The floating island is still not done. The three Muscovy ducks are sitting on eggs, so I expect we'll have between 30 and 40 ducklings in a couple of weeks.

The Pekins remain banished to the orchard! The mallard seems to fly in and out, over the 6 foot high fence, depending on when she wants a frolic in the pond.

And we have a new avian guest: Lucy the goose.


She was subject to serious abuse by some louts and was hospitalised. She was treated by my grand daughter (a degreed veterinary technician @ the Vet Hospital 2 hours drive from here).


My grand daughter said she was unsure if Lucy's wing damage would repair enough to allow her to fly, again. The owner was so scared that the larrikins would return, that my grand daughter suggested Lucy could be re-homed, here.

Lucy's mate, the gander, did not survive the scumbags' assault, so Lucy is a little lonely. But not idle, as she defends her honour from the over-amorous Muscovy drake.

The water has largely cleared and there's a coming weekend plan to raise the pump and pipe from the pond bed, to see if the pipe has indeed got claying-of-the-artery. If that's so, the water flow should return to what it was, after we've done some pipe-cleaning.

As the pond 'matures,' other things occur. The pond scum coming-and-going occurrences of months past has been replaced by a spontaneous introduction of what I think is duckweed. It may be watermeal, but I don't have the knowledge to say which. Maybe both?!

Seems that duckweed engenders polar opinion opposites amongst pond owners / users. Very much a love-it or hate-it situation. Because we have mechanical aeration via the flowforms, the de-oxygenation thing may be less critical, here.

In the pix which follow, the 3-rounder-leafed one was intentionally introduced. The two-leafed one introduced itself.

It's possible that the two-leafed one is an immature 3-leaf. I don't know. Perhaps some more knowledgeable forumite will enlighten me?

A close-up of the two types, near the pond edge.


Patches of the two-leafed one, further out from the pond edge.


A wider view


Another wider view


The pond is still leaking significantly, but that leaking is both slowing and occurring at a higher level. I'm hoping that the edges may slowly self-seal with suspended detritus. I'm even adding lawn-mowing clippings around the edges. I have a bit more bentonite clay to use, too. The last application around the pond edges was pecked away by the Pekins. I presume they were after grit for their digestive systems.

No rest for pond owners, eh?

Last edited by PerryNZ; 02/08/18 08:39 PM.