The frog pond awakes

 I hope you aren't tired of the eclipse... I thought about the Crumbly Acres camera, and it shows a bit of our drama. The camera thought it was getting dark and clicked in to night mode! 

eclipse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The birds are coming back. Our bug-eating birds tend to flee south since our bugs lie frozen under the snow. I enjoy the change in seasons. Tidying up for winter, then setting things out for summer. 

With the birds being back, we know the bugs are getting ready. The frog pond is amazing. It is a very busy spot, being a vernal pond. It'll likely dry up over summer. I went down in the sunshine and spotted mosquito larvae, fairy shrimp, just boiling around in the water. I took these photos back when I could manage a micro lens, prior to cataracts. I've a secondary cataract in my left eye. Eventually I'll have to get it done.

The wood frogs are done. This was the last I heard. Maybe I ought to see if I can find any chorus frogs! 

wood frogs Apr 6 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

mosquito larvae from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Fairy shrimp from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It is a dog-eat-dog world!

 

damselfly larvae from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yellow bellied sapsucker! He's banging on the metal, using it as an amplifier to establish territory and attract females.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We've two days of rain on the way. That will help gardens!

These daffodils should bloom today. Maybe. Maybe not in the rain!

Saturday's Critters

Pond life

These are teeny critters! The pond is coming alive:  I love these little creatures: amphipod, AKA: freshwater fairy shrimp.

Mosquito larvae – from my old macro lens days!

Fairy shrimp and mosquito larvae! 

frog pond action from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Cinnamon and I were wetland walking on the shoreline, just beyond the trailcamera. I noticed a yellow-bellied bashing away at the tree. (This is the bird that bangs on the satellite tower to call for a mate!)

yellow-bellied sapsucker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Moving over to the tree, once it had flown, I could see why they call it that! The sap was oozing out of the holes. 

The trailcam tails

Not too far away, the trailcam showed a pregnant doe and her last year's juvenile.

pregnant doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, there is the porcupine!

porcupine from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The wood ducks walk between the frog pond and the wetland. 

wood ducks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Here is the turkey in his splendor. I don't know what triggers him to display. He went by another time, the second part of the video, and did not. His colours are amazing. Hormones on legs!

wild turkey from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Thanks to Eileen for hosting Saturday's Critters # 437!

Cinnamon cat, et al

Caterpillars 

I began the real part of my day downstairs – to do my workout. Cinnamon doesn't like the colder weather, and he was full of beans. I had moved the upstairs caterpillar downstairs for spacial reasons. I had thrown a bunch of cat toys into the box where he is sitting, in order to vacuum. He sat on top of the box, and began throwing the toys onto the floor.  Typical cat!

There was a certain amount of indoor activity. Another chilly day. The top perch is smaller than the other caterpillar, and Cinnamon wanted to snuggle. There was grooming, then biting, then hissing, as 'killer' drove him off her perch. He's such a sweet boy, deferring to her all the time, especially at the food dish.

Walkies at the pond

The frogpond is teeming with life. I tiptoe down for the trailcam cards, switch them out, replace the batteries, if I need to. We are limiting activity around the pond, seeing as wood duck is on her nest, and it's been cold. I don't want to flush her from the nest. It is a busy spot on the trailcams: Saturday Critters.

Mosquito larvae, fairy shrimp, water lice. You have to look closely. 

water slaters or water-lice

I love these little creatures: amphipod,
AKA: freshwater fairy shrimp.

Can you spot the mourning cloak? They are well camouflaged.

The backyard

Green grass, sunshine and my daffodils! Yippee for SPRING!!!!

You Two happened by. So far, so good, no bugs. Once the deerflies come out, we won't see much of the deer. They go down into the forest.

The phoebe are still debating a nest site, I think. I was on the back deck watching the crow's nest, with zoom lens and tripod, and I could hear them chatting under the deck. 

We'll lock that door for the duration, until they settle the nest debate. 

We've been doing take out for a year, almost once a week. I think our restaurants are going to survive.

What is wonderful is that the restaurants have secured non-styrofoam containers. I keep meaning to take photos, so I hauled this out of the can.

Frog pond, forest walk

That was a day. We need to find some laughter. This dude is doing 'pundemics,' and posts photos on instagram.



I cleaned out the birdbath.


Checked my tulips. They are growing, despite their haircuts!



I covered some up, put a pot on top. That worked!



The wood is getting lower. I have a problem if phoebe wants to nest here, again. (Here she was nesting in a previous year.) The high wood pile lets the cats and other critters get up to them. I know Butch raccoon can climb, but it's good to get rid of any potential ladders.

The frog pond is warming up.



You can see lots of critters. There are lots of little wood frog eggs attached to dead leaves and foliage.

pond studies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It looks cold and quiet, but I saw the fairy shrimp, as well as the mosquito larvae.

I love these little creatures: amphipod,
AKA: freshwater fairy shrimp.

Bad news: mosquito larvae!

The wetland



The trailcam isn't picking up too much. Just good old Maggie, with the dislocated ankle.

Maggie from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

In Golden Pond: Pond Studies 301

In the pond things are starting to move about. Spring peeper tadpoles, fairy shrimp, mosquito larva!

I love these little creatures: amphipod,
AKA: freshwater fairy shrimp.

Damselfly adult

The damselfly larvae nailed a fairy shrimp