Tag: Pond

Picture of the Day for April 21, 2014

According to the frogs, spring has finally arrived as they have been croaking up a storm. It is amazing how a tiny frog an inch long can make a noise that carries so far. I was expecting to find some big frogs making the ruckus down at the pond and it with so many singing, it was hard to find the individual noise makers, especially when I discovered most of them were little critters who double their width when they ‘croak’ and their vocal sac distends outward.

All the noise in the spring is to attract females and it is said that female frogs prefer males that produce sounds of greater intensity and lower frequency, attributes that stand out in a crowd. The rationale for this is thought to be that by demonstrating his prowess, the male shows his fitness to produce superior offspring. I heard a large range of sounds and some very high pitched ones that hurt my ears so hopefully the females will hurry up and pick their mate so the noise level goes down.

Click on the play button to hear the frog choir at the pond!

Noisy Frog

Noisy Frog

Picture of the Day for April 17, 2014

I am having trouble finding any color this spring as there are no flowers blooming yet, even if I could find them under the snow. About the only color I can find are some leaves from last year which are under the water in the pond. At least the melting snow has filled the pond with clear water so you can see deep into the pond to where the leaf was resting on last year’s cattail leaves.

The refilled pond also had visitors the other day as a pair of mallards and a pair of wood ducks were enjoying a swim but I didn’t try to get pictures of them as I wanted the wood ducks to nest in the duck house.

Color Under the Water

Color Under the Water

Picture of the Day for April 11, 2014

Abundant snowfall did allow my pond to fill up this spring with the melting snow and there are a few snow drifts left to remind us of the long winter. But the tree swallows have arrived today and I saw a butterfly too, although no frogs singing the spring chorus yet nor any tadpoles swimming in the pond. Just a few water beetles swimming in the cold pond water. Update : heard a couple of frogs late this afternoon for a few minutes in the warmest part of the day.

Refilled Pond

Refilled Pond

Picture of the Day for April 6, 2014

Yesterday I saw a lone trumpeter swan flying low by my place and it was checking out my pond but continued to fly by since my pond was totally ice covered yet. Other places reported their arrival yesterday, although the southern part of the state already seen their arrival last month, even if not a lot of open water for them then.

Course it is hard to get a picture when both heads are up when they are foraging for food but when they are in sync, they both have water running off their noses.

Trumpeter Swans

Trumpeter Swans

Picture of the Day for August 9, 2013

When I walked down to the pond this week, I scared a frog and it hopped from the shore into the water. Walking closer to the edge of the pond in an attempt to see the frog, I heard a bigger slash and the next thing I knew, a green heron was flying up with a frog in its beak. So my curiosity caused the death of a frog but some baby herons probably enjoyed a frog leg supper.

At least this frog was smart floating out in the middle of the pond since the green heron stays on the shore line.

Floating Frog

Floating Frog

Picture of the Day for July 15, 2013

Last night I took my cat for a walk down by the pond and he was busy trying to catch frogs, tadpoles and dragonflies. One frog was pretty smart and jut stayed perched on a floating cattail in the water instead of staying by the shore like the other frogs who would have to jump back into the water on the next loop my cat made around the pond.

When approached, green frogs will typically leap into the safety of the water while letting out a loud cry. Hence, the old nickname ‘the screaming frog’. Their normal call is explosive, prolonged, and low-pitched producing a twang similar to the sound of plucking the bass string of a banjo, usually given as a single note, but sometimes repeated several times. Usually I see the ripples in the water after their croak and spot them that way more than the sound.

Northern green frogs will eat any living things they can capture and swallow and are opportunistic feeders, who normally sit patiently in the water or close to shore and wait for prey. Apparently they couldn’t swallow my cat since he passed by several times without being eaten.

My pond is always full of tadpoles and now I know why since after the eggs hatch in 3 to 7 days, the green frog tadpoles take 2 to 22 months to metamorphosis into full grown frogs. And since there were so many in my pond that my cat had to try to catch, he was a rather muddy cat and I refused to carry him home so he wasn’t allowed to play that ‘I have a broken leg and can’t walk’ trick last night.

Perched Green Frog

Perched Green Frog

Picture of the Day for July 6, 2013

My pond some times has a Green Heron as a frequent visitor and on occasion, the larger Great Blue Heron visits and leaves foot prints on the pond floor several feet away from the shore. Great blue herons are waders and expert fishers. Herons snare their aquatic prey by walking slowly, or standing still for long periods of time and waiting for fish to come within range of their long necks and blade-like bills. The deathblow is delivered with a quick thrust of the sharp bill, and the prey is swallowed whole. Though they are best known as fishers, mice constitute a large part of their diet, and they also eat insects and other small creatures.

Great Blue Herons’ size (3.2 to 4.5 feet) and wide wingspan (5.5 to 6.6 feet) make them a joy to see in flight. They can cruise at some 20 to 30 miles an hour as they curl their neck into an S shape for a more aerodynamic flight profile. Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share.

Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this “powder down” with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. Applying the powder to their underparts protects their feathers against the slime and oils of swamps.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron