Digging design for wildlife pond/scrapes for shooting?

[jackrussell101]

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience of the above?

We've got a very wet meadow next to a brook and was just wondering if we could dig some mini ponds out, and if so would this help to attract some wild duck and such like for the occasional bit of shooting?

 

[Bald Rick]

Yes

First thing to remember is that ducks like to land in to the wind so orientate your pond(s) with the prevailing wind.
They also like shelter so scalloped edges work well.
They like to dabble so the pond doesnt need to be outrageously deep but less than 1m at it's deepest point will allow plants to colonise across the whole thing so you do need deeper areas
Flight ponds need to be a certain length so one big pond is probably better than a series of small ones
Duck like potatoes but they really love guts.
You might want to consider some tree planting to provide cover and shelter but remember that trees should be plant x1.5 their terminal height to avoid too much shadowing of the water & leaf litter.

Call ducks can work well but that is cheating in my opinion.

PS if you are using the brook to fill the ponds, in theory you would need EA permission as you are impounding water even if there is an exit. Also, they are keen if you want to stock fish

 

[jackrussell101]

Yes

First thing to remember is that ducks like to land in to the wind so orientate your pond(s) with the prevailing wind.
They also like shelter so scalloped edges work well.
They like to dabble so the pond doesnt need to be outrageously deep but less than 1m at it's deepest point will allow plants to colonise across the whole thing so you do need deeper areas
Flight ponds need to be a certain length so one big pond is probably better than a series of small ones
Duck like potatoes but they really love guts.
You might want to consider some tree planting to provide cover and shelter but remember that trees should be plant x1.5 their terminal height to avoid too much shadowing of the water & leaf litter.

Call ducks can work well but that is cheating in my opinion.

PS if you are using the brook to fill the ponds, in theory you would need EA permission as you are impounding water even if there is an exit. Also, they are keen if you want to stock fish

Thank you for the reply, that really is most helpful.
But may i ask what do you mean by potatoes or guts?

 

[Bald Rick]

Thank you for the reply, that really is most helpful.
But may i ask what do you mean by potatoes or guts?

They like eating stock feed spuds but if you really (illegally) want to get them coming in in big numbers, chicken guts every time.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Don't do an island unless you want Canada geese.

For wider wildlife benefit, have some deep and shallow areas so even in a drought there is still water in some of it. You do also need planning permission for a pond unless it is for agricultural use (wildlife conservation and or shooting does not count).

 

[Bald Rick]

@jackrussell101 ......... you may also want to consider this

Flight Ponds Code of Practice | The British Association for Shooting and Conservation

Flight ponds Code of Practice 1. Introduction At its broadest definition the flight pond is an open area of fresh water or marsh used by wildfowl in the evening, when they flight from their daytime resting places on estuaries or large water bodies in order to feed. Flight ponds can therefore...

basc.org.uk

 

[pycoed]

See if you can find a copy of the book "Flight Ponds for Duck" from the Game Conservancy (now GWCT). For some reason GWCT don't list this as a current publication, but it really is the bible for flight pond development. Well worth a look (& joining) the GWCT there's some fascinating stuff they publish. And, God knows!, the more people possessed of the facts to counter the outright lies of Packham, Avery, the BBC & co the better

 

[ollie989898]

We used to throw a lot of wheat about for the ducks on the shoot/game farm I worked on. Never knew they would eat spuds but not surprised in the slightest. They would eat anything.

 

[Muddyroads]

Don't do an island unless you want Canada geese.

For wider wildlife benefit, have some deep and shallow areas so even in a drought there is still water in some of it. You do also need planning permission for a pond unless it is for agricultural use (wildlife conservation and or shooting does not count).

How do you define agricultural use? I’ve got mid tier funding for a pond which I’m hoping will help a bit with drainage but don’t really want the hassle or delay of going through planning.

 

[SteveHants]

Yes

First thing to remember is that ducks like to land in to the wind so orientate your pond(s) with the prevailing wind.
They also like shelter so scalloped edges work well.
They like to dabble so the pond doesnt need to be outrageously deep but less than 1m at it's deepest point will allow plants to colonise across the whole thing so you do need deeper areas
Flight ponds need to be a certain length so one big pond is probably better than a series of small ones
Duck like potatoes but they really love guts.
You might want to consider some tree planting to provide cover and shelter but remember that trees should be plant x1.5 their terminal height to avoid too much shadowing of the water & leaf litter.

