Several frogs in my pond had a nice solution to the warm summer day by floating in the water.
Just Floating
Picture of the Day for April 8, 2016
The weather has been rather fickle this morning as one moment it is dark, then the sun pops out, and the next minute it is snowing. While I didn’t spot any ducks in this pond when I drove by earlier in the week, my pond has been revolving door for ducks with mallards, hooded merganser and wood ducks. This morning the pair of mallards was sharing the pond with two pairs of wood ducks. On the edge of the pond, robins and blackbird were bopping on the grass. But that wasn’t all on the edge of the pond, as a stray black cat was eyeing up a roasted duck dinner, although he gave up after a while since the ducks were teasing him by swimming around pond staying out of reach.
Springtime Pond
Picture of the Day for March 29, 2016
Yesterday I heard the first frogs of spring, but they are not the deep sounding bull frogs or other larger species. Instead they are tiny little frogs, although they produce a loud noise, they are often less than an one inch long so they are very hard to find unless you see the water ripping as they make their music. On a warm night, the chorus of Spring Peeper carries on the air, as they emerge to feed and sing. They are among the first frogs in the regions to call in the spring and as their name suggests, their high-pitched call similar to that of a young chicken.
Spotting the Spring Peeper
Picture of the Day for March 24, 2016
It is not often for my small pond to have open water when there is a foot of snow on the ground, but the spring snow storm makes it look more like winter again than spring. Hopefully the snow will melt quickly as there was some bluebirds checking out some of the birdhouses in the snow today and the geese stayed mainly in the water instead of wading through the snow.
Springtime Snow at the Pond
Picture of the Day for March 16, 2016
While my pond might have reached ‘ice out’ and is overflowing with the recent rain, some larger lakes and ponds are covered or partially covered in ice.
Ice Not Out Yet
Picture of the Day for March 10, 2016
Although most of the snow has melted, the pond still has some ice on it and when I scared the geese when cleaning the birdhouse, they walked across the ice to the other side of the pond. So I haven’t heard any frogs croaking yet, as the areas where there is open water, it feels rather icy yet.
No Croaking Yet
Picture of the Day for December 13, 2015
In the summer time, a stroll to the pond is a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The lack of snow makes it easy to get to the pond but the water is a little stiff so no frog floating on the surface soaking up the sun and too cold for the dragonflies to dart around.
Stiff Water
Picture of the Day for November 12, 2015
As Yukon Cornelius said in Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, “It isn’t a fit night out for man or beast.” And I think any critter outside last night in the two inches of rain on a chilly night would agree, even water loving critters like frogs.
Trying to Stay Dry
Picture of the Day for October 4, 2015
Every sunset and sunrise is different, although some days they may be very similar without much variation or color, but then other days the light reflects off the clouds to give an red, orange, purple or pink glow to the sky.
A Pink Reflection
Picture of the Day for August 2, 2015
On a warm sunny Sunday, heading to the lake (or a small pond in my case) might be a way to spend the afternoon for some swimming, boating, fishing or just relaxing watching the clouds go by. But since the fish in my small pond are only bait size, I guess I would have go to somewhere to fish or to kayak.
Sunday Afternoon by the Water
