Backyard Ponds

2007-02-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

The ponds appear to be holding their own. There's some ice in one pond, but not the others. In it's own way, that seems strange, but I'm guessing it's because of how the shadows hit each of them. At any rate, the fish can be seen and they're doing well.

Inside the aquarium in the house, we added mystery snails and some algae eaters to one tank. Both are thriving. In fact, the mystery snails decided to lay eggs and crawled out of the water to adhere masses of eggs to the glass just below the lid to the tank. In fact, one succeeded in reaching the underside of the lid to place a cluster of eggs there. So far, we haven't seen any mystery snail eggs hatch. Also, of the nearly ten batches that were laid, half have fallen into the water.

The algae eaters have their own mystery about them. For one thing, four are definitely of the same species, but two are very different. One is entirely near-orange in color and the other is black with a near-orange colored head. Otherwise, their body shapes are identical to the other algae eaters. So far, the algae eaters have made a significant dent in the amount of algae the tank was showing and the water seems clearer, not that it was bad to begin with. It was clear then, but it's lost some green tint it was gaining.

2007-01-31T16:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we tried an idea in the ponds that was meant to help resolve pump clogs. It didn't work, so we're busy working on another idea. What we need now is some good, warm weather before we go sticking our hands in what is almost ice-cold water.

2007-01-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

We're experiencing a warm weekend here. So far, the fish and tadpoles are doing well.

My wife and I moved the cattail pond, not that it's really a pond. It's solely for the cattails she's growing as a yard plant. Fortunately, we don't have to trim or mow it, but we'll have to do something to keep it from breeding mosquitoes. Our efforts last year were pitiful. It bred them despite our efforts at putting in anti-mosquito tablets. They just seemed to sneer at our efforts. If that doesn't begin to work this spring, then I'll probably insist that we put some mosquito fish in with the cattails. At least we know those work.

Of course, I'm not looking forward to the spring. That's because I can tell that all three of the fish ponds need to be cleaned of the accumulated much they're holding now. The only good news is that won't need repeating until the fall. Then we'll get to do at least two of them again. The third has so few fish that it can go two years. Ah well, the joys of owning a yard.

2006-12-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

We've had some thin ice on the ponds twice already. Despite that, the tadpoles seem to be surviving. I make it a point to toss some fishfood pellets in their direction just to make sure they have something to eat. Believe it or not, they'll latch onto those and actually consume the food even though it was meant for fish. Of course, it can be hilarious to watch them eat when several grab the same pellet and they cause it to spin and caroom about the pond.

Anyway, the good news is they're surviving and there haven't been any little corpses to dispose of yet.

2006-12-20T16:10:00.000-08:00

Backyard Ponds

Got up this morning to see our front yard pond goldfish hovering around his pump. It was off. My daughter unplugged the wrong cable last night so he probably had a sleepless night without his pump operating as he was used to. Tonight I'll see to it that the Christmas lights are unplugged and not his pump. After all, I don't want him climbing out to slap me with one of his wet fins for disturbing him yet again. ;)

This was another post from 19 Dec 06 that went astray.

2006-12-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

Backyard Ponds
It warmed up some today. In the front yard pond, the goldfish was semi-active. By that I mean he swam to the shallow water and found him a warm spot to hover in. While he and the other fish were there, I dipped out some more much from the deep section.I've noticed that this year we don't seem to have any blue jays and only a couple of juncos. I suspect it's the global warming even though we've had some cold days and nights. Of course, I'm not an expert in that, but I can see these things for myself and the first scientists were little more than observers who took careful notes. I've read elsewhere that other changes in territory have been observed in animals by other people.Anyway, I think this is only the tip of what's happening. It might be interesting to see how our society changes its laws should enough people become convinced that irresponsible individuals and corporations are responsible should the changes become truly onerous and destructive.

For some unknown reason, this post from 17 Dec 06 and another post went to my other blog so I'm transferring it here.

2006-12-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Backyard Ponds

Well, this morning one of the pumps gave out. Fortunately it was the one in the front yard pond where there are only a few fish so the lack of extra aeration wasn't a factor. The last time we had to replace that pump, someone had taken it out and smashed it against the driveway. This time it was just a broken part internally. Still not fun to find that I had to spend a few bucks to replace it. Otherwise, it took only a local trip to the pet store where they had plenty of that model on hand and a few minutes to put it in place once I returned home with it.

I haven't yet caught any of the duckweed in the ice but it does cling to itself and it's fairly easy to use a plain stick to dip it beneath it and just pull out gobs of it. Then a quick flick of the wrist tosses the duckweed on the ground where it can become fertilizer or mulch or whatever it becomes when it dies. I'll probably end up using several methods to get rid of it.

2006-12-04T16:37:00.000-08:00

Duckweed has taken over all of the outdoor ponds. We even had some manage to get inside one of the aquariums. Probably happened when a net was used to transfer some snails outside when we had too many. Anyway, my plan is to wait for some ice to form on the ponds and then just lift the ice out. The duckweed ought to be stuck in the ice and it should be easy to rid the ponds of most of it instead of trying to constantly chase it in open water. Seems that a piece always get shoved under that way and escapes to repopulate the weed.

The fish haven't been surfacing too much, but we do see them from time to time so we believe they're doing well this year as they did the year before.