Call ducks can work well but that is cheating in my opinion.

PS if you are using the brook to fill the ponds, in theory you would need EA permission as you are impounding water even if there is an exit. Also, they are keen if you want to stock fish

If you are partially diverting a waterway, I think that's part of your abstraction license. You'll need a discharge license too, and the EA will (or should) check the quality of the water you discharge into the river.
For stocking fish, you'll need a section 30 consent, again from the EA.

Might be more - it's been a while.

 

[David.]

Is it a case of forgiveness being easier to obtain than consent...
I bet planners will want to see you spend a fortune with charlatans who claim to know the only way to dig a pond, engineering drawings, etc; whereas all you need is a machine operator with a lifetime experience actually doing it.
Have they ever made anyone fill one back in?

 

[ollie989898]

Is it a case of forgiveness being easier to obtain than consent...
I bet planners will want to see you spend a fortune with charlatans who claim to know the only way to dig a pond, engineering drawings, etc; whereas all you need is a machine operator with a lifetime experience actually doing it.
Have they ever made anyone fill one back in?

Unless of course there was always a dew pond there originally only was overgrown where the cattle trod it in...

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

You might be able to get funding under pond or wetland creation. A pond is supposed to do more for wildlife than anything I thought?

 

[Brisel]

If you are partially diverting a waterway, I think that's part of your abstraction license. You'll need a discharge license too, and the EA will (or should) check the quality of the water you discharge into the river.
For stocking fish, you'll need a section 30 consent, again from the EA.

Might be more - it's been a while.

Not normally for just a pond unless stocking it, but you will certainly need to talk to the EA about impounding water.

Don't do an island unless you want Canada geese.

For wider wildlife benefit, have some deep and shallow areas so even in a drought there is still water in some of it. You do also need planning permission for a pond unless it is for agricultural use (wildlife conservation and or shooting does not count).

You need an island if you want ducks to nest there but it's not essential. You're absolutely right about a mix of shallow and deeper gradients.

 

[SteveHants]

Not normally for just a pond unless stocking it, but you will certainly need to talk to the EA about impounding water.



You need an island if you want ducks to nest there but it's not essential. You're absolutely right about a mix of shallow and deeper gradients.

If the inlet is taking water from a water course, that's abstraction, no?
If the outlet goes back into the water, that's discharge?
I don't think we are talking about ponds isolated from a water course here?
It's been years, so might have it wrong, but that was the way when I was involved in fisheries/aquaculture.

 

[puppet]

Shallow and deeper areas for beasties to hide from the cold, graded edges to let ducks walk in and a small island to get away from foxes.
Most ponds will surely have water coming in and the same water coming out. Is that abstraction? Without that you will end up with a stagnant cesspool. We just diverted a main field drain into a hollow which took 2 days to construct and clear. Never dried up in 17 years. Duck, moorhens, oyster catchers, peewits and swans all hatch there. Different from splash ponds which will have winter water lying then dry up in summer. Grants available.

 

[Brisel]

If the inlet is taking water from a water course, that's abstraction, no?
If the outlet goes back into the water, that's discharge?
I don't think we are talking about ponds isolated from a water course here?
It's been years, so might have it wrong, but that was the way when I was involved in fisheries/aquaculture.

If you're doing something with the water beyond impounding it, yes. Fair enough - in aquaculture you'd certainly need a discharge licence too. No detail from the OP as to how they would fill or empty them.

 

[ajcc]

Aren’t you glad you asked on here? Now just go down the field and play with the digger. Shallow shelving edges for feeding. Feed it well and regular for wild duck, feed any released duck away from the pond and lightly or they’ll never bother learning to fly.

 

[Farmer Bill]

Has anyone successfully made a pond hold water on chalk ground without a liner?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Do an island if you want geese, lovely birds take the top soil off and get it out of the way then build you pond with clay if there is any . Put the soil back on top after