Monday 22 July 2013

Trouble in the goldfish pond!

The pond is working well
Water lilies have HUGE leaves!
I love my pond. For my regular readers, you know I've worked hard; first to dig it, then to plug the holes, thanks to the dang field mice.

I regularly have to take the pump out and clean it. Daisy is my supervisor.

 The fish seem quite happy. The alewives (AKA shiners) have mated with the goldfish, and I have some interesting hybrids. Then, in the height of summer, the frogs move in from the wetland ponds.
Fuzzy, but you get an idea
of the goldfish sizes and the hybrids
As I fill the pond,
goldfish nip away at the algae
A fine specimen –the size of my hand!
Lo and behold, Jeremiah bullfrog came back this week. He couldn't have been in the pond more than an hour, when I spotted him. I walked by, and saw something hopping towards the pond. It was a wee leopard frog. It leapt into the pond, and Jeremiah hopped once, and swallowed it whole! We shall see how many wee goldfish it eats up. They lasted through his appetite last year. We shall just see!

You can see the legs sticking out of its mouth, on its left.


Now he lies in wait...
FIne little fellow
If you look you can see the leopard frog
just beyond Daisy's tail

My little helper!
She likes to watch the fish,
and take a drink!

I transplanted swamp vegetation,
now blooming.
Hard to get my work done,
with my little supervisor!

The oldest fish are about 8" long

Peer under the lily pad leaf, left of the flower,
Jeremiah is lying in wait in the shade!

A busy place

These are the yearlings

She is oblivious to the frog on the left of her!


13 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Oh, I guess that's Nature, but Jeremiah eating a little frog sounds rather cannibalistic to me.
Super photos, Jenn. I love your little helper!
K

Kay L. Davies said...

PS
Your sidebar reminded me...a small snake slithered across the past ahead of me when we were stopped to take photos at Skaha Lake. I thought of you, and I didn't scream. I think that's progress for me, and it's only taken 60-some years.
K

Anonymous said...

I enjoy my visits here so much, amazing photos, beautiful pond!

Reader Wil said...

What a wonderful post, Jennifer! You are very skillful to dig a pond and keep it in such a good condition. You have at least one good helper!

Red said...

You are being rewarded for all the hard work you did to make the pond. Getting to see a frog in action is pretty neat.

DeniseinVA said...

What a lovely post. A great looking pond you have there and so many fish. I loved the look of the frog, never seen one like him before. I would say you have a couple of cute helpers there too.

eileeninmd said...

Cool post, Jen! I love the pond, frog and the fish! Great post, have a happy week!

Dana said...

What a wonderful way to stay connected to nature. :)

Anonymous said...

What a lovely pond!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Life -- in all its stages -- is going on in your beautiful pond! Lovely. All your work is paying off.

Anonymous said...

Loved the goldfish and hybrids, but the frogs I can do without. Lol.

Unknown said...

Ah this is the frog you were talking about on google circles! Am getting a better look at him now:) Wow, all the work you do for your pond, but it's worth for the waterlilies, eh? Very pretty!

Kay said...

What a lot of fun to have your own little pond with those beautiful creatures.