I spotted some of the tadpoles the other day and they're much larger than before. Some measure almost an inch in total length. Not the biggest we've ever seen in our ponds, but nonetheless respectable in size considering their environment. I'm fairly certain now that they won't become frogs until spring. The weather has definitely turned too cold for them to change and then try to find a suitable hibernation location, let alone find something to eat first. I briefly considered bringing a few inside to an aquarium, but that would probably speed them up and then I'd have to find suitable food for them. That would mean numerous trips to a pet store for live food since I'm not going to forage through the yard for them.

2006-11-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

The two new replacement mystery snails are doing well. We didn't place them in the tanks with the South American cichlids. Instead, they're in with the tetras and appear to be thriving.

Outside in the yard, the ponds are doing all right. No progress with the tadpoles in the left-hand pond, but they appear to be alive and that's on the good side. I can tell that all three will need de-mucking in the spring. As it stands now, I managed to scoop out a hefty amount from the front yard pond, but it still contains too much in my opinion. Plus we had to declog all three pumps but that's typical and needs to be done at least once a month. It's just not as easy doing it in cold weather because you have to reach in the cold water to get the pump.

2006-11-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

This past week, we bought a pair of mystery snails in an attempt to give our two South America cichlids a bit of company. Well, that idea didn't work. One of the snails died yesterday and the other died this morning. We're not certain if they were killed by the fish or just couldn't adapt to their new home.

Not that we're trying to kill anymore of them, but they came with a warranty, so we're going to give it one more attempt with them. Hopefully we'll have better news on the indoor front.

This weekend, I'll be doing what I can to clean some of the muck from the front pond. My wife spent a few minutes the other day picking out leaves that fell into the water from our oak tree. She said that Redhead, the name of the goldfish in that pond, spent the time watching her from just a few inches away as if he was her supervisor and had to see to it that she got all of the leaves.

In the latest major rain that we had, we lucked out. In a way, the duckweed and other plants were swept to the low edge and that kept any of the tiny fish from being carried out by the overflow of water. In the past, that was a problem and on one occasion, we got lucky when I happened to check on one pond while it was still raining and managed to save about twenty small fish who would have otherwise perished after they went out of the pond onto the ground. We generally lose one small fish with each major rain, but this was an improvement in that we didn't lose any.

2006-11-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

I spotted a grasshopper today while I was filling my car with fuel. I could easily reach down and touch it because it was cold and probably also dazed by the gasoline fumes. I fgured it was there because of the sheltering roof over the pumps. Best I could do for it was to move it a few feet away from the pumps.

It was lucky I didnt spot it in my yard because I would have hoped for a frog to still be out sitting by the pond. However, they all seem to be in hibernation or at least in some sort of shelter away from the cold and rain. The fish are doing well and there was some movement from the tadpoles so I'm hopeful that they'll make it for now.

I noticed that the front yard pond may need to be cleaned some. The water in it is clear enough that I can see down about six inches where there appears to be some sort of algae layer. I really don't want to disturb that and create a muck that would interfere with the fish in that pond, but I suspect that I'll have to reach in there this weekend with a fine net that's worked before for straining out muck. The trick is to avoid catching any fish because once they're in that, it's almost impossible to get them separated unless they're really large and easy to spot.

After that, this blog will probably also go into semi-hibernation unless something eventful occurs.

2006-10-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

I've noticed in the past few days that the one goldfish in the front yard pond is staying in the shallow area. My guess is he's seeking the warmest area where the sun is hitting the water.

In the backyard, the fish seem to be doing well. The tadpoles get very active when anyone walks near their pond. Even though it was cool and drizzly today, they were still active. The good news is I haven't spotted any of them floating about dead. I've already decided that if I see any of them climbing onto the plants I'll dig up some of the nearby soil so they can seek to burrow in it and not have a difficult time trying to break through the soil.

The birds never fail to amaze me when it's a slow drizzle. Some of them have the smarts to get into the feeder, take care of their hunger, and then just hunch down to stay warm. They know there's no need to go anywhere else when they have a roof protecting them from much of the rain and two sides to block the wind. Of course, not all the birds do that, but the ones that do are enough to prove to me that they aren't dumb.

Anyway, I haven't seen any of the lizards since I last mentioned them. My guess is they're already taking care of their needs for shelter. Wherever that is in the yard, they're welcome to it. They could be under the house. If so, they'll find that a little better after today for keeping warm because I closed the vents on the foundation.

2006-10-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

Well, today was both good and bad.

We lost the front yard frog. I found him out front where he'd been run over.

However, the weather was warm enough that one of the frogs was on station beside the left hand back yard pond. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so he'll probably be taking shelter once more. I've noticed that if it rains hard enough, they do that. Light rains don't seem to bother them, but the heavier and colder rains do.

As expected, the tadpoles were busy exercising. Also, this morning, I spotted our wild rabbit, but this wasn't one of those instances where I spotted him first. This time he spotted me first and took off running in the fog. Maybe we have two rabbits, but I didn't view him well enough to determine if he was the same one or another.

Otherwise, there isn't much to be said.

2006-10-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, today's post is going to cover something besides my ponds. As far as those go, the fish are fine, the frogs aren't in sight, and the tadpoles are exercising up a storm, hopefully to get their legs developed in time.

Now for something dreadful that shouldn't have happened. I was with my wife at a store just the other day and we went past the fish displays. Like many stores that sell live tropical fish, they had a selection of bettas. Much as I feel for the poor fish in their individual cups, there's nothing that can be done for that since I can't purchase every one of them to set them free. Besides, that would only encourage the stores to sell more. However, it's not that which bothers me. No, this was caused by a cruel individual who may have entered the store posing as a customer. What I encountered was what looked like on first glance to be a dead betta in a cup. I couldn't help notice how beautiful it was only to have died. Then I realized something else was wrong. There were two bettas in the same cup. It was at that point that I touched the cup to make sure the second betta wasn't a reflection. That was when both suddenly became active as they briefly released each other. The two bettas had been locked onto each other in a state of exhaustion.

