Backyard Pond

Late Night Visitor

2012-01-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

It seems like its been awhile since i snapped a picture of the Owl fishing in the pond. Here he is late at night coming in for a landing on the Styrofoam. I can't tell if he has a fish in his claw so maybe the fish lucked out this night. Below is a good sized Black Bird surveying the pond. Occasionally we are visited by huge flocks of Black Birds that land and take off with a loud whoosh noise. Maybe this guy is a scout for the larger flock.

Hawk Caught With Goldfish

2012-01-22T03:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a great picture of the Hawk fishing. I suspect he saw the Goldfish from above and hit the water with his wings spread and grabbed the unlucky fish. The second picture is just seconds later where the Hawk is on the side of the pond with that poor fish firmly grasp in his right claw foot. He then flew away to enjoy his feast. This shows the Hawk is pretty good at getting though the Styrofoam and fake rock defenses.

January Hawk Visit

2012-01-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a relatively nice December with only a couple of really cold days and nights. But January came in with cold. December 31st the daytime high was 60 while January 3rd it didn't break 40 and was in the low 20s overnight. Our local neighborhood hawk didn't slow down. He seems to like the floating rocks in the pond that we use to offer some protection for the goldfish from hungry hawks. We are slowly replacing the Styrofoam pieces with the better looking floating rocks to improve appearance while still offering shelter.

Black Magic Hates Frost

2011-11-27T03:20:00.000-08:00

The time has come to store the Black Magic plants for the winter. The first picture shows one of the Black Magic about a month ago with large healthy leaves. The second shows the same plant this week after several freezing nights - totally killed back. We removed them from the pond and put them in the greenhouse for the winter. This year, I am going to let them dry out over the winter instead of keeping them damp. It remains to be seen if this is a good process to over-winter the plants.

So Sad Elephant Ears

2011-11-24T03:22:00.001-08:00

We've had several nights in the high 20's and as a result our Elephant Ear plants are looking really sad. Remembering back a month ago, these plants were beautiful with huge rich green leaves. I'm still considering whether to dig up the bulbs and store them in the garage over the winter or just leave them in the ground and hope they revive next spring.

Crape Myrtle Fall Change

2011-11-22T03:00:00.001-08:00

All of the sudden 10 days ago, the Crape Myrtle leaves turned from green to yellow, red, and orange. Here one of the three trees is holding onto it's green leaves a little longer. The second picture shows some of the seed pod bounty produced by these prolific trees. It won't be long until the trees drop all of their leaves and the wonderful bark is fully exposed.

Two Camellia Bushes Replace Dogwoods

2011-11-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

We finally gave up on our Red Twig and White Twig Dogwood trees. While interesting, they have been decimated every year by caterpillars. The leaves get stripped leaving just the stems. We replaced them with Camellia bushes. If they work out, they should get pretty large and provide some beautiful flowers in the fall. It will be a couple of years before we find out if these plants work out.

Sad Looking Beauty Berry

2011-11-06T02:45:00.001-08:00

While we haven't had a hard freeze yet, some of the plants are looking pretty sad. The leaves of the American Beautyberry which were looking good a couple of weeks ago are now drooping badly. Just across from the Beautyberry is one of the bunches of Elephant Ears where some of the giant leaves are turning yellow. Once the freeze comes these plants will die back for the winter.

Moved Plants Just in Time

2011-11-01T02:51:00.000-07:00

We moved the plants into the greenhouse just in time. The last two nights the low temperature was 33 degrees so we just missed the first freeze of the season. Many plants moved into the house with the rest squeezing into the greenhouse. The greenhouse seemed big when I built it but it seems small after filling it with plants. After moving the plants, the small pond looks plain and lonely. Of course the problem is this gives the neighborhood predators a clear shot at fresh seafood.

Seasons are Changing

2011-10-28T03:06:00.000-07:00

The time has come to say goodbye to mild temperatures since November 1st is just around the corner. Since I made the mistake some years ago by not bringing the crotons in before the first frost, I always bring them inside before November 1st. These plants have done extremely well outside with gorgeous colors. I hope the colors don't fade too much in the house this winter.

Oak Leaf Hydrangea Fall Colors

2011-10-18T03:21:00.000-07:00

One of our Oak Leaf Hydrangeas is showing bright red colors on some of it's leaves. The picture doesn't show how beautiful this red is next to the green leaves on the rest of the plant. On the other hand the other Hydrangea is going from green to brown so isn't shining as brightly as the one with the red color.

4 AM Owl

2011-10-05T02:58:00.001-07:00

The camera captured a picture of what looks like a baby Owl at 4 am. The camera takes pictures in groups of three but this guy was only still for one picture so maybe the flash sent him flying. While I can't be sure, he looks much smaller than the adult Owls we have seen in the past. In the second picture is a squirrel hanging out on a plant in the pond. He is very well camouflaged in the greenery. I suspect he is one of the critters eating the pond plants for dinner.

Grill Frog Returns

2011-10-03T03:17:00.001-07:00

It has been several years since we had a visit from the grill frog but he was back night before last. I don't know if it was the cool evening that encouraged him to hop up on the grill's control panel. I let him stay while I cooked the steaks but he decided I was too close for comfort and left for an undisclosed location.

Copperhead Snake

2011-09-30T16:17:00.001-07:00

Today I was cleaning up weeds around the cisterns and came upon a snake hiding behind one of the cisterns. I grabbed my trusty "snake stick" and the snake stayed put long enough for me to capture him. My wife got the camera and took some pictures of this critter who I guess was 3 to 4 feet long. I thought this was another water snake and took him to the farthest point from the house and tossed him over the fence. After more research, my wife and I decided this was a copperhead. I would have been a lot more nervous if I knew that when I captured this guy. Hope he keeps moving away from the house.

