Pond Life

Looks like we will have tadpoles in the pond this year--*toad* tadpoles--those cute, little black ones I remember from my youth.  :)

Amazing to stumble upon the act of procreation itself! 

Add caption

Pond Surprise!

Spring has sprung...for about a month,but things are really starting to pop now after plenty of rain, we now have lots of sun and temperatures around 70.  I have been taking the usual photographs of wildflowers and birds (but not posting them, unfortunately).  The bluebirds' eggs have likely hatched--I saw the female out...but have not yet checked the nestbox.  Tree swallows have returned...and the chickadees are taking nesting materials into their chosen box.  Birds abound...and I am enjoying taking shots of them in nature, not just coming near the house for sunflower seeds.

Being home, I have walked my trails most days...I jump from project to project...and now regular maintenance like mowing.  I visit the pond, or, at least, walk past it a few times a day.  The frogs still get startled and dive underwater.

Today, I was standing on the lower edge where I am closer to the water's surface...when I saw them.  At first,I assumed they were tadpoles, even though my mind immediately told me they were fish.  I didn't want to get my hopes up.

Fish fry...babies.  I was shocked, but thrilled to see them.  Now, where did they come from...and what kind are they?  The most likely answer is they are descendants of the minnows I put in that I purchased from a bait shop.  I was almost certain they all had died over the first two or three days after I put them in.  I did acclimate them first...but I figured they were for bait and were likely not very hardy having been raised crowded together (yet with plenty of oxygenated water)...or, my water did not have high enough oxygen for them despite the recirculating pump.  I counted the bodies floating to the surface...and I guess it is possible that 2 or even a few survived.   This seems most likely.  The other possibility is that they were brought here as eggs stalk to a bird visiting another pond.

Time will tell if they mature, and I can identify them.  Hopefully, I have a record of the fish I added.

I had wanted black-nosed dace which my dentist recommended, but the bait shop didnt carry them.  When the quarantine is lifted, and social distancing is no longer an issue, my dentist is supposed to share some black-nosed dace and some bluegills with me (I guess he never got around to it last year).

Originally, I didnt plan on adding fish, but I have always loved watching them ate the various bodies of water I have visited where I could see them.  They provide so much added interest...and another step in the food web--if they attract king fishers and/or herons, so be it.   When digging out the pond, I created a ledge or two for fish to hide and evade predators.   I just hope there can be a balance.

I am thrilled to have them.  I hope I can watch them grow...and hope they will be self-sustaining.

And, the obligatory frog picture.  :)  

Brains and Brawn

A little brawn and a little brains goes a long way.  Luckily, I have just a bit of each.  :)

Back in January, while creating a terraced path, I started to uncover a huge rock.  It is a welcome addition to my pond/waterfall project.   However, it was in the ground pretty deep.   I dug it out little by little when the ground thawed in January and again in February.   Still I left it in the ground.  I guess I imagined reinjuring my back and not being able to complete the path or any other projects.

Today, although I didn't plan too,I got it out of the ground!  😁

Aside from using an iron bar and the power of a fulcrum, I used my body weight to lift it out of the ground...and filled the hole in one side to have a flat surface to flip it into, then I filled the other side, flipped it end over end and out if the way...until I am ready to move it to the pond. 

Rocks

(This is from February.   I didn't realize I hadn't posted it yet.)

Winter always gives me a clean slate.  This time of year, when i can clearly see and access the rocks on our property,i move them to my water feature project. 

I am planning to create a natural looking rocky cliff behind my pond...with a place to sit. :)

My Pond in Winter

The liner still needs disguised.  Cropping does wonders.

(Unfinished) Pond in Winter

The pond project got delayed by my herniated disc late summer.  I am happy to report that I am nearly asymptomatic for almost a month now.  I am hoping to be able to work on hiding the pond liner, adding a stream, more pools, a waterfall, and a wetland.  Here's hoping my back holds out for all of that.   :)

Here is the pond in its current state.  I long to be able to post an AFTER shot. :)

Late Addition

As things are getting ready to go dormant, I ended up adding a water lily (our native Nymphaea odorata) to the pond.

I have wanted one for a long time, so, when I found that I could purchase one from a native plant nursery (Edge of the Woods, in Allentown)--I jumped at the chance.  Actually, my dentist offered me some water lilies from his sound--I have yet to get them from him...and not sure if he has the native one.  (I do hope to get some blue gills and black nose dace from him eventually.)

Despite the weather dropping from the unusual highs of 70s & 80s for the past week or two to a high of 52°F, I waded into the water (with old shoes on) and put the potted water lily in place.  Hopefully, it will survive the winter and thrive next years--it is supposed to be remarkably hardy.

With the addition of the larger pond...and (the future) wetland, I have really expanded the variety of native plants to grow on our property.   I am so excited by this.  :)

Pond Progress

The spring rains did me in.  I had the hardest time trying to keep up with mowing.  There were too few days without rain--and of course, the grass grew fast and high, so it always needed mowing.  The mugwort (my nemesis) took off this year, too--to towering heights.  Eventually, I got around to sickling the mugwort on the slope.

My pond project kept getting put off.  Originally, I had planned to dig out a "spillway", in early spring, to make the pond look more natural...and to make it look bigger as well.  Having the pond appear to spill into a wetland would allow me a larger spot in which to grow water-loving natives (like Iris versicolor, swamp milkweed, and marsh marigold).  That section has yet to be dug out.

Since, I still haven't hidden the liner, perhaps that isn't a bad thing (but, I would rather have had it dug, planted, and functioning--I can hide the liner as I find the time).

Despite having had lower back pain for three weeks prior, last week, I finally started digging out a section of the pond that ended up shallower than I had originally expected (and the surrounding bank much higher than I had intended).  I thought there was a good bit of excess liner, that would allow me to extend the depth and length of the pond on that end.  I was wrong...sort of.

I was able to make it deeper...and a little bit longer...but not as wide as I had dug out for.   I had held the water back with the liner and a 2X4...but, when I was nearly ready to rework it, it started spilling in onto the old carpet I was using for a protective underlayment!  There was not enough liner for that section.  Soon, I was standing in  inches of water, my shoes and socks soaked.

I ended up bracing the liner and holding back the water again...and leaving the whole mess for the next day.

The following day, I decided to add another piece of liner to the newly created section...I made a higher section

that will make it seem like a natural shelf worn out from running water--an extension of the stream (that I will later create--"Phase III").  It will hold water which will end up making the whole section look more natural.

I was thrilled to have a curious frog or two come watch what I was doing!  Up until now, the five or so bigger frogs, jump into the depths at the hint of my approach.

Even while standing, unexpectedly, in the pond water the day before, I knew digging out more than I needed would end up being worth it.

There is a long way to go...and what I have done will get tweaked, but having a natural-looking pond and streambed is just a little closer to a reality.