Finally Fishes

A beautiful day.  With fish …

Saw fish for sure, for the first time this year … today.  On three occasions so far.  The first time, a school of about 15.  The second time, at least 25.  These were 3-4″ fish in size.  Got to be young Blue Gills.  Both times, in the South West area of the pond.

Pretty much the same for the third time too, which I captured above.

The STUFF on the waters surface, is pollen, basically.  From countless sources.  Plus some eggs, maybe.  The bugs love the STUFF.  And the fishies do so love those buggies.  They were bug hunting as I photographed them.  And various birds dipped occasionally, finding something at the ponds surface to their liking.  Oh yeah – water boatmen, skimming the surface.  Big tads hovering motionless.  And … dragonflies.

Hummingbird Feeding

Hummers n Lilies

Saw our first humming bird feeding today – after raising our feeder a few more feet.

Newly raised feeding station
Newly raised feeding station

Seems that the hummingbirds didn’t like the feeder at the same height as the last 4 springs, when we only had one cat on the deck.  Guessing it’s because this spring we have several deck cats.  And the hummingbirds, although comfortable at the old feeder with just one deck cat (they always know where one cat is), they didn’t like having several cats to contend with.  So today, I raised the feeder several feet – and within minutes, we started getting humming birds again.  Wow.  Pretty neat too.  Hummers aren’t dumb – one cat and they’ll feed from a low feeder – two or more cats – and that feeder better be out of reach of kitty, before hummy will deign to dine.  Arhrhrhrh.

And the lilies are growing harder, in this warm sunny spring weather the last few days.

Pond - serene, yes?
Pond – Serenity+
Two lily pads
Two lily pads
Dock n two lily pads
Dock n two lily pads

After raising the feeder.  Saw one hummingbird – but no camera.  Got camera.   Waited 10 mins for next humming bird, but missed it while playing with the focus – 10 min is a long time to sit still in a chair.  Then I caught this one feeding 2 min later.

Hummingbird Feeding
Hummingbird Feeding

Today

Just finished watching a green heron eat a couple frogs.  What an appetite.  Explains why our amphibian pop is down this year.  It’s got these really big bright orange feet, big as clowns feet, that enable it to spread it’s weight out over the reeds.

Also, saw something round and thick laying on the reeds.  Brownish/Tannish in color.  Smooth.  Looked like a coil of a snake.  Or a mink, laying on top of the reeds.  Never figured out what it was.  Looked away for a bit.  Looked back to check on it, and it was gone.  Maybe the edge of the shell of a huge turtle?  Now I’m dreaming up stuff.

[It’s the day after, and I can clearly see that there’s a snake, in that exact same spot, sunning itself.  A big Northern Water Snake, I’d guess – seeing it through binocs from the deck.  Got to be the same critter – snakes return to favored spots in the sun.]

Here’s some pics, taken this morning.  Miles was with me, and is partially visible in one pic.  And, there’s always one of the Shots.  Wholly visible by the way.

It’s the Mallards – again

They showed up a few days ago.  On the heels of the receding pond ice.  Wonder if they’re the same pair that visited last spring?  Or the spring before that?  After a week or so, she disappears.  Then sometime later, don’t remember how long, the drake follows.  The pics below, taken today, show the drake in the pond, with the female (dame?) standing on the end of the dock.  In one pic, there’s even a shot of a drake on the back deck.  Click a pic to slide through em.

Minks – who knew?

Trapping – this morning, found a mink in the trap – it had been trying to enter the muskrat den through the underwater entrance, which of course had the trap set over it. I noticed too, that the hole above the den, was still in use, and had been tightened up – it was smooth from use, where the first day I saw it, it was just loose dirt. So – was the mink using the muskrat den? Anyway, I reset the trap, over the same underwater entrance.

So – total to date, taken over the last 3 days – 2 muskrats and 1 mink.

Neverending saga – had no idea so much was going on down there – only saw a muskrat once. Never saw a mink. Seen great herons, green herons, turtles, tads n frogs, northern water snakes – use to see water lilies, but the muskrats ate em. And seen dragon flies galore, all kinds of water bugs on top of the water, and nymphs in the water. Birds, ducks and geese. Rabbits galore. Deer tracks (almost every day  during the cold months) – but deer sightings are rare (I only saw one so far). But the muskrats and minks were a surprise this year – although it’s apparent the muskrats had started eating the phragmites and cattails last year, but we just thought it was something seasonal, till they kept disappearing this year, along with the water lilies.

But those rats ate all of my water filters (all water lilies, most phragmites and all cattails) – and I look forward to the pond becoming pristine again next year – as I replant it – minus a few muskrats!!!!

Eureka – one less muskrat

Today – my first muskrat … caught in the trap I’d been focusing on, set on a hole to the den on the SW side of the pond.  I’d reset it yesterday, pushing it down firmly into the mud in front of that entrance.

And at noon today, when I went down to the pond, there was a muskrat caught in the trap – it’s butt sticking out of the hole.  Obviously caught as it was entering the den through that hole.

Do not know how the muskrat came to be outside of the den, as they are nocturnal.  So it was likely inside a den when I set the trap around noon yesterday.

So, either there are other holes I haven’t found yet for this den, or it was using both dens (there’s one in the NW corner, and this one in the SW side) and moving from one to the other.

Excuse me for not providing a pic.

Ahhhh

Ahhh – found the other muskrat den – in the NW corner, by the reed hutch, which seems to have been opened up by whatever.  I found it by following a stream of water from the pond, which should not have been, into the bank – stuck my cane in, wiggled it about, and lo and behold – there was open space inside my pond bank, above the water level.  I’ll get em, said the hopeful trapper.  Sooner or later.

Smart Muskrats

Smart muskrats …

Well, I had nailed their entrances with the new trap sets yesterday – BUT – sometime during the night, they saw their entrances blocked, and rather than trip the traps, they dug an escape hole out the bank. Further, they had turned the newly set trap sideways, so they could continue using the old entrance apparently – and I’m guessing they did this from outside the hole, by pushing on the handle.  They had also dug a new underwater entrance 2m from the ones I’d successfully blocked with the traps.  Smart muskrats.