Droopy Bamboo

2011-09-18T03:05:00.001-07:00

A number of our huge bamboo plants became very droopy from the high winds and rain of the hurricane . Three weeks later they have not recovered. These giant bamboo plants are 50 feet tall and some of them are bending down to the ground. Since the chance they will stand back up is slim, I'm going to have to cut them down before we get snow or ice that would break them off completely.

Pineapple All Points Bulletin

2011-09-09T03:00:00.001-07:00

We have issued an all points bulletin for our missing pineapple. Yesterday we saw the pineapple plant was missing the pineapple we have be growing for a year. So sad. I figure it must have been a raccoon because of the size of the pineapple. I think it was too big for a squirrel who has stolen our tomatoes. We hunted but saw no evidence of where the pineapple went. The second picture is an interesting weed that seeded itself in one of the pots on the front porch. The white flowers are quite pretty but I assume they are seeds for this weed.

Hurricane Irene

2011-09-04T03:18:00.001-07:00

Hurricane Irene was one weeks ago and we were lucky. We lost five large trees but were lucky they all fell away from the house. The root ball in this first picture is 10 feet tall, the tree was 100 feet tall. In the second picture is another 100 foot tall tree that had a very strong root structure. Instead this tree broke off 30 feet up winding up next to the tall stump which I assume will die in the near future. Our only losses were two goldfish who died from a lack of oxygen in the pond when the pumps stopped due to no power. Luckily power was only out for 24 hours or it could have been much worse.

Raccoon and Possum

2011-09-02T02:52:00.000-07:00

Last post we saw the gentle bunny scrounging for thistle seeds under the bird-feeder. The other night we captured pictures of two other critters just 10 minutes apart. I didn't think the raccoon and possum would also be interested in the thistle seeds spilled by the birds eating at the feeder. But here they are getting what they can from the seeds. I knew we had possums around but I think this is the first time I have captured a picture of a possum.

Nature Can Be Peaceful

2011-08-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

As we did last year, we moved several of our pineapple plants to the front porch for the summer. We noticed something was eating the leaves almost down to the base of the plant. I set up the camera to catch the culprit. The camera doesn't lie - the bunny did it. Look at that bunny chomping on the leaves. As you know, pineapple leave are quite sharp and pointed but that is not discouraging this guy. This bunny also eats the thistle seed the birds drop from the feeder above: but a peaceful scene with the bunny and the dove sharing a meal.

Crotons Hide in Garage

2011-08-28T15:50:00.001-07:00

To save our beautiful Crotons, we moved them into the garage. They are so large and heavy, we used a hand truck to move them. The storm has past and they are being returned to the front porch. We'd had these two plants for a long time they started as tiny plants on sales at a supermarket. I almost killed them several years ago when I didn't get them into the house before the first frost. After that, I move them inside on November 1st no matter what the weather report is. We lost three giant trees in the hurricane but no damage to our house. Sadly two goldfish have died from a lack of aeration in the pond due to the power outage that continues.

Pineapple Update August

2011-08-27T13:04:00.001-07:00

With Hurricane Irene moving in our direction, we had to move all the plants outside to safer locations. Our prized pineapple got to move into the house for ultimate safety. Here it is with the only grapefruit tree to get the same inside treatment. The rest of the plants either moved to the greenhouse or up close to the house. The closeup of the pineapple shows how much it has grown. It is now 10 inches top to bottom. I don't know how long the stem can continue to support it as it must be getting pretty heavy.

Dry Stream Bed Critters

2011-08-22T02:37:00.001-07:00

I got a couple of pictures of critters wandering in the new dry stream bed. It is not unusual to see a bunch of squirrels so seeing this little guy is no surprise. The nighttime photo is not common at all. Occasionally we get a picture of a raccoon but this one really shows the pointy nose and striped tail. It looks like he is aiming for the pond. Maybe for a drink of water but I suspect he planned to do some fishing. I hope the fish and frogs were smart enough to stay in the deep water away from this predator.

Hawk at the Small Pond

2011-08-12T02:51:00.001-07:00

Our local Hawk stopped by the newly cleaned small pond a couple of days ago and posed for the camera. He gave us a nice front view showing off the reddish feather on his chest and then a back view as he looked into the pond. Maybe the nice clean water gave him a better view of the Goldfish in the pond. Shortly after these pictures, he jumped into the pond going after those Goldfish. Unfortunately that picture wasn't very clear. I hope the Goldfish were smart enough to stay at the bottom of the pond.

Waterfall Converts to Dry Stream

2011-08-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

I had an urge to change the waterfall so I dismantled it and tried to fill in the space with patio pavers. Whoops! They didn't fit. My wife came up with the idea of a filling the space with the rocks that were in the waterfall, creating a dry stream bed. It turned out pretty good and expanded the useable patio space. In the course of taking down the waterfall, we had to relocate four frogs to the large pond. Hope they like their new home.

Pond Bunny

2011-08-08T03:04:00.001-07:00

In past years, we've had the squirrels eating some of our pond plants. This year the Bunny joined in. Here he is going after the Mexican Petunia. He chomped down on the long green leaves leaving the small blue flowers untouched for now. Earlier the Bunny was feasting on a Philodendron on the deck. This plant started with several two foot long stems covered with leaves. The Bunny chewed them back to the pot and then went after the Petunia in the pond.

Small Pond Large Goldfish

2011-08-01T04:58:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I cleaned the small pond since the water was getting quite dirty. As usual, this is the opportunity to take inventory. I found 11 Goldfish in sizes ranging from 3 inches to 10 inches. That 10 guy was really getting too big for the small pond so he graduated to the large pond. I just hope he doesn't become dinner for one of the neighborhood predators. Interestingly I found a violation of nature in that there were two large Bullfrogs in the small pond. Usually one claims the space and chases the others away. To accommodate both I increase the number of Bullfrog tunnels from one to three. Maybe they can live in harmony if each has his own home.

