Backyard Pond

Discussion of backyard pond, frogs, goldfish and plants.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Possible Turtle at the Pond


We had another first time pond visitor (at least that we have a record of). You can see on the left side of the picture is what looks like one of the giant Turtles we say earlier this year in the yard. Because of the camera angle, I don't know if the Turtle actually entered the pond but he was headed in that direction. The other picture is of a somewhat regular visitor to the pond. The Tuxedo Cat is back prowling around the pond in the middle of the night.


Saturday, July 17, 2010

Squirrel Air Conditioner


This may look like a dead squirrel spread eagle on the front porch. What I found out, this is one of the ways squirrels cool off on the very hot days we have "enjoyed" for the past two months. In addition to this guy I observed several other squirrels using the driveway for their own air conditioner recently. It is no surprise they need the cool down when you look at the other picture of two squirrels fighting over who gets to chow down on the sunflower seeds meant for the neighborhood birds.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tomato Killing Squirrels


Earlier this year, my wife setup a bamboo structure to support her tomato crop this year. It appears that wasn't such a good idea. The squirrels used it for easy access to the fruit and stripped the plants in one day. It was very sad because the plants were doing quite well and had a bunch of green fruit. We came home from work to find destruction so bad that the plants won't recover. Next year, we'll try something else to fence the squirrels out. Luckily she was able to get some tomatoes from a friend at work who had plenty to spare.

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Bird House Vacancy


We added two Blue Bird houses to the back yard this spring. In researching some info on Blue Birds, it appears the house went up too late for the birds this year. They have to be available very early in the spring to have a chance of Blue Birds moving in. There were other suggestions on where to hang the houses which we didn't follow exactly. We'll watch with great interest next year and see if we get new tenants.


Monday, July 05, 2010

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas & Crape Myrtle


The Oak Leaf Hydrangeas are looking wonderful this year. Two of the three plants have a bunch of flowers while the third one is spreading nicely. These are the plants I rescued from near death after the deer ate them down to nubs in the front yard. I dug them up and moved them to the back yard away from the deer and they seem happy with the change of location. The Crape Myrtle trees we planted last summer to replace the peach tree are doing great. They are already over six feet tall and producing abundant flowers.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Bunches of Gold Frogs


There is a population explosion among the gold frogs. This guy is climbing out on the Sweet Flag. The other picture is a bunch of tiny frogs just emerging from the water with many more still in the development stage. There are at least 5 frogs climbing up the plants. Still in the water are several sporting new back legs and some still just tadpoles.