txdon
Super Star Member
Are we being mooned by a swan? 
Alien Invasion - I want my pond back !
- Thread starter Eric Salop
- Start date
- Views: 112324
POC
Gold Member
So did you find the wooden filter box when excavating? Or did the aliens carry it off?
texasjohn
Super Member
some great bones in that derelict, and some true grit in the personal journey. I know it's happened because after all, we have photos to prove it. And, as my grandmother would have said, "I swan," and lean forward expectantly awaiting the next chapter of the story....
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
I love this story.
I looked up the price for a mating pair of swans on this side of the earth and WOW! 3-4K American dollars. Ouch. I don't know why I was thinking you might could have some for a reasonable amount.
I looked up the price for a mating pair of swans on this side of the earth and WOW! 3-4K American dollars. Ouch. I don't know why I was thinking you might could have some for a reasonable amount.
OP
Eric Salop
Elite Member
An Inspector Calls
The pond was clearly visible from the public road, so I wasn't surprised when I had a visit from a man in one of the numerous government environmental departments. Fortunately he was too late to stop anything, the pond was almost full. He walked around the pond with me in ominous silence before asking me, had I commissioned a full wildlife survey before commencing and what measures had been taken to protect the endangered species ?
My answer was no, there was no survey, I was simply trying to give an expiring pond a new lease of life and had been careful not to suck out any water voles. Some people have no sense of humour. My answer did not meet with his approval.:grumpy: He told me I should have erected wildlife barriers to protect voles and newts and have a qualified person determine that the area had been vacated before bringing in machinery.
My measured reply was that water voles often move between ponds (which is true) and that they had every opportunity to find a temporary new place in the months that had passed since starting to drain the pond. Also I added that the cost of such surveys and barriers would have meant the pond would never have been restored, so in a few years time their habitat would have been gone for ever.
He still wasn't going to let it go. Next, pointing to the area where we had cut a ramp into the bankside, he said that voles could have been living in the bank. I explained it was necessary to get onto the base of the pond to extract the silt and that it was only a small portion of the bank. I assured him there were no vole holes in that part of the bank before we started. At this he gestured to where we made the second ramp, as if we had wantonly trashed another 3 yards of bank for the sake of it. I told him that in my book humans count too when it comes to protecting things and explained how someone could have got hurt if we hadn't put in a second ramp.
Conversation over. He either thought I wasn't that bad a person, or concluded that he had nothing that would stand up in court. He said, next time I do something like this, contact them BEFORE starting the work, then he left, never to be seen again. That reminds me, about 3 years ago we had an excavator in for some building work and cleaned out another smaller pond. Silly me, I clean forgot to give him a ring...
Bank Repairs
Rush was replanted where the ramps had been cut to hopefully stop little waves from eroding the bank on windy days once the level rose. Later in 2007 I put willow cuttings all down one side to give some shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. After that I left it for plants to re-colonise the margins in their own time. There were plenty of other things to keep me occupied in the following years, so I stuck to the terms of the original agreement and left the pond well alone until 2014.
The pond was clearly visible from the public road, so I wasn't surprised when I had a visit from a man in one of the numerous government environmental departments. Fortunately he was too late to stop anything, the pond was almost full. He walked around the pond with me in ominous silence before asking me, had I commissioned a full wildlife survey before commencing and what measures had been taken to protect the endangered species ?
My answer was no, there was no survey, I was simply trying to give an expiring pond a new lease of life and had been careful not to suck out any water voles. Some people have no sense of humour. My answer did not meet with his approval.:grumpy: He told me I should have erected wildlife barriers to protect voles and newts and have a qualified person determine that the area had been vacated before bringing in machinery.
My measured reply was that water voles often move between ponds (which is true) and that they had every opportunity to find a temporary new place in the months that had passed since starting to drain the pond. Also I added that the cost of such surveys and barriers would have meant the pond would never have been restored, so in a few years time their habitat would have been gone for ever.
