c2g, Vernal ponds, dewponds, etc are great in the right location, under the right conditions. Remember that most of the ones you see on the internet are rarely located near buildings, especially homes. Most of the time they are for livestock that churn up the bottom. They are rarely filled by hoses. In England, there is a lot of rain and a lot of clay. The bottom of a clay lined pond is thick. Try Googling Bentonite lined canals to see the construction. It is tricky. I'm glad you decided not to use it to tell the truth. To the unwary, it is a disaster waiting to happen. It takes practice and a lot of willingness to get coated with unbelievably sticky messes once it gets wet. We used to live in an underground house that was topped with it and then had 2 feet of earth on top of that so I had a lot of experience in twenty years. While it did what it was supposed to do, I lost more than one pair of shoes and several pairs of jeans to it. You could not wade into the pond you want to construct. I haven't ever seen a really good book on wildlife ponds. No two ponds are ever going to be alike. But then I wanted something for fishies too. my pond is 1000 gallons and three feet deep. The birds and critters usually take over my Skippy Filter (!00 gallons)for bathing and drinking. Since my pond will never be completed(even after 12+ years), that can change from year to year. I love to experiment.You won't want anything as elaborate as Joanne and Cliff's but parts of their ponds are perfect for what you want. Check out their many videos. Just don't get intimidated. For your pond, the first thing to consider is that the ground is flat. So as you dig, pile the dirt around the outside perimeter of the pond so the pond edges will be above grade.If you plan for a filter, the tank can be positioned there so it won't be obvious. Use the link to see the Skippy. It doesn't have to be that large for your use but the concept is the same no matter the size. I have seen so many variations it is amazing. They all do the same thing. I would go with the same material. Thinner, less weatherproof materials than a stock tank are just a waste of time and money. I made mine in an afternoon. The most difficult part was tying it to the roof of my car to get it home from the Farm and Fleet store. A fifty gallon tank would do well for your plans. Before you start cutting, think it through. You can always delay it if you are unsure. For your purposes you don't need a huge pump. Figure the amount of water in the pond and get a submersible pump that moves about twice that number of gallons in an hour. There are lots of people here to advise you on brands of pumps although they usually talk about the bigger volume pumps. If you like, you can design a low waterfall with this or not. I like the sound. For safety you should have a properly installed GFCI outlet. Extension cords are not recommended. Here is a link that might be useful: Skippy Stuff.

I hear ya about the irony. Native....or non-native when the native animal/insect population is drawn to them equally. Last spring I bought a small (12 inches tall!) wafer ash (Ptelea trifoliata) at a wildflower sale to attract giant swallowtail caterpillars one day. Well, one momma GST did find my wafer ash and soon I had 6 ravenous caterpillars. GST caterpillars feed on plants in the Rutaceae family which, when it comes to natives, would include prickly ash and wafer ash....both trees that are impossible to find at any local nursery. Prickly ash is probably something most homeowners remove anyway. So how on earth do those butterflies manage to stay alive in the midwest? They will eat citrus leaves (a tropical....not something you would find in the midwest...although Poncirus trifoliata survives in this zone). They will eat rue...an herb from Europe! Luckily I had a hardy orange for them to chomp on when they ate all the leaves off the wafer ash. But then they disappeared....I'm thinking a 'possum got them overnight or something. :-/ They had been wandering off once the wafer ash was leafless but they were very easy to find when I looked for them and then put them back on the hardy orange. Cycle of life, I guess. But it is ironic that sometimes the non-native plants are the ones that keep the natives going. What I learned...I'm buying more wafer ash for next year since apparently, it is very delicious to GSTs but I am also going to plant rue even though it's not a native because it is a good food source backup for butterflies. Nothing is cut and dry, you know?

Here's what you need to do in Firefox to make this particular web site work, To play Windows Media in Firefox, you need the Windows Media Player browser plugin installed. There are two different versions: The original, which is usually included with Windows up until XP. The new version, specifically developed for Windows XP and above, which is only available by download. Note: Even if you already have Windows Media Player installed, you may still be missing the plugin required to play back Windows Media audio and video embedded in web pages. This article describes how to check for and install the Windows Media Player Firefox plugin. See link. You will need to go into About: config and change a value to true, as instructed on the link I have provided. My Firefox would not work on the web page either. I went through the instructions and it works now. EDIT : I installed the plug-in from mike link that he provided, but had to do the about:config thing to make it work. Here is a link that might be useful: windows-media-files-in-firefox This post was edited by zep516 on Sat, Sep 28, 13 at 0:40

Sorry for that, Ann. If you go to the Aquarium website, there are many webcams that allow you to see special interest areas live and you can even watch at feeding times in the big tank. The Aquarium is interesting because the foundation of its exhibits began with a vision to highlight the local sea life. (Monterey Bay is a unique environment because of the presence of a very deep canyon/trench close to shore). Over time, they realized they needed to have rotating special exhibits with a bit more razzle dazzle for the general public to want to return repeatedly. Another organization, separately operated and funded almost exclusively by the Packard Foundation, is the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) at Moss Landing. MBARI is a research organization, even receiving some government money, that employs big name scientists to do oceanographic research. It's a lab, not a public attraction, and is only accessible once a year on Open House day. But it's another example of Packard's interest in science and devotion to the greater good.