Pond digging

In our efforts to be good ecological folk we use a natural spring filled pond to collect water to use to irrigate the garden and the veggies.   The pond, or muddy, frog and crab infested swampy hole is halfway up the hillside and has about 200m of pipe to carry the water down to the garden.    The pond end of the pipe is a right angled piece with a 2cm opening that is as close to the bottom of the pond as we can get it without it sucking up mud.  

However, over time the pond fill sup with dead leaves that slowly rot away and drop to the pond floor and yes you have guessed it, eventually they get sucked into the pipe and bung it all up so we have to drain the pond, clear it up and then unclog the pipe.

In the photo you can see Nuch trying not to fall in as she rakes the leaves from the bottom of the pond and also the end of the pipe (with the right angle turned up to stop it sucking up the mud.We came back a few hours later and the pond was completely filled again.

Camping and pond digging

Had a great two days of camping fun at the house,   Five tents and three bedrooms full of tired kids and slightly drunk adults after treasure hunts, digging in the sand, making fire from rubbing bamboo sticks together (nearly), bonfires on the beach, shell collecting, goat hunting, exploring and an enormous amount of food and drink cooked, eaten and drunk.  

Cockatiel nesting

Despite the nest box having been in the flight for over a year the cockatiels had never really given it any interest.    Then on the 4th January I went up to the roof to feed the birds and saw the cockatiels were missing.   At first I thought they had escaped somehow but could not see any holes in the wires and then just as I was about to walk away I heard a scratching sound from inside the nest box and yep, lo and behold there they both were.  Today we were able to open the box when neither bird was inside to see what they were up to.  

 

A good day for twitching and fishing

First treated to a real close up viewing of three kites and juvenile white bellied fish eagle at Man Kok Tsui today.   The birds were wheeling around over head for a good five minutes before drifting off downwind towards Peng Chau.   Then as we were sitting at the pier we sighted a very optimistic grey heron attempting to fish from a floating buoy in the middle of the bay plus a two kingfishers (white in colour) possibly pied kingfishers, that were being much more productive fishing from the shore line rocks.