
to sink it in 5ft of cold water!
So yesterday late afternoon, when the water was 59F, I had to get in (with a life vest on), cut the small island loose, and drag the large lotus tub over to the left side in shallower water. Normally I would be able to lift it enough to tip out enough water to float it again, but it somehow weighs a lot more, or I'm getting even weaker.
Anyhow, I decided to just leave it in ~3ft for now. I'll probably just prop it up on a
couple of cinder blocks....they can live in 3ft, but like it shallower, even 6" of water.
Taken from back of pond showing the "time out" box in the right foreground.
Cannas growing in the middle in floating island
Cannas backlit by afternoon sun
A pretty iris in a 1gal pot island...I planted it several months ago
and is finally starting to grow.
Taken from back through cattails & iris semi-submerged....too heavy for
the original floatation, and too heavy to pull out. Had to get in and hack it out
earlier this year. But it's still growing fine.
Stay tuned.....lots more!
