We've got this little pond out back; many years ago the initial owner/developer dubbed it "Mirror Lake". It does reflect nicely sunrises, trees, clouds, etc. but it seems a stretch to call it a lake. Ten houses, a vacant lot, and 150 feet of road circumscribe it. It's a steep pond dropping off rapidly from the shoreline. Ponds are like that in Florida or the vegetation would rapidly encroach until eventually there wouldn't be a pond. Herons and egrets wade from the side catching typically minnows or small bluegills, sunfish, ... . Bald eagles occasionally fish from the air. Our next door neighbor Nick has great video of them. We have alligators occasionally; they usually don't stay long. If they're too big we've always had them removed.
There've always been fish. Karen's brother Blake caught a 24" bass soon after we bought this house. Other family members caught similarly large fish, always returning them to the pond. The osprey ate his, as does the resident anhinga.
During a transition of the ownership of our community, the pond maintenance company wasn't paid and stopped maintaining the pond. I wince a little to think how they maintained it, chemically, I'm sure. Anyway, without the management, submerged and floating vegetation exploded, which combined with a hot dry summer to produce a massive fish kill. It was sad but interesting. We had dozens of large birds scavenging the corpses; raptors, herons, egrets, crows, and more. When all was said and done, fish came back but until the oxygen levels are righted, our fish populations are limited in number and size. Our grungy pond is more fun than the pristine version. More species and more individuals of frogs. Plus a family of Gallinules, parents and 6 small ones. I'm hoping for an ecologically based management program that'll balance vegetation and oxygen levels.
