There are as many ways of building a pond or water feature as there are people who build, buy or contract the work out. There are some interesting ponds on the gallery section of this forum but I suggest you check out the Public Library in your area for some in depth research. I have seen some delightful water features that I would love to add to what I have but there are limits to my creative madness such as money, time and physical problems. LOL! Everyone thinks their kind of water feature is the best. If this is mainly for the birds, they require a shallow basin or a flat rock the water can flow over to serve as a bathing area. If it is too fast moving or deep, they can drown. My first pond didn't have a good space for the birds to perch or bathe so they would deliberately set off my motion and heat sensitive water cannon and fly thorough the spray. It was a lot of fun to watch them but they used up a lot of water. You do want to keep the birdseed a fair distance from the water since it would become contaminated very quickly and be high maintenance. I am assuming that is something you wish to avoid. One thing you can look into is a pondless waterfall. It gives the advantage of moving water and the noise that distracts from traffic yet fits well in a small area. The maintenance is low. Basic materials and equipment are a basin of some sort, it can be preformed, a half barrel, or it can be a flexible liner. Something to form a spillway can be made of stacked stones,pots, etc. You will need a pump of the right size and a filtering system to protect the pump. Check out Adam's filter. It is cheap and easy. I made one out of a Tupperware canister once. Then there is tubing to direct the water where you need it. The pump will likely come with attachments to make a fountain or you can buy those separately if that suits your fancy. I don't know how much or little you want to invest but I have seen kits that are very adequate for around $100 at places like Meijer, K-mart, Target, WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot and Menards. I saw some lovely pondless water features that were made from a large pottery jar that sat on rocks that hid the water tank. There are lots of lovely plants to go into your water feature. Some plants like the water lily need more water depth than others but there are some that can be grown in relatively shallow water. Most are going to require lots of light to flower. The Library is going to have lots of books on water garden plants. The name to look for is Helen Nash but there are others who do a good job as well. Container plants around a water feature do very well. Since the books can be expensive, you might want to wait to buy some until you find one you think is worth the price to you. I have several dozen myself, but I am a book fanatic. Sandy

I have a fountain without a pump and the birds have never had a problem being attracted to it. Of course, they are in my yard already eating the bird seed. I used to use solar pumps but they cost alot and never lasted very long. Plus it was tedious to keep cleaning the algae and other gunk inside of them. I finally gave up on pumps. Now I just empty out the water and give the bath a quick scrubbing with a brush every day or two. Now if I want to hear the sound of moving water, I play my CD of a babbling brook on my CD player that I keep on my patio. It's also my anti-noisy neighbor strategy.

On the other hand they may very well have been crows. Flocking in large masses is a common habit of crows in winter and this winter the flocks around here can only be described as super flocks. Two weeks ago while working in the yard I observed a flock of crows flying overhead. When I first noticed them I thought they must be flying in a circle because they were continually moving overhead for at least 5 minutes. later that evening I heard on our local TV news that they had landed in a wooded area adjacent to Barnes Airport about 1.5 miles away ( a small private airport servicing private and some light twin engine commuter aircraft) Pilots reported that when in flight the flock was at least a mile long and under advice of Federal Safety Authorities all flight operations were suspended for 8 hours while wardens from the State Fish & Game Commission were detonating large fireworks in an effort to convince the flock go away. The game wardens conservatively estimated the flock to be between 3000 and 5000 crows and although the CAW sound of a crow is very distinctive, none the less, when in mass there is a low hum of noise that can only be described as cackling.

The original decline in populations of the Kirtland's Warbler was due to loss of the early successional jack pine habitat, through decades of fire suppression, these birds depend on. Fire opens the jack pine's cones causing seeds to come out and germinate after a fire. The young growth of pines that followed is what the Kirtland's Warbler depended on. Once the population of Kirtland's Warblers declined from loss of habitat, added pressures from parasitism of their nests by Brown-headed Cowbirds added to their declining population. So, the Kirtland's Warbler was not on the "brink of extinction" due to cowbirds, but originally was due to loss of habitat that cause their population decline in the first place. In addition to cowbird parasitism the Black-capped Vireo experienced declining populations due to loss of habitat via urbanization, fire exlcusion, grazing, and brush control. The Golden-cheeked Warbler has suffered tremendous habitat loss of its Ashe juniper habitat due to the expansion of the cities of Austin, San Antonio, and Waco. Add to that parasitism by cowbirds, and you get the same story as for the Kirtland's Warbler. These three species, both with normally limited distributions due to extremely narrow habitat requirements, make them susceptible to habitat loss and the added pressures that brings on their populations. The moral here is that other causes, primarily loss of the species primary habitat, are the reasons for the initial decline of these species. Then, the impact of cowbird parasitism is enhanced because the species impacted have such low populations from habitat loss, they can't make up for the loss of parasitism by cowbirds. Thus, wildlife biologists and land managers institute cowbird removal programs within the species last remaining breeding habitats so that populations can more easily recover as new habitat is created to aid in recovery. One should study up on it. And a final note (which has been mentioned on this and other forums) Brown-headed Cowbirds are a protected native species. Any killing of these birds, however deemed "right", is illegal without a permit. If you are going to write about killing them or other species besides starlings, house sparrows, and rock pigeons that are not protected, you should be prepared for people responding to your posts with less than sympathetic views. BN