todays photos were taken the last time we took Beau to the park.
Behind this fence at Bray Park is a retention pond.
There are three of these ponds in the park. Retention ponds are man made and up to 20 feet deep.
County regulations say all public places must have the man-made retention pond.
Our Wal-Marts have them, almost all businesses and parking lots have them.
They collect the runoff from our rains that put down 3 to 5 inches in a 20-minute period.
Because they are deep, and also may have alligators in them, they must be fenced. they are there for a purpose, to collect run off and purify it and are not intended for human use.
They also provide FISH for the Osprey!
Are you wondering how man-made ponds have fish and gators in them?
Passing birds of prey drop their catch while flying and fish roe is carried from pond to pond on the feet/fur of the wildlife as they move from pond to pond.
We have seen cranes, spoon bills, squirrels, otters, possums, raccoons, coyote etc.
These are within 20 seconds flight and there are many more a few seconds away.
they have trees and water and food supply.
right in the middle of our town.
At times the osprey sit on the goal posts and watch Bob's planes but have never done anything but watch. The hawks sometimes dive on the planes.
The large green space at bottom of red box is the area Bob used to fly in.
Sadly, they have fenced that field into 4 quarters and we are trying to find a way for Bob to continue to fly his radio control planes that he has flown there for the past 15 years.
The fence was required because the human animals drive cars on the field, let dogs' poop there and trash the playing fields.
There are 5 dedicated, fenced in acres that are off leash park for dogs.
All other parts are on leash only.
Behind the trees is one of our fire stations. the vehicles you see, one is wrecked, another upside down.
They use these for practice on how to remove people from vehicles that are on fire and practice cutting through to rescue trapped drivers. That large area also is home to the coast guard station and is not a part of the park.
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| There is no fence on the other side because the entire property of the fire dept has no public access. |
13 comments:
I wonder if one of the bigger alligators could climb that fence? I seem to remember someone a while ago took a photo of an alligator doing just that. I hope Bob finds a place to fly his planes.
Hari OM
What an interesting place you have told us about today. I love that the park is not 'just' a park but serves the wider community with that water retention, its protected areas and variety for dog owners, serves nature and wildlife... and serves the emergency services. Now... will it still serve the model plane enthusiast??? YAM xx
That is all very interesting. I had no idea. It makes sense though.
Hope Bob can find a place to fly his planes. That's sad that people had to ruin it for others.
It's a sad testimonial that the fences need to be erected to keep out irresponsible humans and their trash. If there's a way to ruin and befoul an area count on us to do it. I am wondering if these ponds are just concrete basins or are they naturalized? Here they are termed storm water management ponds and some become veritable wildlife oases. On one, last year, I observed six species of dragonfly and one damselfly at the same time. Canada Geese nested there and myriad other birds fed on the insects above the water. And we haven't even touched the vegetation or the raccoons!
What an excellent idea for catching all the rain from storms. You are so flat there nice to see there is a place for run off.
Hugs cecilia
Very interesting - does Bob get to fly his planes around anymore - Rick lives for it. In fact our housing decisions depend on it! lol
Beautiful park.
Thanks for a great account of how people change their spaces some for good and awful. Hope Bob finds a way to fly those planes. On one of our trips we stopped at the parking lot of a large abandoned grocery store.
A number of adult and younger males were flying their planes. Both of us were enthralled.
That really was interesting! We have a retention pond behind our house and I hope we never see any gators.
This is very interesting about the retention ponds.
Okay, I'm familiar with the term 'retention pond', but really had no idea about any of this. Ya, I'd be wondering how the gators got there. Circle of life!
Pretty cool how the firefighters are using 'junked' engines for training purposes. There's a station in nearby Wetumpka that uses one as a giant flower pot.
Crossing my fingers Bob finds a suitable flying place soon. Are there no RC clubs near y'all that have their own field?
Its so wise to have retention ponds in your drought area but so very sad about the human destruction. I just don't understand it...
Beautiful park for so many uses.
I sure hope Bob can find a place to fly the planes. He needs a hobby to get him away from the TV.
Have a great weekend.
Sue
Interesting post! I had never heard of retention ponds before, but they do make sense. Fingers crossed for Bob and his planes.
That is interesting about all of the water retention ponds. I'm sorry to hear that they have sectioned the area where Bob would fly his planes. I hope you can find another area.
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