Getting over my outrage, I quickly spotted the empty cup beside them and opened the lid after setting that cup on a firm surface. Then I opened the cup with the two fish and poured one into the other cup so that both could recover from their ordeal caused by someone with a cruel streak.

Anyway, store personnel are generally too busy to spot such activities and most don't have anyone who's truly knowledgeable about fish. That's almost always easy to spot since those stores usually have a lot of dead fish floating in their tanks. There's not much we can do about dead fish other than to not purchase from those stores when they don't maintain their tanks properly, but it's a different matter when bettas are concerned. I just hope that we, as customers, can occasionally take a look at those and alert the store manager when we see that someone has been cruel in placing bettas in the same cup so they'll fight. Remember, those bettas have nowhere to run or hide.

My wife has one that swims in a very large glass that's kept on our kitchen table. What's more, he's intelligent. He knows where his food container is at and will point at it when he wants something more to be fed. When the kitchen TV is on, he sometimes watches it. Besides being intelligent, they're beautiful creatures. They deserve proper treatment whether they're in your home or still in a store.

2006-10-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

Well, the weather is cooler. It's supposed to warm up some in the coming week, but I doubt that there will be much activity. The fish and tadpoles seem to be avoiding the surface except when and where there's something to capture some heat.

I haven't seen any of the frogs in several days now. Even our bunny has been keeping a low profile or staying in his hole.

I'll post when something happens, but that will probably be rather infrequent. Still, here's hoping that something nice happens or something new to the yard visits. If I see it, I'll mention it here.

2006-10-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

Came home this evening. There's a green blur in the air, but not so fast that I don't make out the graceful leap and the outstretched legs departing from a wet spot on a rock beside the small front yard pond. Yes, we now have a frog living in the front yard pond once more.

Despite the cool weather, we still have a frog sticking it out in the back yard. We're supposed to get a frost within a week so he probably won't stick around much after that.

We've been seeing the wild rabbit more often in our yard. He could be getting used to the family as he doesn't take off running like before. Instead, he tends to hop over to the nearest flower bed where the flowers are dense enough to hide and just wait there until we leave.

2006-10-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

The temperature is hovering, actually bouncing, between good and bad. We still have two frogs regularly showing up at the ponds waiting to catch insects. One is used to our presence and ignores us unless we have a bug to offer.

The tadpoles are so far handling the lower temperatures. There's no telling whether the weather will hold out long enough for them. I do know that a few years ago we had one type of large tadpole that made it through a winter, but we had a plastic cover on the ponds and that provided significant warmth to them.

Already, we're seeing a slight change in the bird population as different types of birds begin to show up or depart the area. Nothing major yet, but the signs are already becoming noticeable. We had so much rain over the past few days that the birds aren't picky about the seeds in the feeders being wet. They're just glad to find something still edible that hasn't been eaten. Of course, I've been putting seeds in some spots where it would keep dry but those were eaten first leaving only the seed that got wet. I'll probably clean out those feeders tomorrow and put in more dry seed.

2006-10-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

The weather's been cool here lately. There's still one or two frogs hanging around the ponds, but I doubt if they'll remain out much longer unless we get a serious heat wave that hangs on until the end of the year. That's not impossible in this area. We had summer-like weather one year that lasted until the day before Christmas. Still, I'm concerned that the tadpoles might not survive if the cold drops in suddenly and stays. However, there's nothing I can really do for them.

At least the tadpoles appear to have put on some size though I'm not entirely certain that the larger tadpoles aren't another type of frog or toad. Hopefully, the somewhat large tadpoles are the tiny ones with some weight put on their small bodies. If so, then they might make it should the weather hold off just another month.

The rabbit showed himself a few more times. Again, I happened to walk almost up to him before he realized I was there or decided I was too close. He spotted me one time while I was still distant and hopped over to some tall plants where he paused and watched me put seed in a feeder. When I stepped down from the feeder, he scampered into the flower bed to hide. My wife believes he has a den there. It's possible, but I suspect his den is in a different bed because I've spotted an opening in it and now I feel it's entirely possible that was his doing. Since the bed is somewhat out of the way and tends to be ignored most of the time, he's welcome to live there. Besides, he certainly hasn't hurt the flowers there.

2006-09-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

This morning, I stepped out of the house to get the lawnmower ready. What should I see before me but what I've called an ugly cricket. Of course, my first thought was that the frogs might like a meal if any were still about. Lately, there's been only one hanging around. The others seem to have left for the woods or to find burrows. I suspect they agree with me that it's going to turn cold rather quickly.

However, there was still one frog at the pond. I tossed the cricket to him only to see him leap into the water. Evidently, he isn't one of the frogs who cares to eat ugly crickets. I decided to return to my preparations for the mower only to reach the doorway once more and see a grasshopper there. However, the frog hadn't returned to the ground beside the pond so the grasshopper lucked out and didn't get eaten.

As I mowed the yard, I spotted a five-lined skink watching me from the foundation of the house. He attempted to change his position several times after each pass. I suspect he did so because he was watching me closely and figured out I had spotted and was watching him. By the time I made the last pass on that side of the house, he had taken cover where he couldn't be seen.

