About 3 weeks ago I bought some ghost shrimp and tossed them up into the top area of my pond to do some algae duty. Considering that they are transparent, I knew that even if they survived I would never see them again.

However, I cleaned out my skimmer yesterday on the bottom portion of my pond and found 5 of them nearly triple their origninal size hungrily going to town on the muck in my skimmer.

I rebuilt my dam for my waterfall to better act as barrier so they can't come down to the bottom level again, but its good to know that they can live in my filter box if they do make the journey.

Very cool!

I've not seen anything specifically in the pond yet, but yesterday I was standing NEAR the pond and saw the neatest thing! It scared me at first, as this buzzing thing zoomed at me and stopped for a split second, just inches from my face. I only caught a glimpse, it looked like a large black bumble bee holding onto a grasshopper. I watched as it zoomed away and landed on a tree branch about six feet away. It was the tiniest bird I've ever seen! Just teeny tiny! It was black with lime green markings and I think it might have been a hummer of sorts by the way it was flying. I think I might go look on google and see if I can find out what it was. :D

Oh, but the sweetest thing was a week ago, and it was also near the pond but not in it. I was halfway towards to pond when I saw a gray squirrel stopped right in front of me. It looked like it had an enormous growth on its neck. I was slightly repulsed and very sorry for the squirrel to have such a large tumor on it's neck, and then the tumor twitched and I saw it was a fuzzy little tail. Then a tiny little squirrel head popped up and looked around for a minute. It wasn't a tumor, lol! It was a newborn squirrel clutching it's mother - who was probably just finishing up a drink from the pond!

Destany, Check to see if it was a hummingbird moth. They frequent my friend's pond and they are so bizarre. The hummingbirds rarely come in close, but this moth often gets right in his face. Its quite amazing!

I love this time of the year because all the frogs gather at the pond at night and croak to each other all night long. Yesterday morning however, I noticed some splashing on the water and I went outside to see what it was. Our resident red-eared slider turtle (we call him/her Bubba) had gotten hold of one of the frogs by the leg. At one point I think his plan was to drag the frog underwater to drown it but I think he relized that plan was not working out too good. He did however manage to get his protein for the morning. I felt bad but didn't want to interfere with nature's course.

Last night I opened my Savio Skimmer to clean it out only to find 6-7 more frogs in the skimmer basket. I removed them and put them along the side of the pond out of Bubba's reach but also found hundreds of frog eggs that had been laid in the skimmer. I removed as much as I could and placed them in an area in the pond that has a lot of plant cover. So far Bubba hasn't found them and had a caviar feast and hopefully the frog that was eaten was involved in the egg orge and his or her legacy will live on.

-Mike

It's very hard to see anything in my pond right now with all the smoke and ashes from the forest fires we are having. I have no bullfrogs anymore. Don't know where they have gone. Found half an egg shell by the pond under the Martin Condo, so guess there is at least 1 new addition for this year. Glenda

well right aboout now i have just a couple birds drinking and chipmonks...

i do hoever have big long sliimy whitish worms...they are all over the bed of the pond and sometimes when i skin the top they float into the skimmer..

i am sure they are there for a reason...what i don't know

oh, those hummingbird moths are soooo cool. They are only around for a very short period of time and when I see them I always have to do a double take thinking it is a hummingbird.

Tina

Here is an interesting article on hummingbird moths by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Specialist in Entomology.

I have heard him speak on insects in my Master Gardening Classes. He is really unusual as well as an interesting speaker. He always wears red tennis shoes. LOL

Most people don't realize that these moths come from hornworms which you find on your tomato plants. They also are on other types of plants. So if you find one, perhaps you should just leave it alone and let it turn into a hummingbird moth.

Here is a link that might be useful: hummingbird moths

I am seeing a lot of bees that come in to drink at my ponds and bog gardens.

The news has been reporting that a lot of bees are dying off so I am happy to see that there are still some alive.

They are always friendly and I have never had any problems with them.

