Tag: blue gills

Yard and Pond – Late August

August 28, 2017 @ 12:17 pm

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
The very black eye, of a Black Eyed Susan
Close up to Hens and Chicks
Close up to Hens and Chicks
Hens and Chicks ... AKA Audrey when in bloom.
Hens and Chicks … AKA Audrey when in bloom.
One dark red water lily blossom, reflections abound
One dark red water lily blossom, reflections abound
The dock reflected in the pond - icy clear
The dock reflected in the pond – icy clear
Phrags reflecting on the surface, dock in foreground
Phrags reflecting on the surface, dock in foreground
Jerie knows what these are .. I sure don't. But they are pic-worthy.
Jerie knows what these are .. I sure don’t. But they are pic-worthy.

The whole shebang
The whole shebang
Call these serenity shots
Call these serenity shots
An utterly gorgeous lily, from Jerie's side door garden.
An utterly gorgeous lily, from Jerie’s side door garden.
Blue Gills
Blue Gills
This ...
This …

Winter Spring Pond Diary

May 23, 2017 @ 9:54 am

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