Thursday, 12 May 2022

Pond tails

We had a busy day yesterday. It made it up to 28 C. and a great day for working outdoors, especially with water. I made the mistake of doing the back lawn, and the clippings ended up in the fountain. I had to take it apart and clean it out. How dumb was that?! It took me three tries, and I requested and received JB's help. It is tricky. 


I put the goldfish outdoors. Is is truly SPRING, YAM! Percy was tricky, as he doesn't fit into the small aquarium net. I used the butterfly net! Showed him! He is about 28 cm (11") from nose to fin tip.


I've still clean up to do indoors, including cleaning out the aquarium pump and tubing. We anticipate 31 C. today. I had to put sunscreen on. 

goldfish from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The frogpond teems with life. It is growing in, but there is lots going on in the water. We're pretty dry this month, I hope all survive. 

Frogpond in May from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🐦Wood ducks

The ducks have eggs! She bolted from the nest so I peeked. I won't look again. She'll lay an egg a day up to about a dozen (6 – 15). It'll take a month for them to hatch.

duck eggs from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The duck is in nest box #3. These are archived photos. The female comes and goes. The male is from a trip to Vancouver in 2014. I can never get that close to our male in the pond. 


Butch

If you listen to it, I think it is Butch raccoon tromping around in the dead leaves. The ducks are on the far right. As I walked down yesterday, I spotted the male wood duck sitting on the fallen tree branch.

 

ducks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Frog pond

Tadpoles! Too many to count. I pointed them out, just for fun. I found a page on tadpole ID!

 

The wee tadpoles, I think they are the wood frog tadpoles, are both predator and prey.

new tadpoles from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.


They have to be on the watch for snakes, turtles, and dragonfly nymphs. If you watch the video, you can see mosquito larvae, and all sorts of bugs flicking around.


dragonfly nymph from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

11 comments:

Tom said...

...there's always something going on at your place.

Barbara Rogers said...

Wonderful to see nature just going about her business of propagating away! It reminds me of when I would catch tadpoles and bring them home in a jar...and I don't remember (fortunately) what ever happened to them. We lived in an apartment on the second floor...not much help for frogs!

Penelope Notes said...

The ornate tiered water fountain is fitting for the cobbled streets of ancient Rome. Wow … an 11 inch goldfish! How wonderful to be in a place where you can immerse yourself so fully in the natural world.

Divers and Sundry said...

I enjoyed the videos :) We have parks close-by with environments like this, and I need to go there to see tadpoles and duck eggs. My space is even too small for an outdoor goldfish pond, but the closest park has koi galore. It must be a pleasure to have nature scenes like this right _there_ :)

Anvilcloud said...

It’s hot again, but it was quite chilly out very early this morning.

RedPat said...

You are a lot warmer than we are down here. Lots going on at your place.

Angie said...

Jenn - our spring seems to be slow in coming, but I know that is really not true. I have looked back at my garden journals, and it is roughly on track! I just want it to come quicker! Love those duck eggs!

DUTA said...

The golden fish moving at the sound of the water, and the duck in the nest box - how very cute!

eileeninmd said...

Hello,
It is great to see the pond life, the fish are pretty. I love the wood duck.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Those tadpoles sure are fun to see and I love the duck in the box! You get the best nature photos where you live!

Anu said...

Hello. I’m a little jealous that you have so many different animals in your yard and near your home.
Take care!