One of the nice things about starting out with a pond that used to be
a garbage heap is that no matter how terrible it looks now, it is
still an improvement over what it used to be.

Anyway, my brother popped by for a visit (he's a pilot for some
corporation, so even though he lives in North Carolina, he gets
around) and we went out and did some of my "weeding" with pellet
rifles. He thought it was a jolly good time, and we killed some dog
fennel, various cattails, stuff like that. The air rifles didn't seem
to bother the birds too much, as a kite landed in the tree above us
and crapped all over our end of the pond while we were shooting.
Fortunately for us, we were under a tarp I had set up. We worried a
little bit that the plinking might bother Bob the snake, but if it did
he didn't show it, and he was out this morning lurking in the pond
again. The pond seems to have attracted another bird. It's big, and
it's dark, and as it flies up into a tall tree overlooking the pond
whenever I approach, I haven't really gotten a good look at it. It
isn't a heron or buzzard, I've seen a bunch of those, and it isn't
that. It might be a cormorant, although if it is hunting for fish it
is going to be rather disappointed.

There is a big wildfire just to the east of us, when the wind shifts
the visibility drops to about 100 m and the breathing can get rather,
uh, different. I would guess a bunch of critters have had to move (or
turn into crispy critters) so that might well account for the wildlife
around the pond. Plus, it's been so dry here that the pond is one of
the few remaining ponds that still has water in it (I run the garden
hose in it). I hope I don't get a bunch of alligators looking for
water though, that happens here fairly often.
--
Galen Hekhuis
"Mistakes were made"