Then I visited the ponds and there were two frogs in the left hand pond. I spotted a grasshopper and tossed it in. It hit the water and swam for the edge just where the frog had been sitting, but the frog had dove into the water. Probably it was concerned that I'd toss another ugly cricket at it. However, it surfaced at just the right moment and facing just the right direction to see the grasshopper climb out of the pond. Just when it seemed that the grasshopper would escape, the frog put on a burst of speed and hit the grasshopper before it even knew it was dinner time. Considering the distance it had to cover in the water and then leap out, I was impressed by that frog. Then again, if you don't eat, you become extinct, so I figured that frog was working his side of the extinction equation as well as he could.

The second frog was already in the water, but he was much too distant to reach the grasshopper. Besides, I've observed what appears to be either a pecking order or territorial limit. A frog has to really screw up trying to catch a meal before another will intrude. It's kind of like you get so many chances to make your kill or it becomes a free-for-all among those who are nearest. So, it may not always be who's the best sumo frog wrestler that determines territory.

In the meantime, the black-cap chickadees have figured out the feeding routine and will start following and scolding me to hurry up and fill the feeders when it's anywhere near their feeding time. Some have even approached as close as three feet away from me and just out of reach. Then they'll fly over the feeder and back to the tree to make sure I understand them. Once the seeds enter the feeder, their scolding and the following ends.

2006-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Not too long after the raccoons began visiting the yard, we had an event that I thought at first was going to be a disaster. There were several mother cats also visiting the yard with their kittens. After all, it was some of their food, along with the inviting trash cans that might hold other goodies if the plates were empty, that first attracted the raccoons.

What happened was one of the kittens and one of the adult raccoons came face to face with each other. When the raccoon tried to eat from the disk, the kitten reared up and struck the raccoon on the nose. Thankfully, it was the velvet paw and not the outstretched claws that hit the raccoon, so the raccoon merely stood there stunned looking at the kitten. I was a good ten to fifteen feet away and smart enough at the time to know that I wasn't going to even attempt to save that poor kitten if anything started. However, that was it as far as the two were concerned. A moment later, the raccoon backed down and the kitten came running to me when I called to it. In fact, it was at that time that the kitten gained a name and became known as Toughy.

Unfortunately, Toughy didn't live to reach old age before disease cut him down, but he was a wonderful cat while he graced our yard.

In all, it's rather amazing what happens just in an ordinary back yard. Next time, I'll reveal a true squirrel story.

2006-09-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

On another occasion, a raccoon actually walked up to me. This probably needs more said than just that.

For one thing, the raccoon and some others, probably its family as the others were younger and smaller looking, got used to seeing me in the back yard. Sometimes we'd put out some table scraps left over from the previous meal that we knew just wouldn't get used. Plus, by that time we'd discovered they were raiding the garbage can and we just decided to find out if setting out a dish for them would reach a compromise. They would get food and we wouldn't have to pick up garbage from the yard each morning.

And yes, the compromise worked, so we found out we also got to have a front row seat at watching them. They stopped raiding the can and let us actually sit on lawn chairs to watch them. We even had some snacks for ourselves at times and that's what led to one of the strangest encounters.

I was sitting watching and had part of my meal along with some M&Ms on a paper plate on my lap as I sat in the lawn chair. I'd finished my main meal and was eating some of the M&Ms when one raccoon ambled over to me in a non-threatening manner. Now here's the incredible part. The raccoon reached me, settled onto its hind legs so that it stood taller, and then took hold of my pant leg and tugged gently, if not politely, on it with one paw. As I leaned forward, it reached up with its other paw to slightly tip the plate so it could see what was on the plate, released my pant leg and selected one M&M, and then popped it into its mouth before turning to walk away just as peacefully.

We never had any trouble from any of the raccoons which sometimes numbered as many as five at a time. They respected us and we didn't try to touch them or otherwise interfere with them. Of course, there's another story about someone who did, but that's for another posting.

2006-09-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

I knew I could be quiet when walking, but I didn't expect to find myself walking up to a rabbit as close as a few feet (not more than four) before it realized I was there and scampered off at full speed. It happened today. I went out to the ponds to give the fish their evening meal. I was standing there and called out to the frogs to see if any would show themselves. It was as I turned to feed the other pond that a rabbit bolted from between the two ponds and ran behind a shed to hide. Of course, I didn't pursue it. I had fish to feed. Still, I thought it was interesting that I could still move that silently.

In the past, I've managed to walk up to possums, lizards, raccoons, and birds. Sometimes they were feeding and not watching around them. Other times, I know that they were already aware that I wouldn't bother them.

On one occasion years ago, I had put some food out in the yard for our cats. A raccoon had taken to eating from their dishes if none of them were around at the time. I was still standing nearby to see if any of the cats would show up that early when a raccoon climbed over the chain link fence from the woods that border our back yard. It's interesting watching them do that as they climb up with their head facing the top of the fence and they climb down with their head facing the ground. Me? I just stood there watching because it was so intriguing.

Anyway, the raccoon finally realized that I was there when it was about fifteen feet away. It froze and was about to turn when I gained its confidence by doing something that suddenly struck me as non-threatening. I reached up with one hand and scratched at my head. It almost instantly changed its mind and resumed walking to the dish where it ate and occasionally looked up at me to see if I was going to threaten it at all.

After that first encounter, that raccoon showed no more fear of me and would enter the yard even if it saw me. I'll relate some more true raccoon encounters later. They seem incredible to me now just as much as they seemed that way when they happened.

