Biggs Wildlife Pond

Welcome to the Biggs' Wildlife Pond

Dragonfly Picture

"Big Red" a Big Red [aka Flame] Skimmer -
king of the pond

POND 4-00

Our pond in its 4th year -
April 2000

We've built our pond in our Sebastopol, California backyard, in the hole that was left when we took down our above ground pool (the deep end was dug in). We've used mostly native plants, many of which we have found along the roadsides from San Francisco, CA to Tillamook, OR. A lot of the fun in building this pond has been finding the plants, identifying them, and just seeing what will survive and what won't. We've also collected our own rocks. One of our biggest joys is seeing all the `critters' our pond supports, especially the dragonflies!
We encourage everyone to consider putting in a pond for wildlife.
It is a real joy.


Click here to learn about our NEW [2007] DRAGONFLY COLORING BOOK!
POND PROGRAMS:
I give programs on building ponds for wildlife and also on dragonflies.
Click here to go to a page that lists them: POND & DRAGONFLY PROGRMS Contact me for more information on any of these programs.


This site is totally privately funded. If you've found it useful, a small donation will help keep it on the web! Thanks, Kathy Biggs
Read my articles:

Pleasures of Wildlife Ponding.

List of steps to Build a Pond for Wildlife

List of CA/Western USA Plants for use in ponds

We encourage you to click
Wildlife Sightings
to view a list of those `critters' who have visited our pond and you can go to links to pictures of a many of them.

We no longer advocate the use of mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis for mosquito control unless you live in the midwest or southeast U.S. where these fish are native. We've had negative experiences with their preying on our native western Pacific/Chorus Frog eggs and pollywogs and the dragonfly/damselfly eggs and nymph. If you live in the west, please consider using mosquito dunks, or a native fish such as Killifish or Sticklebacks that our tree/chours frogs, dragonflies, etc. have evolved with. Here is a link to a site that sells mosquito dunks . I don't know anything about this site, but I did find it as a link I could point folks to. Most garden centers should sell this donut-shaped bacillus (BTi) 'dunk', please look for them. They have ONLY members of the diptera family, such as mosquitoes and black flies. They DON'T harm dragonflies, butterflies, cats, dogs, horses or people, etc.

Here is a link to an article I wrote on 'Wildlife-Friendly Pond Cleaning' for the Internet Ponder [on line pond magazine] in March of '97

I'm considering writing a book titled: Build a Pond for Wildlife. If you have comments or could make contributions of stories, photos or ideas please click here to email me.

Pond Development and growth:

Click to view our pond's development during its 1st year - 1996.

Click 2nd year - 1997 to see the article about our pond's 2nd year.

Click here for the 3rd year maturation in 1998.

This spot is for 1999

The wildlife pond enters the new century: Year 2000

Year 2001
Our new guest greeter: the front walkway wash tub pond!

2002 started out with SNOW!
Click here to see 'who' visited the pond that night!
Spring 2002

2003 spring and fall pond pictures
The Pond becomes 'famous' - June 2003 National Audubon Magazine! A Liquid Noah's Ark
- by Tim Matson

2004 pond pictures
2005 pond pictures
2006 pond pictures
2007 pond pictures
2006/2007 Our NEW Mt. Shasta pond is started!

2008-TROUBLE at our Shasta Pond!!

Links to other wildlife ponds

We built our pond, AND THEY CAME! ...the dragonflies that is!
I couldn't identify them as there were no guides for CA.
The long and short of the story is - I ENDED UP WRITING ONE -well, 2 now!!
Now I go all over the west looking at dragonflies and giving dragonfly and wildlife pond presentations.
Building a pond really changed our lives.

Below are links to the CA & SW Dragonflies websites I've built & also links that go to my books,
INCLUDING OUR NEW COLORING BOOK and some other books that we now sell:
This will take you to our California Dragonflies Site with links to pictures for identifying all of California's damselflies and dragonflies.
and

this link will take you to our Southwest Dragonflies Site with links to pictures for identifying all the damselflies and dragonflies that are known to occur in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.


Click on book name or image to find out more about it.

A Coloring book that teaches about dragonflies and dameslflies
Dragonflies of North America, A Color and Learn Book with Activities

2007 Click here for more information


by Kathy Biggs and Tim Manolis

Azalea Creek Publishing

A guide for identifing the dragonflies & damselflies of the greater Southwest
Common Dragonflies of the Southwest
A Beginner's Pocket Guide
2004
Click here for more information


by Kathy Biggs

Azalea Creek Publishing

Our updated and expanded dragonfly guide for California:
"DRAGONFLIES of California and Common Dragonflies of the Southwest
A Beginner's Pocket Guide"

useful in OR and WA too!
by Kathy Biggs
Azalea Creek Publishing

A CD that prints out the coloring book, one page or the whole book!
Dragonflies of North America,
Color and Learn
CD-Rom

PDF file, usable on PCs & MACs



May 2007


The BELOMO 10x Triplet, Loupe and Lanyard

Click here for more information

Click on any of the covers/images to order a copy/item by
check/money order
or
PayPal/credit card
from us
(all ship from this website within 2 days and all of the Pocket Guide series books are signed by the author)

Or click on the names to the below to order thru Amazon.com. (Be certain to use your back button to come back to here though!).

Common Dragonflies of California

Dragonflies of California and Common Dragonflies of the Southwest

Common Dragonflies of the Southwest

Dragonflies and Damselflies of California

Dragonflies of North America, Color and Learn


Click here to read the article An Interview with Kathy Biggs, on Dragonflies, Dragonfly Ponds and how She Became an Author



If you have a pond, would like to make one, are interested in California native plants or wildlife, or just would like to contact us, please do so bigsnest@sonic.net


Click here to go to a page of links to other WILDLIFE ponds
Key Resource
In 1998 this pond site received a "Links2Go Key Resource award" in the Ponds topic!
We proudly display the award, which is presented to "Fewer than one page in one thousand....based on how actual page authors ..... index and organize links on their pages."

This site is totally privately funded. If you've found it useful, a small donation will help keep it on the web! Thanks, Kathy Biggs

This site was visited 86,336 times between when the counter was put on it at its first web-host site (August 29, 1998) and when it was
moved to PowWeb on March 25, 2002.
Since it's move, this site has had visits by folks interested in ponds.
We thank you for your interest - Kathy Biggs

Hosted By Web Hosting by PowWeb

This site was moved to PowWeb because of their very attractive web packages. They have a nice referral plan.
Click on the PowWeb image above to move your site there! Thanks!!