Incredible Black Magic

2011-07-28T02:40:00.001-07:00

The Black Magic plants spent the winter in the greenhouse where they died back to nothing. With warm weather, the plants are back in the pond growing like crazy and offering a beautiful display. In addition to the Black Magic in the first picture is our lone surviving Banana tree. We tried to keep 4 Banana trees in the greenhouse over the winter but on this guy lived to grow again. It is looking quite good and it has a tiny off-spring at the base of it's trunk.

Tiny Tree Frog and Spider

2011-07-26T03:11:00.001-07:00

The cutest frogs in the world are emerging from the ponds. About a month ago, the tree frogs laid a bunch of eggs and those eggs are now growing into delicate tiny green frogs. Here is one of the little guys climbing to the top of a Sweet Flag leaf to where he is 4 feet off the patio. What do you do if you come face to face with a spider on the same leaf? You sit on him, of course. I don't know what happened next but I was rooting for tiny frog.

Squirrel Close Up

2011-07-24T14:32:00.001-07:00

One of the neighborhood squirrels still hasn't given up on trying to get to the bird feeder. Earlier someone moved the camera to aim at the front porch light (I suspect this squirrel). He then jumped to the front porch light and posed for the camera. The second picture is our squirrel just before he jumped back to the camera spinning it into the brick wall. I don't think he ever got close enough to jump to the bird feeder so the birds are safe another day.

Chocolate Mimosa Tree

2011-07-21T02:47:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we planted a Chocolate Mimosa tree in the front yard. At least 10 years ago, we removed a large Hickory tree from this location and it has taken us this long to decide on a replacement tree. We are hoping this tree will provide the sculpture and color we'd like in front of the house. This tree is a just over six feet tall with a couple of flower buds. With luck we should get some of the beautiful pink blooms that these trees produce in the summer. According to our research, the Deer don't like to eat these - we hope the research is correct.

Hungry Deer

2011-07-17T03:12:00.001-07:00

Many of the leaves on the lower branches of our Azalea bushes have already been eaten by the neighborhood deer. This Doe has decided to start on some of the taller branches. Those leaves must be good for the deer to go to this effort for dinner. The other picture is obviously late at night so it is impossible to know what this midnight snack is but I suspect it must be an apple that fell off the tree. That is probably the last of the apples as the tree is now bare of fruit.

Stinky Mushroom Has Short Lifespan

2011-07-11T16:29:00.001-07:00

Mother Nature never ceases to impress me with new experiences. This unique three stem mushroom popped up Sunday morning under our Redbud tree. It emitted a very strong unpleasant odor. I have never seen a mushroom like this before so I tried searching for info but didn't find anything to identify it. Later in the day, the tops were gone and the stems were lying on the ground. And a number of strange looking bugs were eating it. Monday morning the mushrooms were completely gone. Less than 24 hours for a complete process of birth to death. The name of this is Stinkhorn - pretty appropriate.

Deer Head Shot

2011-07-08T03:01:00.000-07:00

No not that type of head shot, this is with the camera. A couple of local deer decided to pose for the camera this week. The first picture is so clear, it's a great closeup of the deer. The second, not as clear is very interesting because the deer has a mouth full of green apple. Our apple tree this year is very heavily laden with apples and the squirrels are actively harvesting them. Some time the squirrels only take one bite and throw the apple down and sometimes there is just an apple core left. Either way the deer are happy to chow down on any apples on the ground.

Two Baby Deer

2011-07-06T02:42:00.001-07:00

Almost every day we see deer wandering around the front yard. I aimed the camera toward the driveway and captured some pictures of the deer. First this group of four adults moved into camera range. But even cuter is the second picture of a Mother Deer with her two babies. We've seen this family group several times with the kids running around as Mom keeps an eye on them. A couple of times when we have driven down the driveway, we can see Mom run away while the babies hide in some nearby trees. I think she is just trying to divert attention away from the babies.

Hawk at Midsize Pond

2011-07-05T03:14:00.001-07:00

After cleaning the midsized pond and refilling it, one of the first visitors to come by was the Hawk several days in a row. I'm not sure if he was actually hunting since the only residents of the pond were tiny tadpoles. There may have been a couple of small frogs but these little critters were a bit out of character for the large Hawk. He seems to go for large Goldfish and frogs.

Squirrel Squatter

2011-06-27T03:06:00.000-07:00

I wonder if this squirrel was reading the blog last week and discovered the nifty blue glass bird feeder. The feeder has been hanging here for a year and to our knowledge the squirrels hadn't found it. These pictures show the secret is out and the squirrels have found it. We haven't figured out how the squirrel got to the feeder yet but he gets down by jumping the six feet to the deck below. The second picture is quite cute with the squirrel sticking out of both sides.

Birds Have a Green Thumb

2011-06-24T03:06:00.000-07:00

Our birds have a very green thumb. We now have 3 giant Sunflowers standing behind the back deck. This particular one ended up in a pot on the deck. The first picture is from two weeks ago as the flower started to open. The second shows the flower wide open. The birds left Sunflower seeds in this pot, it the tomato bed behind it and even one in a crack between two bricks on the patio. It is amazing how well these plants are doing. I bet if we tried to plant them, we wouldn't have as much luck.

Cardinals at Bird Feeded

2011-06-22T03:09:00.001-07:00

Our styling blue glass bird feeder is quite attractive to the neighborhood birds. Recently our camera snapped a couple of pictures of Cardinals at the feeder. But the first picture also shows a smaller bird waiting her turn at the feeder. She is hanging on the wire about a foot above the feeder so she can swoop down when the Cardinal moves on. This feeder is definitely a one at a time feeder so it isn't unusual to see birds waiting their turn.