2006-09-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

While feeding the fish today in the ponds, I glanced about to see if any of the frogs were there even though it was raining steadily and cold. Turns out one frog was braving the weather, but he had a good location that protected him fairly well. He was in between the cattail plant and that protected him from the rain. He was one of the frogs used to seeing me, so it didn't bother him at all that I was within two feet of him. In fact, sometimes it seems like they take note of my presence by nodding once before resuming their nearly immobile position in order to grab an unwary bug.

Based on a number of observations of various animals, I believe many of them are a lot smarter than they're given credit for.

2006-09-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

The weather here has turned quite cool. The fish in the ponds are swimming deeper in response to the temperature. As well, I haven't seen the frogs though it's not yet that cool that they'd seek out a burrow.

It's supposed to warm up considerably this coming weekend, so the fish and frogs will probably be out in force then doing their best to prepare for the winter. When cold weather sets in, I'll probably post here only when something really interesting occurs or try to do so at least once a month until the spring returns.

2006-09-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had a Racerunner run right past me as I cleaned out a litter box while the cats were allowed out to play in the yard. I was a bit surprised that he hadn't been killed by them since they dearly love to catch things. Of course, he might not have been in the enclosed porch for long.

Anyway, I checked the tiny pond to see how the tadpoles were doing. Couldn't spot any of them, so I'm hoping that they're out hopping about since there weren't any dead bodies stirred up when I added water to the tub.

It was hot enough yesterday that one of the frogs was lying on the rim of his pond in the shade with his arms and legs drooping down on both sides. He was clearly alive, but looked like he was tired. He's probably the same one I accidentally dumped some dirt on. What happened was I was moving stuff in the shed when I spotted two ugly crickets in a bucket. At the time, I didn't realize there was just a bit of loose dirt in it as well. Barely enough to fill a thimble, but still enough to see once it was poured out. However, at the time, it was merely a thin layer of dirt and dust when I spotted the two crickets and thought that the frogs might like hunting them in the water lily plant, so I carried the bucket there and poured them out. That's when I finally spotted the dirt and then noticed also that somehow I'd picked the exact spot to pour that was directly over one frog. I figure he caught one of the crickets because he was busy swallowing though it appeared to me that he didn't really care for the dusting he received because he hunched down slightly.

Ugly crickets, by the way, are the kind that tend to be found in dark places. I call them that because the first time I tossed one to the frogs, they ignored it as if it was too ugly to eat. But they did eat it eventually after seeing it move about for several minutes. However, a normal looking cricket would be eaten almost immediately in most cases.

Back to the ponds. I checked on the new tadpoles in the left hand pond. They seem to be doing well. They're working over the algae on the side of the pond in one corner where there's plenty of vegetation to protect them. I doubt though if they'll make it unless the weather remains favorable to them through the end of October. Here's hoping.

2006-09-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today didn't have too much to report. We had a rabbit enjoy some of the clover in the yard while a squirrel searched the ground a few feet away for seed that fell from the bird feeder.

More grasshoppers appeared and several became invited dinner guests. Interestingly enough, one frog dove into the water when my hand came too close to him while trying to dislodge a grasshopper from it for him to eat. However, he was a sly frog. He circled under water and did a Jaws number on the grasshopper just as it reached the side of the pond to climb out. It was almost like the opening scene in Jaws when the frog surfaced and leaped at the grasshopper to yank it under the water. Then he swam away with it and surfaced a short distance away to finish gobbling it down.

Okay, cue the music. ;)

2006-09-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

The storms that Ernesto sent in from the coast didn't do too much to the yard. A few small limbs from trees were torn loose by the heavy rain and wind, but those didn't strike anything.

On the other hand, one of the mosquito fish swam or was swept out of one pond by the heavy rain which brought all of the ponds up to the rim and past. So, we had that one fish lost when the water subsided and he was caught outside the pond. Otherwise, all of the other fish and tadpoles and frogs appear to have survived.

Anyway, I'll know more when I pick up in the yard tomorrow. Right now, the ground is too soggy to go about the yard re-staking some of the plants.

2006-08-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we have another Racerunner living in the front yard where there's just one pond. I'll try to post a photo of it eventually.

Today, I spotted a few grasshoppers in the garden within easy reach because they were on some sort of plant that my wife chose not to weed from the bed and it's reached about 7 feet in height. I caught two grasshoppers, one at a time of course, and carried those to the backyard. One frog was in the tiny pond inside the mass of cattails the pond was meant to hold. The moment he spotted the grasshopper, he turned about so he could view it directly and watched for further movement. I was reaching for a stick to prod the grasshopper when the frog struck. It was all over for that grasshopper in an instant.

Then I walked back, caught the second grasshopper and returned to the right hand pond. The frog spotted the grasshopper and leaped at it just as the grasshopper leaped. The grasshopper managed to get out of the pond, so I went over to catch it again. Didn't take but a couple of tries to recapture it. Then I went back to the pond to see that the frog had taken up position on one of the landscape timbers. I managed to toss the grasshopper down, but again it leaped before the frog got lined up. Again, I caught the grasshopper. By now, the frog was expecting his grasshopper. The third time, the grasshopper landed on a piece of stem beside the landscape timber when it tossed it in the frog's direction. However, the frog just watched as I grabbed the stem and moved it into striking range, but still no reaction. So, I managed to flip the grasshopper onto the timber right beside the frog. Zing! The frog whipped around and struck. There was no escape that time for the grasshopper.

Fortunately, frogs seem to like grasshoppers. They also like crickets, but not all crickets. Some I refer to as ugly crickets seem to be ignored by all but the hungriest of frogs.

