spring

Pond – Late Spring, Early Summer

June 28, 2018 Nature

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 hadRead More

Dandelion

November 16, 2016 Nature

Miles – So very old, enjoying the dandelions down by the pond last May.  He slowly walks down the hill these days, and then rests his bones for a while – waiting to see where I’ll go next.        

A beautiful spring day – fresh snowfall, geese on the pond

April 9, 2016 Nature

Our two new residents today.  As seen in mag view.  (tap 4 fullsize) The actual view from our deck. And cats.  Yup.  Cats too.  That’s Boris in the foreground, and graycat (a new feral resident here at SRW) at the other end of the deck.  A daily drama. Yesterday, everything was green, growing like mad.  So different today.  Very exciting.

Fading Sink Tulips

Muskrats in the Spring

May 11, 2015 Nature, Trapping

Spring is so brassy … And sometimes, it brings muskrats … Muskrat signs on the pond bottom – first of the season.  The fresh tan dirt on the normally dark bottom, indicates a muskrat has been holing out my bank nearby. I found the hole – after 10 minutes or so of searching – had to bend up a pole to find it. It was narrower than others I’ve found. So I grabbed a rusting #110 trap, set it, and placedRead More

It’s the Mallards – again

March 31, 2015 Nature

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. Read More

Spring Snow and Mud

March 19, 2015 Nature

Spring … the promise of summer, encased in mud and snow.  Some pics of the pond (and mud, and snow, and ice).  The animal tracks made on the snow that had covered the ice that covered the pond for the last two months … well, during the last couple warm days, that snow merged into the melting ice, and then refroze last night and today, into a rather intriguing pattern made all out of pond ice. And a gallery of pics, showing all – click and see …