Wildlife Update

2011-06-20T03:12:00.001-07:00

Last year we had two giant turtles laying eggs in the yard. This year we have a regular sized box turtle. Our dog was very interested in this little guy but the turtle just pulled into his shell and was just fine. Once the dog danger was over, he moved back to the woods. The second picture is one of the neighborhood owls with his wings fully deployed. I don't know if he is celebrating, landing or taking off. It is quite a striking pose.

New Honey Locust Trees

2011-06-19T03:31:00.000-07:00

An interesting thing happened at the hardware store two years ago, my wife picked up a bunch of Honey Locust seed pods lying under some trees in the parking lot. She planted them and they grew easily in pots. This year we transplanted them into the yard near the Oak Leak Hydrangeas. The trees are hard to see but there are five in this row and another four outside the fence. If they are anything like our Crape Myrtles we planted last year, we'll have a winner. The Crape Myrtles - in the second picture - have grown tremendously in their first year. They have taken over perfectly for the old Peach tree they replaced.

Raspberry Thief

2011-06-13T02:46:00.001-07:00

My wife's raspberry plants were doing quite will this year but as soon as they were ripe, the berries disappeared. My wife covered them with netting but still the berries disappeared. I setup the camera to catch the thief and surprise the thief was our old friend, the squirrel. He was able to get under the net and chow down on the berries right when they got ripe.

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas Shine

2011-06-08T03:03:00.000-07:00

First our Blue Flower Hydrangea that we purchased a couple of years ago is finally producing some flowers. It has been slow coming back but this years blooms are encouraging. The better show is the Oak Leaf Hydrangeas that the deer ate back to ground level several years ago. We moved these plants from the front yard to the fenced backyard to get away from the deer. Now these plants keep getting better and better year after year.

Small Pond Tadpoles Grow Up

2011-06-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

The tadpoles in the small pond appear to be a week behind the large pond. But they are much more visible. Earlier I had the picture of them on the Sweet Flag leaf. These pictures show them congregating on our fake lily leaves. All of these little guys have starting growing their legs so will be tiny toads very soon.

Azalea With Split Personality

2011-05-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

Once again the Elephant Ears next to the garage made it through the winter and are coming back strong. These are the same ones that did so well last year after staying in the ground over the winter. We have an interesting Azalea just 20 feet away at the end of the garage. This Azalea is planted on the outside of the fence but half of the branches are inside the fence. The inside is covered with beautiful white flowers but the outside is bare because the Deer have been chowing down. This shows how lucky we are with the bunch of Azalea unprotected in the front yard that are big enough to have a bunch of flowers out of the reach of the deer.

Squirrel Fake Out

2011-05-27T02:57:00.001-07:00

Last year the squirrels destroyed our tomatoes so this year we are trying to fake them out. As you can see our tomatoes are growing and flowers and tiny green tomatoes are appearing. We are hanging Christmas decorations on the plants to convince the squirrels that there isn't any good food here. So they should move on to some of the bounty provided by Mother Nature instead of the plants in our garden. We are trying the hanging tomato again this year. Last years attempt was not very successful so I modified the watering process with the thought that it will work better.

Tadpoles are Now Frogs

2011-05-25T02:58:00.000-07:00

Again the magic of nature is on display at the large pond. This all started in March with the toads spring fling. They laid a bunch of eggs that morphed into tadpoles. Now those tadpoles have developed into the cutest tiny frogs you've ever seen. They are kind of hard to see in the first picture but it shows them crawling out of the pond as they leave the safety of the pond for the big wild world. The second picture shows four of the little guys lounging on a rock as they move out of the pond. You have to watch where you step because the tiny frogs are all over the patio around the pond.

Invasive Sweet Flag

2011-05-22T03:47:00.001-07:00

I can see why the Sweet Flag is called an invasive plant. The frog pond was being taken over by the Sweet Flag and the Spade plant. I was concerned that the toads partying in the spring stayed away from this pond so I decided to clean it. The Sweet Flag had taken over the end of the pond with thick roots and under the water surface. The Spade plant had filled the deep section of the pond. During cleaning we rescued about 30 Bullfrog tadpoles and relocated them to the large pond. At least that told me the pond wasn't toxic, the toads weren't interested in it.

Hawk Close Up

2011-05-09T03:04:00.001-07:00

These pictures are a little washed out from the bright sunshine but you get a good idea of the size of this big bird. He is standing on the large rock in the pond and then he spreads his wings. Maybe he was getting ready to take off or just showing off. In the picture with his wings spread, it looks like he has something in one of his feet. He flew away before getting any more pictures.

Line Up Tadpoles

2011-05-03T02:58:00.000-07:00

The tadpoles in the small pond were attracted to a Sweet Flag leaf laying just under the surface of the water. There are too many to count and they stretch the entire length of the leaf. You can see there are a bunch of tadpoles that haven't taken us a spot on the leaf. It won't be too long before these guys grow some tiny legs and start to morph from tadpoles to toads.

Amaryllis Blooms

2011-04-19T02:49:00.000-07:00

The Amaryllis has two beautiful blooms that are as big as dinner plates. I had to add some support to keep it from falling over because it is so top heavy. Too bad the other Amaryllis bulbs don't seem to be sending up flowers. Below is yet another picture of the Owl sitting on the filter a couple of nights ago. He or she is spending an awful lot of time at the pond.

Tadpoles Galore

2011-04-18T03:12:00.000-07:00

The wild toad party night a month ago has yielded hundreds of tadpoles. We noticed them this week and as we look closer, there are a bunch of them. You can see at least 20 tadpoles just in this tiny picture. It may take another month for these tadpoles to grow into new toads and climb out of the pond. At least those who are not gobbled up by the Goldfish.
The second picture is the first frog (as opposed to toad) of the season.