2006-08-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

I figured it was about time that I uploaded a picture of the backyard ponds. This was made with an inexpensive (okay, cheap) nineteen dollar digital camera I purchased at Walmart. At the lower center is the tiny pond that's just barely larger than a wash tub. The pole to its right is for a bird feeder which can be seen at the upper right of the photo. Directly behind that pole is what we call our right hand pond. In the upper left of the photo is what we call our left hand pond. As can be seen, the tiny pond is at ground level. The other two are terraced so they're above ground level. If you look closely at the left hand pond, you can make out the 2x4 that I mention later. By the way, the white object at the left side is a large swing so we can sit and relax.

We've since discovered another batch of tadpoles in the tiny pond. These have actually reached the stage of having legs. Most have two and some already have all four. Additionally, they're much larger than the two earlier batches that perished.

We also spotted another batch of frog eggs in one of the larger backyard ponds. Just yesterday, I noticed those had hatched and the tadpoles were doing well. They were sticking to the dense water plants which was keeping them well away from the intake on the submersible pump that circulates the water to keep it aerated and somewhat fresh for the fish. As well, the fish have fared well, too. The tadpoles appeared to be vastly outnumbered in the foliage by tiny newborn fish.

Fortunately, an idea I tried worked well. I reasoned that placing a 2x4 across the center would prevent the water lily from moving toward the submerged pump because some of its stems reached up several inches above the water, enough that they would bring the overall plant to a halt and not let it drift close enough to clog the pump. With the water lily working to create a dam, the other plants that didn't have high rising stems would bump up against the back side of the water lily and be held in place. That created a dense mass of plants that the newborn fish and tadpoles have found hospitable to their survival. I used this same idea in the other large pond and in the pond in the front yard where it appears to work just as well.

Another species of lizard is now hanging around the backyard ponds. This one has brown lines instead of blue like the others. I believe it's probably an Eastern Six-lined Racerunner.

Anyway, that brings the background up to date. From now on, I'll be posting only when there's something to report. Hopefully, that won't be too long between reports.

2006-08-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

With the coming of another spring, we've reached this year. Essentially, we put in a fourth pond that was barely larger than a wash tub so my wife could grow some cattails, but without fish. Of course, that led to mosquitoes taking it over. We tried putting in the little mosquito donuts, but they seemed to thrive despite those.

As well, a frog found that pond. In fact, several did and that led to mating fights and such. Eventually, we saw a mass of eggs and those eventually hatched, but something caused a slick on the water surface and they all perished. Because of the loss, we added water to make the slick overflow out of the tub. Later, the frogs tried again but the same darn slick came around once more to wipe out the second batch of tadpoles. Again, we flooded the tub to make the water more hospitable.

At this point, I also had the idea that I could dip the mosquitoes out since they were so used to not being hunted by anything that they concentrated in large batches. It turned out I was right. I used a container that had a drink mix in it before. I just set it down sideways in the water and let the slight current it created just suck in those mosquitoes. Then I walked over to the ponds with the mosquito fish and gave them a treat. After doing this for several days, the population of mosquito larva was significantly reduced and the mosquito fish were congregating at feeding time where I poured in the larva for their next meal.

Anyway, to make matters worse, we soon found our yard infested with fleas. We're not certain how we came to have those, but we treated the yard three times before we managed to get those back under control while being extra careful around all the ponds. In the meantime, we discovered a third batch of tadpoles had somehow made it after all in the tub and a few had reached leg stage. We're watching them carefully to give them a fair chance of making it to become frogs.

As well, we've discovered the presence of some small lizards living near our ponds now. They're either 5-line or 6-line skinks. Fast as blazes and pretty to observe.

2006-08-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well, that winter passed and we could only hope that the little goldfish in the front yard pond fared well. We also had a scare because we spotted our first snake in the front flower bed and he was coming out of the little pond. I got a good look at him and checked him out on the Internet to find out that he was non-poisonous, but liked fish. With no sighting of little Redhead as he was called, we feared that he'd been eaten.

Not only did we have the snake, but we also had our first turtle show up. He was in the pond and couldn't get out because of the slick plastic side of the pond and the water level was too low for him to get a grip on the outer edge to pull himself out. However, I caught him quite easily and took him inside the house, placed him in a cardboard box, logged onto the Internet, and researched him. Turned out he was somewhat rare and endangered, so I carried him back outside and released him into the garden.

Then we had our third visitor to the little front yard pond. Our first frog showed up and he appeared to be having a good time. As well, he had lost part of one front leg, so he seemed to like the fact that there was no competition for that pond. He quickly adapted to our walking by to get to the cars and to reach the gate to check on the mailbox. Of course, that was helped along because he was so near to the house that he started getting all the prime crickets that I had to catch that managed to get inside the house.

It was several weeks before we finally caught sight of Redhead. He was alive, the snake and the turtle had both missed him. Also, he was bigger than before. He'd put on nearly an inch in length and was considerably thicker like he'd been working on weights during the winter instead of goofing off.

Sadly, about a month after our three-legged frog showed up, he left and we didn't see him for several days. When we did, it was when we drove out from the house and used a different road than usual. Unfortunately, the three-legged frog had been run over on that other street. We stopped to take a look to see if it was him. It was and he'd been dead for several days as his body was dry and stiff by then as well as very flat.

The snake and the turtle didn't return at all that summer and we were glad that we didn't spot either of them as roadkill.

Out in the back yard, the other two ponds were doing well, but we had to clean those because of the muck that was gathering from having eleven goldfish in them along with about 20 or 30 mosquito fish in each pond.

