Our best pond is in the North West corner of the property, so we call it the North West Pond (NW pond) and we have videos of 55 species of birds, 10 species of mammals and 4 species of reptiles from this one pond. We have attached a copy of a spreadsheet showing the entire visitation to this one pond over a year and have included some of the photos and links to edited videos from the cameras.
(this is the order of first appearance: Black-chinned Honeyeater, Grey Shrike-thrush, Eastern Rosella x3, Rufous Whistler (female), White-plumed Honeyeater x7, Willie Wagtail, Crested Shrike-tit, Common Bronzewing, Red Wattlebird, Diamond Firetail x2, Noisy Miner x2, Grey-crowned Babbler x6, Noisy Friarbird, Magpie, Little Lorikeet x2, Red-rumped Parrot x3, White-browed Woodswallow, Peaceful Dove and Purple-crowned Lorikeet)
First we need to explain how the ponds are setup. Our advice and accompanying illustrations follow:
- Choose a spot that has a good range of wildlife and is not close to water.
- Make sure that the area is easy for you to regularly access as pond and camera will need regular maintenance.
- We prefer to put the pond in shade or semi shade on the south side of a tree so the camera can be attached to the tree or stake near tree and will face south. The tree needs to be so big that it will not move in the wind. We attach a solar panel to the north side of the tree to help power the camera.
- The pond needs to have many rocks and logs in it, so wildlife can’t be trapped in it, no matter what height the water is. Rocks and logs around the outside provide habitat for reptiles and small mammals and increase their visitation.
- The pond should include pots containing water plants. This will help to keep the water clean and fresh and mean that water creatures (such as backswimmers and waterboatmen) can be added to eat mosquito larvae. It is very important that the water stays clean, if it becomes dirty or turns green then the whole pond may need to be emptied and refilled.
- If too many visits occur from Wallabies and Kangaroos then a netting fence with big spaces will stop these species and give lots of perches for approaching birds.
Rocks and plants are added. The rocks create a shallow area that the small birds love to use. It is best to put these rocks closest to the camera. The bigger birds and animals often prefer the deeper parts of the pond. Water plants are planted in squat pots with soil and slow release fertilizer. Two centimetres of river sand is placed over the soil, sealing it, so that the soil does not mix with the water. We use two main native water plants, which are found widely across Victoria. They are Watermilfoil (Myriophyllum salsugineum) and Swamp Stonecrop (Crassula helmsii). It is important not to use introduced plants because birds can spread them and they can become weeds.
At least one substantial stick is put into the water so the wildlife can climb out, no matter what level the water is.
The pond is surrounded with habitat features such as rocks and sticks. This pond is particularly favoured by the Yellow-footed Antechinus which live permanently in and around the big stump and enjoy the additional habitat.
Water is added and this needs to be regularly topped up. This is a considerable commitment in summer. Depending on rainfall, the ponds usually remain full in winter but have to be topped up with about 20 litres of water every 6 days during the hottest days of summer. We have a few 10 litre containers and reach our ponds by vehicle or ATV.
The total set-up with camera and solar panel and branches placed to deter the approach of Kangaroos; this has been quite successful so far.
A lovely pond in a Kangaroo exclusion area, so sticks around it are not necessary.
The NW Pond, showing the netting fence around it. This excludes Kangaroos and Wallabies which cause too many videos to be taken and also often knock over or move the cameras. Also, we do not want to encourage these species to stay in a particular area for too long.