Owl Fishing Again

2011-04-15T03:15:00.000-07:00

The Owl was back for another visit a couple of nights ago. The picture at the bottom was snapped first and I can't be sure if he was landing or fishing. The top picture shows him standing on one of the Styrofoam floats. I don't see any orange in his claws so maybe he hasn't gotten lucky yet on this visit. Both of these pictures show the Owl in the shallow end of the pond. We had a thought that maybe the Goldfish come to the shallow end to lay eggs and become a meal for the Owl.

Flash at the Pond

2011-04-07T03:00:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since the camera captured an odd photo but we got one the other day. I call this one the flash. My guess is it was somehow caused by the sun reflecting off the gazing ball down to the river. A very interesting photo. The other picture is our Amaryllis plants that spent the winter in the garage. We replanted them the first week of March and one of the five is pushing up a flower stalk. Pretty soon we should have a beautiful flower in the living room.

Pineapple Update

2011-04-05T02:51:00.001-07:00

About six weeks ago I reported a tiny pineapple was emerging from one of our pineapple plants. These pineapple plants have been grown from the head of pineapples we bought at the grocery store. The pineapple continues to grow, pushing higher in the plant and growing larger as it does. In a few weeks, the plant will go outside for the summer. I hope the small fruit is not attractive to squirrels or other critters that inhabit the neighborhood.

Hawk is not Camera Shy

2011-04-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

The Hawk visited yesterday and wasn't bashful about posing for the camera. First he gave us a front on view and then a side profile. It looks like he is staring down into the pond perhaps trying to find some lunch. This week has been much cooler so the Goldfish are not very active. Instead they are hanging around the bottom of the pond so maybe the Hawk had to fly away disappointed. In addition the toads have headed back to the woods with the chilly temperatures so there are no frog legs available.

The Owl Gets Lucky

2011-03-27T03:06:00.001-07:00

A couple of days ago, I captured the picture of the Owl with a frog leg sticking out of his mouth. Now the Owl is taking one of the Goldfish. This picture taken at 5:30 am yesterday morning shows the Owl flying away with one of our Goldfish in his claws. His fishing success continues the discussion about how to protect the Goldfish from predators. The Owl was able to get through the Styrofoam, floating rocks and floating solar fountain to get the Goldfish. And we have the tunnel at the bottom of the pond where the Goldfish are supposed to hide when threatened by predators. My wife suggested the Owl was taking the Goldfish back to her nest to feed her babies. Great; just what we need is more Owls to fish in our pond.

Toads Look Out

2011-03-23T02:55:00.001-07:00

The toads spring fling attracted some of the neighborhood predators who saw a chance for great meal of frog and goldfish. They are not safe day or night. In the first picture taken at night is a giant Owl standing on the side of the large pond. If you look close at what I think is his mouth, that may be the leg of a frog sticking out. It is sad for the frog but common in nature. The second picture taken the next day is not nearly as violent. It is a great shot of a Hawk standing on the floating rocks. I didn't get any pictures that he was lucky in his search for lunch so maybe score one for the frogs and goldfish.

Toads Spring Fling Small Pond

2011-03-22T03:00:00.001-07:00

As you can see the small pond was host to a bunch of toads at the height of the spring fling. Here are at least three couples and several singles enjoying the small pond hospitality. The single toads always looks so comfortable floating on the water. Although looking calm, one swift kick of their back legs and they zoom across the pond. 48 hours after the spring fling started, the temperature over night dropped to 38 degrees and the toads left the ponds returning to their woodland homes.

Toads Spring Fling Large Pond

2011-03-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

A couple more of the toads who participated in the spring fling this year. All that swimming can get pretty tiring but luckily there are plenty of places to rest. One of the toads took advantage of the fake lily pads that were added to the pond this winter. I wonder if the other toad is waiting his turn. I've always heard of frogs floating around on lily pads so here is the confirmation. The second picture is one of our couples taking advantage of the float either before or after they laid their eggs. Again we see how the female is much larger than the male who has to hold on tight or risk getting thrown off.

Toads Spring Fling

2011-03-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed temperatures in the low 80s yesterday and it brought the toads in from the woods to lay eggs. This frog night happens every year but it is always fascinating that such a large group of frogs come out in force on the same night. Boy do they make a bunch of noise calling out to one another. The noise goes on all night and this year continued after sunrise. The first picture is a "frog ball" where multiple males hang on to one female. In this case three males hanging on the single female. A minute or two later, two of the males were ejected and the female and remaining male headed for the pond. The other picture is a toad attempting to climb up on one of our floating rocks. I don't know if he made it but he was trying very hard.

Bat Update

2011-03-04T04:11:00.001-08:00

Sorry to report when I got home yesterday, the bat was still hanging by the light so it was time for an intervention. I grabbed my solar panel brush with the 15 foot handle and pushed it toward the bat. I assumed he would take the hint and fly away. Wrong! I had to push him from his perch using the brush and he fell straight down on the driveway. He spread his wings, hissed and opened his mouth wide exposing menacing looking teeth. But he still didn't move. As I understand bats can't take off from a flat surface so I went a step further. I swept him onto a dustpan and carried him to the woods where I hoped he climb up on the brush and fly away. He was just plain mad and kept hissing so I left him to figure it out. This morning I checked and he was gone. I hope he flew away on his own instead of being dinner for another critter.

Midnight Visitor Hanging Around

2011-03-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

We had a couple of middle of the night visitors the night before last. The first is a black and white cat roaming around the pond. I can't tell if he was doing a little fishing or just wandering around. The other visitor was a real surprise. I noticed something hanging from the house overhang in front of the garage next to some spotlights. I got as close as I could and determined it was a bat that was hanging there sleeping. The bat didn't move when the garage door was opened to let the car in and out. I do hope when I go out this morning that he has moved back to his usual resting place.

First Solar Fountain Performance

2011-02-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

The sun is getting high enough in the sky to get the fountain working. The spray pattern isn't too strong yet but it is a sample of what we have to look forward too. The fountain and the fake rocks sure look better than the Styrofoam but protecting the Goldfish is key to keeping the pond going. Other than the Hawk, we haven't seen the other predators this year.