Later in the summer, we returned home to find that the pump from the front yard pond had been smashed and then tossed back into the pond. Unfortunately, the same vandal was using our solar lights in the front yard as footballs. We found some of those kicked apart and others were stolen and tossed into ditches on one road for as far as about three blocks. We dealt with that by replacing the plastic pegs with short pieces of rebar to anchor the solar lights into the ground. That seemed to stop the kicking of the lights. Of course, calling the cops might have also helped though we really didn't see any increase in patrols on our street. On the bright side, none of the fish were harmed or stolen though I had to purchase a new pump for the one pond.

When the fall arrived at last, we decided not to put the frames with plastic sheeting on them since we had to replace the plastic and the wind tended to knock over the slightly taller frames a bit too often. So, we went back to letting the ponds go through the winter just as the first one had the first couple of years we had a pond.

2006-08-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

The following summer turned out to be interesting in several ways. First off, we discovered a new kind of tadpole that was five times as large as what we saw before. There weren't nearly as many as before, but they made up for it in size. Because of that, they were easy to observe during the summer, but unlike the others they didn't become frogs or toads before fall arrived. Instead, they were still tadpoles, so I surmised that it took them longer to change. Like the other tadpoles we'd seen before, they liked fish flakes so we put extra in the pond where they were. They'd entertain us by chewing down the flakes around the edge until the last of it disappeared into their mouths. In fact, they got to recognizing the schedule just like the fish and would show up in their portion of the pond at meal times.

Besides the large tadpoles, something more happened, but we wouldn't know about that until the following year. Anyway, because of the giant tadpoles, we used our winterizing frames once more. It was probably a good idea since it protected the tadpoles from freezing.

With the following spring, we soon discovered what other event had happened. It turned out that our goldfish had bred and produced babies of which at least six survived. We had no idea how many might have hatched, but we knew we had new fish in the pond where we found them simply because they bore the markings of the adult fish in that pond and we hadn't purchased any new fish for it.

Not long after the spring arrived, the large tadpoles finally began to sprout their legs. Sadly, not all of them reached that stage. Easily ten or twenty succumbed to drowning during the winter because they strayed too close to the filter on the submerged pump and became trapped. Still, most of them managed to avoid that. By the end of that spring, they were sitting around with the older frogs that came out of hibernation. By then we knew that some of them had dug a hole beside the pond and were burrowing down beneath it to escape the cold. By the way, some of the frogs clearly remembered us. They showed no initial fear and just remained sitting when we approached.

It was also about this time that we moved the smallest of the three ponds to the front yard where it graced a front flower bed quite nicely. Just before the end of the year, I purchased a very small goldfish with red coloring on his head and a silver body for the small front yard pond. For the last few weeks before fall and cold set in, we caught sight of Redhead, as I called him, only three or four times. Then we just didn't see him at all even though we dutifully put flakes in the pond every day.

2006-08-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

After using the same frames for two years, I realized that the angle for rain drainage wasn't steep enough. Also, I had to bend down and lift the frame in order to toss food in for the fish, so I went to work building a taller set of frames for what was now three ponds. Also, my wife and I decided to raise two ponds by terracing them so we wouldn't have to bend down so much. However, we had new visitors.

After the summer the toads visited and left their eggs, frogs joined in, but some chose to stay. Most of the frogs, which numbered sometimes as many as nine and represented leopard frogs, tree frogs, and green frogs, tended to jump in the water upon our approach. However, they soon got used to us and started to just stand their ground or lilypad after a few days.

Then we had something unexpected happen. Our indoor cats were catching crickets and dropping those in their water bowl. We accused them of flavoring their water, but in order to clean the dishes and refill those, I had to catch the crickets. Of course, the first idea that came to mind was to take one out to the ponds to see if the frogs would like a cricket.

Well, of course, they would, particularly the green frogs. In fact, after several such presents, we actually had one green frog hop off his lilypad into the water, swim to the edge, and hop out onto the landscaped timber rim where he then then waited for his treat. In fact, it didn't matter to him what time it was. If one of the family approached, he'd get out to see if he would get a free goody. We discovered real quickly that frogs liked crickets, lightning bugs, and especially earthworms. By the way, it was entertaining to see a frog after he gobbled down a lightning bug because those often lit up when eaten. For up to a half-minute, the frog would invariably be illuminated from the inside like a green x-ray.

Of course, summer eventually ended and the new frames went into place. Sure enough, some of the frogs remained inside the warm confines of the larger protective tents. Also, I discovered that they created a burrow on one side of one pond where most of them took refuge when it got too cold to remain out and there weren't enough bugs for them to eat daily. However, on really warm days during the winter, they did come out for a few hours. In the meantime, the fish were doing well despite the fact that someone came into the yard during the summer to steal five of the fish which had finally reached lengths of eight inches.

2006-08-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

Whether the plastic covers helped is debatable, but the plants seemed to come back sooner and were soon blooming. This was nice especially since most of the plants in our yard always bloomed after others of the same kind were blooming in other yards around us. We still haven't figured that out yet.

More importantly, we had our first visitors. We had some toads dallying about in one pond. I'd never seen that many toads at one time engaged in the act of laying eggs across the plants in the water. Of course, that gave us a good reason to check on the pond every day though we were feeding the fish every day anyway. Still, it was a good excuse to check several times each day and eventually there were tadpoles in the thousands.

By the end of the summer, the tadpoles had become tiny toads just barely the size of a pea. Most got out of the pond by climbing the plants and moving out onto the stems and leaves to reach the dirt and then make their way into the yard and head in every direction though I suspect most headed for the forest just behind our yard because next to it is a swamp.

