Today was calm with no wind, and the pond was still. This is what one heron saw: I think he was admiring that handsome bird!
If he is a regular visitor why not give him a name. One with a gardening flavour and very apt given the circumstances might be Narcissus ??.
Narcissus it is, Sydney! He comes in almost every day while we are having morning coffee in the dining room. We have a great view of most of the back yard, the pasture, and the pond. My husband will say, "Big blue is here" and sure enough, he's standing by the edge of the pond, posing for his early morning admiration. Very narcissistic . . . .
Hi Jane. Well done but lets hope he does not meet the same fate as he's now namesake. Your description of the outlook from your dining room makes me so envious of all the space you US folk have on your properties out in the country - not like the cramped together situation of so very much of the buildings here. At present we still have the woodland next to us but applications are in to build on it and these wretched developers usually get what they want. Many many beautiful mature trees will go - absolute sacrilege I think and should not happen. Best wishes. Syd.
Sydney, don't be too envious--someone (my husband) has to shred (mow) all that space! We do love having room to try new vegetables in the gardens, and having chickens, and bee hives, but it takes a lot of effort and planning. We are in a very rural area where we don't have to worry about developers buying up land--when we lived in town, it seemed that every square inch of space "needed" to be developed. Sad, so very sad.
Hi Jane. Yes indeed if you have a nice sized plot and like your good selves (as I would too) use it and also keep it looking nice is does need planning and a lot of effort - definitely agreed. The main thing is to have a system (as in everything) which does help matters a lot - I am sure you and your husband are very organised and systematic. For myself we have this small garden and from it apart from the one side where the woods still stand all one can see is roofs ( rooves?) in all directions. Between us and the woods there is a plot of land which we can legally use but does not belong to us - this I have used as a woodland garden with a variety of shrubs and keep the grass rough mowed - if this development occurs we will lose it. I would so much love to live on a plot away from other buildings. Your pond looks great what size is it and what fish does it hold pse. Lovely to talk to you. Very best wishes for 2016. Syd.
Syd, my husband is a retired engineer so we are organized! If I'd known that engineers were so darned organized I might have turned down his proposal (that I had worked so hard to get). No, I love the guy even though "spontaneous" is not in his vocabulary! Our pond is about one acre, and not very deep. Texas doesn't have natural ponds and only one natural lake. All the rest are dug and filled by streams or natural water flow. Ours is a flow pond, which means the level varies according to rainfall. As to fish, we have perch, bass, catfish, and minnows. Occasionally a friend will come and fish the pond. Then, bless him, he goes home, cleans and filets the fish, and brings it back to us. That's the kind of fishing I like! This morning we were having coffee and saw a gadwall (duck) on the pond. Morning coffee is much more interesting while watching birds.
Hi Jane. It all sounds really great - good for you . That is a fair sized area of water and apart from its already inhabitants its a wonderful attraction for and benefit to a wide variety of wildlife. I had a chuckle at your comments ref your husband being a lifelong engineer and he's great desire to have it all organised - would you believe it so was I and have the same tendencies. It can I know get a little "grrrrrrr" at times but also as I see it the benefits are enormous - a nice tidy organised life - never could stand this jumping through hoops chuck and chance it attitude. Syd.