Pineapple Surprise

2011-02-26T10:58:00.001-08:00

After a very cold January, the February weather has been much less severe with the exception of some very windy days. The camera caught this picture of the water spray from the filter on one of the windy days. Of course one of the big problems with wind is the pond becomes a natural magnet for leaves. I've cleaned the leaves out 3 times this month and it is covered again. On a surprise note, one of my wife's pineapple is producing a fruit. We have a half dozen of these plants growing and this is the first fruit. This will be fun to watch the progress over the next few months.

Air Traffic Control Needed

2011-02-03T03:57:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, the Blackbirds were out in force. There were so many around trying to get to the bird feeder, I thought we needed some air traffic control assistance with landing on the feeder. As you can see we do have a couple of birds waiting their turn on the nearby branches until a spot opens for lunch. Eventually most got a shot at the feeder or on the ground below because the ruckus knocked a bunch of sunflower seeds out. It didn't take long until all the food was gone and they were back to scavenging for naturally available food.

Hawk Visit

2011-01-26T16:18:00.001-08:00

It has been a while but the Hawk is back. I saw him hanging out in the Cherry tree next to the pond. I was able to watch him on a lower branch for a few minutes without scaring him away so I went in and got the camera. When I returned, he moved further away and turned his back on me. I took the picture and then he flew away. Later a squirrel was playing king of the pot, posing for a picture. Lucky for him the Hawk wasn't still sitting in the tree above his head or he might have been lunch.

Predator Protection Upgrade

2011-01-24T03:17:00.000-08:00

While my Styrofoam floats provide some protection from the neighborhood predators, they are not very attractive. I received a couple of nifty gifts for Christmas. These are three plastic floating rocks, one large and two medium. To round it out is the floating solar fountain. Since we are in the dead of winter, the sun hasn't gotten high enough in the sky to produce electricity. But we are hopeful it will work as advertised in the spring. I'm interested in how the frogs will react to the floating rocks when they awake from their winter sleep.

Butterfly Bush Two

2011-01-23T03:45:00.001-08:00

To finish with the Butterfly Bush story. The bushes on the side are as overgrown as the ones on the back. A quick hair cut opened the view - though not a beautiful view like the back yard. You can see the tarps covering the ramp off the deck. I started putting up the tarps years ago after a winter storm left the ramp treacherous for several days. It may not look nice but it sure does make life a lot safer.

Butterfly Bush Makeover

2011-01-21T02:54:00.001-08:00

We usually cut back the wild growth of the Butterfly bushes in February but last weekend was the perfect weather to perform this annual task. This year the bushes took an unusually harsh beating from the storms so they looked more unkempt than other years. As you can see the back yard view improves dramatically with the severe haircut. Now we can see the beautiful expanse into the woods behind the house. The only downside is some of the neighborhood birds like to hang out in the safety of the bushes.

Blackbirds Take Over

2011-01-09T03:34:00.001-08:00

Maybe the law of unintended consequences is taking hold by the pond. My wife wanted a bird feeded by the pond so she could watch some of the cute little neighborhood birds. But a huge flock of Blackbirds showed up on several occasions. We did get this great picture of a Blackbird coming in for a landing. And a bunch of Blackbirds who think the pond filter is just a great big birdbath. We are hopeful the Blackbirds will move on leaving the bird feeder to the other birds.

Wicked Wind

2010-12-31T02:52:00.001-08:00

My last post of the year includes the peaceful scene of a small bird walking on the snow by the large pond. The second picture is just two minutes later with a wicked wind blowing the snow sideways. The weather prediction for today is 50 degrees, if that happens it will be only the third day this month when we hit 50 degrees. The report is this has been the sixth coldest December since records have been kept. It would be nice if January is much warmer than normal but I won't be holding my breath.

Snow Doves

2010-12-29T16:08:00.001-08:00

With the temperature so cold, there is little water around for the birds. One of our local neighborhood doves took advantage of the pond to satisfy his thirst and maybe take a bath. See in the first picture, he is spreading his wing - maybe to wash under his arm. In the second picture the Dove is taking off right in front of the water pouring out of the snow covered filter. If he gets too close, he'll get a shower with 45 degree water.

Snow Storm Aftermath

2010-12-27T13:30:00.001-08:00

The storm is over and all that is left is a bunch of snow. We ended up with 12 inches. The pondscape is a winter wonderland. Today the temperature should get into the mid thirties and warmer later in the week. The piles of snow around the greenhouse are from cleaning off the solar panels twice yesterday and once this morning. The sun did come out today and melted the little bit of snow left on the panels so they could produce a little bit of electricity.

Major December Snow Storm

2010-12-26T08:29:00.000-08:00

It started snowing last night and we already have 8 inches on the ground. The prediction is the snow will continue for at least 8 more hours. I really hope it slows down because this is becoming absurd. I have already cleared the driveway twice and the solar panels once. At the rate it is snowing, I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. The bird feeders are very popular with the birds but the squirrels are staying in their nest.

Snow Fog

2010-12-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

As long as the pumps keep moving water, the waterfall doesn't freeze. The snow covering everything except the river makes a nice looking winter scene. An interesting bit of fog formed over the pondscape. It must have been caused by different temperatures of air, patio stones and water. The light fog added the sense of being in a cloud.

Sticky Snow Curve

2010-12-20T03:02:00.000-08:00

An interesting snow structure was created as the snow slowly slid off the greenhouse roof. The snow held together so well that the curve extended more than a foot in thin air. The form hung around until the outside temperature rose above freezing and then it fell to the ground.

