Digging out the duck pond

Kubota KX080-3 in action!

Years ago we used to get wood ducks and many other critters to the pond beside the house.  Lately though, the pond has filled in so much that barely any open surface water exists, and less animals are coming to the pond.  Last year I took the initiative and tried to dig it out by hand... I dug a 8x20ft rectangle 1ft down to bedrock... and called it quits for the season.  This year I dug a 2-3ft deep hole till I hit bedrock, the size of a bathtub - and realized that it was insane to try to do it by hand.

One of the neighbours down the street had hired some guys with a little Kubota to do some work on their property - so I introduced myself to the owner of the Kubota, and showed him the pond.  He estimated less than a day with a bigger Kubota; it would be dug out and likely back to original capacity, if not more.  Cool.  

Don rockin' the 8-Ton Kubota

Don, the experienced heavy equipment operator who used to work for HydroOne, took ~6hrs to dig out 80% of the dirt from the pond, the rest was leveled out at the bottom and we're now ready for water.  We didn't cart that "black gold" away - hell no - we dumped it to all sides of the pond where I can heavy-rake it around and plant trees in it.  It's the best soil ever - it's made of decomposed leaf matter, crap, and dead things - what could be better?  I'm sure we can grow some Lilly pads and other grasses in the remaining dirt at the bottom of the "deep end".  

That's what it looks like now!

I hope this will be a turtle and frog paradise next year.

Another issue we have to tackle is; stagnant water breeds mosquitoes!  It also doesn't make for a very healthy water environment.  Water aeration can happen in many ways, a fountain, or some kind of circulation at least, is necessary.  Can a heavy duty electric sump pump from Princess Auto, running for an hour or two every day circulate the water enough to discourage mosquitoes?  Can I use it to make a fountain?  I'll figure something out.

You need water in a pond, dumbass.

Well, we might get some rain next week, but I'm not sure that'll fill up the pond, so I'm likely going to have to get a water truck, or two, or three.  My one worry is the bottom of the pond may no longer be sealed.  You see, there isn't just granite at the bottom of that pond, there is also clay.  We had to remove some of that clay while we dug it all out, so I hope we didn't remove the plug from the bottom of the bathtub... so to speak. Time will tell!