So, now we had fish and plants along with visiting toads who left us presents, but it was about time for fall and winter to revisit, so I readied the frames with fresh plastic because it was just barely good enough to last through the winter, but not that and storage through the summer.

2006-08-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

When winter came around, I decided that it might be too cold for the goldfish, so I put together a frame made of 2x4s that was shaped somewhat like a lean-to. I then used clear plastic to cover the frame and draped it down to the ground. The skirting that touched the ground was loose so a cat that had adopted us could get to the water since he liked to drink from the ponds. The loosness also made it possible for me to lift the skirting and toss in fish flakes during the winter though I now believe that the fish ate very little.

Suffice it to say, the fish handled the winter quite well. We couldn't see them but once in awhile but we didn't go outside much to begin with since it was cold. I do know that the plastic kept out the leaves that landed in the ponds before and cut down on the cleaning so that the pond wouldn't become a mess of rotting leaves. It also insulated the ponds quite well. On one pond the plastic drooped into the pond and the water froze where the plastic touched, but the other ponds remained ice free.

As far as the plants were concerned, some thrived in the hot house conditions the plastic provided and others didn't. We did gather green peppers from some plants around the edge of the pond that got covered with the pond until almost December before the plants succumbed.

2006-08-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

For most of the first year, the one single pond we had put in place was nice and worked well. The fish survived to the following year, the pump didn't break down, and we didn't have anymore floods. We kept the grass out of the enclosed area we landscaped around the pond with white gravel and landscape timbers stacked and nailed together two-high. Somehow, we even managed to put down a good foundation that very few weeds managed to infiltrate. I guess there's something to be said for placing a layer of plastic and a thick layer of newspaper on the ground before adding clay followed by the gravel.

However, my wife wanted another pond away from the house. So, we dug in another section with the intent of putting in a pond using old swimming pool liner to make a much larger pond. However, the liner wasn't capable of standing up to the curvature or size we wanted. Concluding that the liner was thicker than what was being sold locally for that purpose, we decided to get another of the artificial ponds, though larger. We had enough area dug out and placed the pond there.

In a discussion with my wife, we concluded that it would be nice if the ponds were near each other to create a complementary effect, so we moved the other pond despite the fact that it was established and doing well. As well, by then my wife had decided she wanted to have pretty fish in the ponds. Our solution was to purchase some feeder goldfish. My reasoning was this. Goldfish are carp and they can weather cold water unlike anything else available to us. As well, they're inexpensive and if they fail, we wouldn't be out a lot on expenses. So, for six cents each, we bought a dozen and put 8 in the larger pond and four in the littler pond.

As was expected, because feeder goldfish aren't very healthy to begin with, not all of them survived, but some did and they grew to become beautiful fish. However, we didn't realize just how much space they'd need and bought replacements until we had a full dozen in the large pond. We soon realized when we found the fish floundering for air one day. That's when we realized that even with aeration the pond couldn't support that many large fish. Since we couldn't just let the fish die, we bought a third pond almost as large as the first and moved some of the fish from each pond to the new pond. Of course, that brought new problems. Some of the fish were strangers to the others and they didn't get along. We actually had one chased out of the pond and had to transfer that one to another pond.

2006-07-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

My wife wanted some water plants in the yard, so when she saw the artificial ponds available at hardware stores and some other places, she said she wanted one. Of course, I saw one problem in that it would be a haven for mosquitoes, so I insisted that some fish be put in the pond. With that compromise in place, we began this epic adventure just over a decade ago.

The pond wasn't very large, but it sufficed to put some plants in. Of course, we also had to invest in a few other things such as a submersible pump so we could force the water to spray up in a decorative fountain that would help aerate the water for the fish and plants.

As matters went, we found an inexpensive pump for about ten bucks. It worked well though we discovered we also needed a cinder block to place in the pond so the rigid tube on the pump could actually reach the surface. That would have been about three bucks more, but we had several of those left over from other projects. My wife selected some water lilies and I went about catching the fish we would need.

Just across the street is a drainage ditch that I knew contained fish. They weren't fancy, but I knew they could survive a Virginia winter especially since the stream in the ditch was at most about six inches deep. Maybe some other spots were deeper, but in many places it was often dry during some parts of the year. I called them mosquito fish and discovered that was actually their name. Evidently, they are murder on mosquitoes. Catching a few of them took about ten or fifteen minutes. When I left, I knew I had two kinds of fish. One had spots on its tail and the other was the dreaded mosquito fish.

I still don't know for certain what the other fish was, but both survived quite well in the pond and to my surprise, both multiplied. Though we could see the mosquito fish because they frequented the surface, the other fish kept to the depths. We discovered there were more after a particularly bad storm that brought in enough rain to actually flood parts of Petersburg, Virginia. In fact, the flood waters reached the edge of our pond just barely enough to flood over on one side. Of course, the bad news was that meant the fish could escape and many did. However, the bad news for the fish was that the pond was surrounded by white decorative gravel and a border of neatly nailed landscape timbers. When the water receded, many of them didn't follow the water and were trapped by the landscape timbers. Of course, when the water got down to the gravel, they tried to squeeze in between the gravel to stay alive because they had no choice. Fortunately, I managed to rescue many of them and get them back into the pond which I had also lowered using a bucket so it wouldn't let them out again into the gravel.

Anyway, that was basically the start and it's been worth the work because my wife is proud of her water plants and our fish. Of course, there was more to come. I'll try to post here every few days to bring everyone up to speed on what happened during the past decade.