December Snow Storm Covers Ponds

2010-12-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

While it was only about two inches, the snow stuck immediately and quickly covered everything. The small pond almost disappeared under the snow. The pumps kept air holes open so the ponds didn't freeze solid keeping the fish alive. Now the weather predicts the possibility of more snow tonight though they say the worst of the storm should miss us.

December Snow Storm

2010-12-15T02:47:00.001-08:00

After the latest cold snap, we actually had a brief snow storm. These pictures capture the flakes as they fall. It is interesting the difference between the appearance of the snow in these pictures and the rain in the pictures a week ago. I guess the rain drops are moving faster so they appear to streak while the snow is falling slower so appears as round spots. We were lucky that the snow didn't stick but the outside temperature remains colder than normal.

Ice in December

2010-12-09T16:35:00.000-08:00

Winter may have been slow coming but it hit with a vengeance last week. The lows at night are near 20 and the highs 36 degrees. The normal highs are in the 50's. Here the large pond is displaying an elaborate ice sculpture at the bottom of the filter. The second picture is the sad looking small pond which is almost completely covered with ice. It is hard see because of the overwhelming leaf coverage. I didn't get a chance to clean the leaves before the pond started to freeze. It may get into the 50's this weekend so maybe I can get the leaves out.

Meteor Shower at the Pond

2010-12-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

The spectacular light show continued into the night. We had a bright shooting star and then a meteor shower. The odd thing was the meteor shower wasn't falling to the ground. It appears to be moving sideways or even from ground to sky. Maybe the wind was blowing the rain causing it to move reflecting the light in unexpected ways. At any rate, it produced some pretty neat pictures.

Extraterrestrial Visit

2010-12-05T03:24:00.001-08:00

The camera captured an interesting light show a couple of nights ago. The first reminds me of the transporter used in Star Trek. This column of light must have been cause by the camera flash because there was no moon that night unless the extraterrestrials are now visiting the pond. The second picture may be one of those extraterrestrials climbing out of the pond after beaming down. When I first saw the picture, it reminded me of "liquid light" because of the shape. It really looks like a creature and I can't figure out what might have caused the light from the flash to form this shape. Maybe ET is alive and well living in our pond.

Squirrels and Doves

2010-12-03T15:49:00.001-08:00

The pond always attracts the local yard residents. We have had a bunch of visits from the squirrels who chomp down on the plants all year long. This guy took the time to pose nicely for the camera. In addition to the squirrels, we had a flock of doves visit one day and these two walked in front of the camera as if in formation. Two great looking specimen from the dove family. One interesting thing is I haven't had a picture of a predator since the pond cleaning (if my memory is working right).

Banana Tree vs 29 Degrees

2010-11-29T03:18:00.000-08:00

We finally had a temperature below 30 degrees and as usual, the Elephant Ears look pretty sad. The leaves are browning around the edges and drooping to the ground. Very sad for a plant that was standing tall with huge leaves just a couple of days ago. This is the first year for the Banana tree and it really hates the cold. The leaves folded down at the top of the stems loosing all of their ability to stand up. Next on the list is to cut it down and mulch it heavily with hopes that it will survive the winter and grow again next spring.

Extra Tall Grapefruit Trees

2010-11-28T03:26:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again. All the cold sensitive plants have to come inside to survive the winter. These Grapefruit trees started from seed a couple of years ago have grown a couple of feet a year. This year they are almost touching the ceiling so almost 8 feet tall. I was able to convince my wife to cut another Grapefruit down to three feet tall. I hope it will encourage the tree to bush out instead of growing taller. This tree is spending the winter in the greenhouse so we'll see what happens next summer.

Plants Move into House

2010-11-18T02:55:00.001-08:00

The greenhouse isn't big enough for all the plants that can't survive the winter so a bunch of them come inside the house. Here are two giant Crotons that are growing like crazy. We bought them as tiny 6 inch plants at least 5 years ago and now they are huge. It is lucky since several years ago, I left them outside during the first freeze and it almost killed them. It took a couple of years for them to recover and grow much bigger. In addition the Pineapple plants my wife grows from Pineapple tops are incredible. They spread out 4 feet with pointy leaves (ouch) and are over two feet tall. Also in that picture are last years Poinsettias which are still looking pretty good.

Get Ready for Winter

2010-11-17T02:57:00.001-08:00

Here comes winter. First look at the new color scheme for our Dawn Redwood tree. Look back to my post on April 6th to see how different this tree looks with the change of seasons. It has gone from deep green to a rich brown. In the second picture is the greenhouse which we have filled with a bunch of the plants from the deck. The plants enjoy the spring, summer and fall on the deck around the pond but in order to survive the winter they have to move into a protected area.

Large Pond Cleaning Finale

2010-11-01T02:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the last pictures from the pond cleaning. First a bucket of Goldfish showing some of the multiple colors of our fish. We counted a total of 56 Goldfish ranging in size from several inches to one foot long. They spent about 4 hours in the temporary Rubbermaid holding cistern and then returned to the clean pond. Finally the bottom picture is the freshly cleaned waterfall. The steps of the waterfall were replaced with slate and the rocks were all scrubbed to remove the algae.

Small Critters in Large Pond

2010-10-31T03:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of the small critters that call the large pond home. There were at least six small frogs about this size. I was surprised we didn't find any larger frogs as we see them around all the time. They must have heard the pond was scheduled for a major cleaning and located somewhere else for the duration. Some of the cutest critters were the 9 Red Spotted Newts that we found. They were all about the same size as the tiny guy in the picture. They seemed happy to get back into the pond after the cleaning.

Large Pond Cleaning Completed

2010-10-30T02:43:00.000-07:00

The pond cleaning process took almost 8 hours. But now it is completed. The first picture shows the newly refilled pond with the sideline plants. The second picture includes the Goldfish and a bunch of Anacharis from the temporary Rubbermaid cistern. Also in the second picture, you can see the orange Goldfish swimming around their fresh clean pond. The fish were very active when they were introduced to the clean pond checking out every corner of the pond.

