Reflections from Crumbly Acres: eastern newt

Yay, Spring. The frog pond is a teeming, busy place. Daisy and I go down and sit. last night the temperature went down to 0 C., mind you. The May sun will warm things up, though.

Before I went down, I watched hubby with 'Lil Orphan Annie', who appears to have a tumour on her face. He could empathise!

As I approached the pond, I spotted a male Wood duck. I told Daisy to slow down to let me grab a photo before she rushed onto her dock. She did! She loves the dock, she lets me know when she sees something. She'll suddenly sit up, and stare. Eagle-eyed Daisy spotted some snakes on the fallen tree.

The first adult bullfrog I've seen all year. The lone Chorus frog continues to sing. This water snake sat and watched me carefully.

There were, at least, 3 water snakes. I couldn't help but feel some heebee-jeebies, with the sound track of Jaws running through my mind as this one approached me. I was sitting on the dock, with the zoom lens, HOWEVER!

I spotted a tadpole, and the water striders are out. Then, a red eft in the water. These are the juvenile stage of the Eastern newt.

Red eft, found in a previous year, 2012, in the veggie garden! Red Eft in the garden and pond It is a teenager!

Back up at the house, hubby was back from a 'beer run.'

Bleeding hearts are blooming, as is my Orchid cactus. I can expect a dozen blooms. I put it outside for the hummingbird, which should be here any moment.