Category Archives: Nature
Winter in the Backyard
Winter fascinates. From the metallic dimpled icy plating laid over the back deck over night …
to the newly minted deer paths (more like highways – some serious hoof work) in all that vast whiteness down there …
Leaving a weak, waning sunset, colder, to complete the day …
Pond – Late Spring, Early Summer
Catching up, since last fall. The Minnows made it through the winter. They patrol the pond, and are busy breeding under the water lilies – you see ripples coming from the edges of the lily pads. Haven’t seen a blue gill yet – hmmmm. Of course, there are frogs, toads, etc. And flying birds. And snakes. And turtles. And fishing birds – Herons. The odd duck or two – they never stay. And beauty. So much so – I had to take some pics, and put em here.
Charlie says good bye …
Yard and Pond – Late August
Catching up – haven’t posted for a while. Some pics from Jerie’s gardens and my pond. In late August. Been a balmy summer here. A bit spoiled now. We are.
The very black eye, of a Black Eyed Susan
Close up to Hens and Chicks
Hens and Chicks … AKA Audrey when in bloom.
One dark red water lily blossom, reflections abound
The dock reflected in the pond – icy clear
Phrags reflecting on the surface, dock in foreground
Jerie knows what these are .. I sure don’t. But they are pic-worthy.
The whole shebang
Call these serenity shots
An utterly gorgeous lily, from Jerie’s side door garden.
Blue Gills
This …
Life Underwater – What a Minnow Sees
Wanted to see what the minnows breeding under the water lilies saw. So, I stuck a GoPro onto the end of a long slender board (inside a waterproof case), started up the camera, turned on the video – and shoved it underwater. Just to see if there was anything worth filming. Had to shoot blind, as there was no feedback from the GoPro. This is the result – somewhat edited.
In the first scene, there are two minnows, swimming under the lily pads. Turns out these Fathead Minnows attach their eggs to the bottom of just about anything. For my pond, lily pads fit the bill. The male takes care of the egg bundles, after the female deposits them.
If you look carefully, you can see a couple other minnows as well.
Muskrats – the battle begins
Down at the pond, this morning …
I found some muskrat tells …
3 lily pads, separated at the base of the stem, from the tuber. Meaning it was likely done by a muskrat gnawing on the tuber.
They were all in the same spot – the NW corner, where I’d found a single lily pad 2 days back.
So – I called the trapper – leaving a phone number this time. And, he called back. But … he’s out of town for 3-4 weeks, at a trappers convention, no less (who knew?).
So again – undaunted – I went down to the pond – and found two old traps. Pulling one out that I’d set last winter (it was empty and sprung).
And I set one, and put it right here …
Just like this …
Hoping for the best. I simply hate muskrats.
Summer Pond – the Video
Set your resolution to either 1080p or 720p. Else it’s not worth watching … Best bits from some pond videos. Shot in the summertime. In our backyard. On some simply gorgeous days. Nature is simply too stunning to ignore. Vids made with two craft: 1) a Phantom 3 Professional 2) and a custom built drone sporting a Hero 3 Black camera. All done in 1080p 60fps.
Winter Spring Pond Diary
Tue May 23 Nice
Last night … there were 5 new water lilies just breaching the surface with 1-2 pads. Here’s a couple of those …
No signs of decimation in the existing lilies. Looking good. Two different views …
Saw a minnow. And – always seeing activity under the lily pads.
That’s either the minnows or blue gills. Pretty sure it’s the minnows though. But the surface is so occluded with stuff from the surrounding trees and shrubs
that visibility prevents ID’ing the creatures making the fuss.
However, this morning – that’s not so true – and … I saw baby minnows – 3/4″ long in the northwest section … in the shallows.
Tue May 16 Nature in Action
Seeing lots of surface activity – saw one school minnows – left of end of dock. About 20-25 fish.
Also saw a turtle, bout 8″ shell, swimming from west to east – at north-west back corner of pond.
And at least two Northern Water snakes – youngsters – about 20″ long – cruising along the surface of the pong.
Mon May 15 Fish Sightings
I’ve seen couple minnows, on two occasions, at end of dock – but Jerie saw a school of minnows – by laying on dock for a bit and being still.
Sat May 13 Restocking
Dumped 3 lbs Fathead minnows, and 12 Blue Gills into the pond. Here’s Jerie with the 3lb bag of Fathead minnows from Jones Fish …
Some blues were dead as soon as they hit the water. Was freaking over the minnows – which largely survived even though 50% were sucking surface air before release. So I didn’t really examine the blues – could have shocked them … or … they just might not have survived the trip. Might have been me though. Some survived, I believe.
Thu, May 11 AOK
Still no new damage. Seems our outdoor semi-feral cats at taking care of the muskrats. I seem them working the pond, every now and then. They sometimes hunt in pairs.
Wed May 10 whoopsie
Trapper tele # might not have been a mobile – I should try again, leaving my number next time.
Tue, May 9 Geese?
I think it was the geese – otherwise, nothing new today. Cept that I discovered Charlie also likes to eat water lilies.
And the geese – I’ll chase em off from now on, now that I know their appetites.
Anyway, the trapper didn’t respond to my message.
Removed maybe the last loose lily pad. If I find another – hmmm …
Mon, May 8 Damage – the culprit?
3 small lily pads floating on surface – time to call trapper Jeff (there were Geese in the pond yesterday – but I don’t think they’re the culprits).
I left him trapper Jeff a message around noon. But later that day … after some research …
WRONG – Canadian Geese do eat water lilies, reeds, etc. Specially young plants
Wed, May 3rd pond walk …
Water lilies are fine (yeah – many have come back – not sure yet how many, or if all of them)
Phrags – well some are tipped this way, and some that way – have to wonder if a muskrats been chewing on them down below – OTOH – we had some epic winds yesterday. Going with the fact the water lilies are fine – and assuming still not muskrats.
April 25 – restocking
Planted some 20 water lilies from Lowes.
This means extracting the bulbs from the packaging, and gently tossing them into the pond where I want them to root.
April 20 – Returnees
And the ones coming back form last year continue to thrive. The dock lily …
Monday, Jan 2nd pond walk revealed …
- Yowsa – a 4″ hole coming straight up out of the top of the NE bank.
- Yowsa – two holes in the side of the SW bank- under grassy ledges in the side of the bank.
- And one in center of West bank just under the water. I put a trap on it on Jan 17.
Jan 20 no new activity
Nothing new seen by those holes. Including the trap. (I covered the holes with twigs and leaves – they remain undisturbed)
Jan 22 trap triggered
The empty trap was triggered. I reset it. Area around hole had musky smell. Here’s Charlie, inspecting the trap, before I set it up the first time.
On Jan 30 muskrat tells
I saw Muskrat shits on top of ice. 6 of them. About 3/4″ inch long. Slightly curled. Final proof. Serious tells.
On Mar 10 damage
I saw one closed white blossom. Near the surface. Just under the ice.
No other signs though.
Should call trapper Jeff