Pond Empty and Clean

2010-10-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

After a long time, the pond is finally empty and wiped clean. The filter is back in place and various hoses and pots are ready to be added back to the pond. In the middle of the second picture is the "Koi Kastle" that will provide a hiding place for the fish when the Hawk, Owl and Heron come for dinner. The "Koi Kastle" is about two feet long and a foot tall and wide so pretty good shelter space. Another difference is the two pots with Sweet Flag that should provide even more coverage for the Goldfish once they grow. Time to refill with fresh clean water.

Pond Cleaning Starts

2010-10-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

Cleaning day arrives. All the plants are removed, the filter is pulled away from the pond and one pump is pushing water from the pond into the yard. The pond is about 750 gallons so draining takes a one and a half hours. At the half way point I took this picture of the Goldfish swimming around in their shrinking pond. I imagine they wonder what the heck is going on. We assure them they'll have a nice clean pond when it is completed. As the water level dropped, I was able to capture the fish and move them to the Rubbermaid cistern. The census was 56 Goldfish, 9 Red Spotted Newts and 6 frogs. Surprisingly there wasn't a Bullfrog this time.

October Cleanup

2010-10-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

This week I plan to drain the large pond and give it a good cleaning. To prepare, I have been cutting back the plants and removing planters behind the filter. The plan is to extend the patio behind the filter and use plants in pots for accents. I have to temporarily relocate the Goldfish, Frogs and any other critters currently calling the large pond home. The 150 gallon Rubbermaid cistern that is part of my rain water collection system will serve as their home. I have prepared it with a bunch of Anacharis that has grown like crazy this year. We really had a bumper crop of that wonderful plant this year.

Plant Eating Squirrel Redux

2010-10-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

I gave up catching cute little birds on the birdbath so the camera is back at the pond. It has been very quite recently with the exception of the squirrels. They are chowing down on the various pond plants just about every day. Previously they concentrated on the Spade plant which they chewed back to ground level. Here they are enjoying some of the other plants. The squirrel in the second picture is even chewing on the Louisiana Iris plants that we separated last week. The Iris had overgrown its pots so we split it into multiple pots and trimmed the leaves. The Iris blooms were great this year and we are looking forward to even better blooms next year.

Turtle Egg Update

2010-10-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Four months ago in late May my posts described two giant turtles laying eggs in our yard. One in the front yard and one in the back yard. We expected the eggs to take about three months to hatch so we have been checking the nests every day. A few days ago I noticed a hole in one of the nests that appeared to be pushed up from below. The same appeared the next day on the other nest. Today I dug them up to see if the eggs had really hatched and the babies ran for the woods. I found a bunch of empty egg shells so I assume the babies did hatch and are in the woods setting up a new turtle life. This week we had 11 1/2 inches of rain so at least the turtles won't be thirsty.

Squirrels on the Birdbath

2010-09-28T02:43:00.001-07:00

We still haven't seen the cute little birds at the new birdbath. We have seen the giant Hawk, the Owl and now the squirrels. Here the squirrels are using it as their own jungle jim and water bowl. It has been very dry lately so the bowl of water are probably refreshing for all the critters.

Great Dane Helps with Ecomposter Ball

2010-09-21T03:06:00.001-07:00

My wife thought it would be a good idea to get our Great Dane to help roll the ball around to mix the compost. While Ernie is really stubborn about learning new things, he loves this ball. He immediately pushed it into a planter where he patiently waited for help to get it out. Then he pushed it around the back yard. That is what my wife wanted but eventually Ernie will push it toward the back of the yard and it will roll down the fifty foot hill. He hasn't figured out how to push it up the hill so he barks until we help him get it back into the yard. See the video on youtube Ernie shows how talented he is.

Ecomposter Ball

2010-09-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

As my wife has become more interested in composting, she realized she would need another composter. She loved the design of the Ecomposter Ball and found it on Woot.com for a good price. It took about three hours to put it together but that part is done. In the first picture is the ball on the stand. In this configuration, the ball rolls on the stand to mix the compost. The second picture shows the ground level stand which holds the ball. In this configuration, the ball is rolled around the yard to mix the compost before returning to the stand for safe keeping.

I Need a Bigger Bird Bath Part 2

2010-09-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

So where are the cute little birds like Robins or Sparrows? Last week we had the picture of the giant Hawk and this week two nights in a row, one of the Owls that frequent the neighborhood stopped to perch on the new birdbath. Once again too big for a bird bath, maybe a cool drink or just a great spot to spy little critters for a midnight snack. It has been extremely dry since the beginning of the summer so the water may come in handy for a thirsty bird.

I Need a Bigger Bird Bath

2010-09-12T03:29:00.000-07:00

Last week I cut down the rest of the peach tree in the back yard. I was planning to use the stump as a pedestal for a plant potting table but my wife had another idea. She thought this was the perfect location for a bird bath so we visited a number of stores looking for a ceramic bird bath. No luck but we ended up at Pier 1 where we found these light blue colored bowls. This gave us a three tiered bird bath. The lower one is just the right height for a Great Dane water bowl but so far Ernie has showed not interest. We setup the camera to see who came to visit and look who showed up three days later. This is the biggest Hawk I've seen in our yard. He looks much bigger than the Hawks we have seen fishing in the ponds.

Small Pond Big Bullfrog

2010-09-06T03:06:00.001-07:00

When cleaning the small pond I disturbed a number of frogs including this medium sized frog. Its a bit scary draining the pond and something big is splashing around. It turned out to be a giant Bullfrog. This guy is bigger than my hand so I had to get the bigger net to catch him and move him to the temporary bucket. Hope he didn't mind the bucket was pink. Once the pond was clean and refilled he reclaimed his domain. While there were six smaller frogs, there was only one Bullfrog who claimed this pond as his domain.