He still wasn't going to let it go. Next, pointing to the area where we had cut a ramp into the bankside, he said that voles could have been living in the bank. I explained it was necessary to get onto the base of the pond to extract the silt and that it was only a small portion of the bank. I assured him there were no vole holes in that part of the bank before we started. At this he gestured to where we made the second ramp, as if we had wantonly trashed another 3 yards of bank for the sake of it. I told him that in my book humans count too when it comes to protecting things and explained how someone could have got hurt if we hadn't put in a second ramp.
Conversation over. He either thought I wasn't that bad a person, or concluded that he had nothing that would stand up in court. He said, next time I do something like this, contact them BEFORE starting the work, then he left, never to be seen again. That reminds me, about 3 years ago we had an excavator in for some building work and cleaned out another smaller pond. Silly me, I clean forgot to give him a ring...
Bank Repairs
Rush was replanted where the ramps had been cut to hopefully stop little waves from eroding the bank on windy days once the level rose. Later in 2007 I put willow cuttings all down one side to give some shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. After that I left it for plants to re-colonise the margins in their own time. There were plenty of other things to keep me occupied in the following years, so I stuck to the terms of the original agreement and left the pond well alone until 2014.
the old grind
Elite Member
- Joined
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Willows? Still water with those gentle banks? 5 years? (worried ..)
texasjohn
Super Member
omg it's a cliff hanger...we're waiting for the tick/tock of progress to get to 2014....
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
An Inspector Calls
View attachment 428477
The pond was clearly visible from the public road, so I wasn't surprised when I had a visit from a man in one of the numerous government environmental departments. Fortunately he was too late to stop anything, the pond was almost full. He walked around the pond with me in ominous silence before asking me, had I commissioned a full wildlife survey before commencing and what measures had been taken to protect the endangered species ?
My answer was no, there was no survey, I was simply trying to give an expiring pond a new lease of life and had been careful not to suck out any water voles. Some people have no sense of humour. My answer did not meet with his approval.:grumpy: He told me I should have erected wildlife barriers to protect voles and newts and have a qualified person determine that the area had been vacated before bringing in machinery.
My measured reply was that water voles often move between ponds (which is true) and that they had every opportunity to find a temporary new place in the months that had passed since starting to drain the pond. Also I added that the cost of such surveys and barriers would have meant the pond would never have been restored, so in a few years time their habitat would have been gone for ever.
He still wasn't going to let it go. Next, pointing to the area where we had cut a ramp into the bankside, he said that voles could have been living in the bank. I explained it was necessary to get onto the base of the pond to extract the silt and that it was only a small portion of the bank. I assured him there were no vole holes in that part of the bank before we started. At this he gestured to where we made the second ramp, as if we had wantonly trashed another 3 yards of bank for the sake of it. I told him that in my book humans count too when it comes to protecting things and explained how someone could have got hurt if we hadn't put in a second ramp.
Conversation over. He either thought I wasn't that bad a person, or concluded that he had nothing that would stand up in court. He said, next time I do something like this, contact them BEFORE starting the work, then he left, never to be seen again. That reminds me, about 3 years ago we had an excavator in for some building work and cleaned out another smaller pond. Silly me, I clean forgot to give him a ring...
Bank Repairs
Rush was replanted where the ramps had been cut to hopefully stop little waves from eroding the bank on windy days once the level rose. Later in 2007 I put willow cuttings all down one side to give some shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. After that I left it for plants to re-colonise the margins in their own time. There were plenty of other things to keep me occupied in the following years, so I stuck to the terms of the original agreement and left the pond well alone until 2014.
Your bureaucrat sounds like he got trained in California.
alchemysa
Veteran Member
Finally, the Alien invaders are identified. Freakin' Bureaucrats! They really do come from another planet.
SPIKER
Elite Member
Not to mention one they get in the are mean blood suckers who propagate and only destroy everything around them and cause it all to twist in wind taking every bit of breath freedom and life away from everything around it... These things can't be stopped it seem no matter how much voting is done as these same bureaucrats get the " illegal," 'dead" and "cartoon characters" to vote for them somehow...
M