Today I was pulling some grass from the edge and a big black and brown striped spider shot out, over the edge, and walked on water across the pond to the other side and out again. Good thing a frog was not on the other side.

In the pond out front, a tiny, but fully formed frog that is bright green and electric blue. I've seen these before but I don't know what kind of frog they are as I never see any big ones.

Something interesting in my pond? A bunny. I have a fenced in yard, two small dogs who love chasing the bunnies. The bunnies know where to go to along the fence line to escape. A week ago I put up a temporary fence for a few days to keep the dogs out of an area I was trying to dry out. Unfortunately this blocked one of the escape routes. Late one night I let the dogs out and they were doing their bunny chase and he ran for this escape route, saw the fence at the last minute , made a sharp turn and leaped the length of my pond (8 feet!). He got away that night. 2 nights later the same thing, except this time he landed in the pond. I fished him out with the net not wanting him to scramble up the sides and puncture the lining. I carried him over to the fence and released him on the other side and he bolted off. I'd like to say he never came back but it was not to be. Bunny chases are a regular routine around here. Cute little critters but not too bright :)

bonz - that is mean.

I don't get it, why is it mean???

bonz, that was a paid advertisement from the bunnies. LOL

I built a bridge over the center of our 15' pond, and that's my favorite spot to sit quietly and see what surfaces. A couple days ago, a baby soft-shell turtle popped to the surface and looked at me. I booted one out last year, as I was afraid he would cause trouble. They keep getting in by climbing my back yard from the small lake out back. I guess I'll let him stay a while, until he gets too big. I also saw a bullfrog last night, and we seem to have a breeding colony of dragonflies now.

I never have anything interesting in my above ground patio pond, which is in my woodsey shady border and serves as a watering hole for the birds during the day and the racoons at night. Thats why I put in my other small 3 foot inground pond last fall way up in the back part of my yard. I am hoping it becomes a frog pond.

But of coarse none of that is enough. That is why I am getting the stock tank pond this year.

After I had drained my pond to remove more than 68 blugill that had multiplied, I was beginning to catch the fish from the holding tank to put back in the pond. They were all swimming away from me to keep me from catching them and all of a sudden they did an about face and scattered very hurridly. I looked closer to see what could have possible been in the water to scare them like that. There was a very small 1 1/2 in. bluegill I had missed by a flower pot guarding his territory. Some of my fish are 18 in. long and most are at least 9-10 in. And they are scared of a little bitty bluegill. That surprised me, I knew that a daddy bluegill would do that to protect nest that they make for the mamas to lay their eggs in, but not something that tiny. Needless to say he did not go back in the pond. Glenda

I found a leech in my little preform once. It might still be there. There are lots of interesting water-type bugs in there too. One little beetle has wings and he just paddles around down in the water. The water skimmers are fun to watch too.
hahahaha I had a funny thing happen a few years ago. I was doing something to my above ground stocktank pond, and had balanced something heavy on the side (a potted plant maybe). I wasn't paying attention and the thing fell into the water and made a huge splash. I was thinking it was a shark or something. Really scared me for a second. I couldn't figure out what sort of huge water animal was jumping out at me from my little stocktank. lol!

Ahhh Catherinet I know what you mean by thinking it was something fierce going to attack you. Last summer I put on my chest waders and got in the pond. When I picked up a plant basket something about 15 feet long zoomed out at lightning speed from under the basket. I swear I was out of the pond faster than the speed of sound. The next day I was tending to the upper pond and seen it again when it swam from a plant I was moving. It was only a huge bullfrog. Of course it wasn't 15 feet but they sure do get long when stretched out and zooming away.

Kathy

One of my favorite things to do is just wander around the yard and take the time to really look at things...Its always nice to spy different things and things you see all the time....like yesterday I plucked a dragonfly larve skeleton off of a leaf from a Saggiteria and handed it to hubby...He had no clue what it was....this time of year I start seeing lots of babies- sliders, tadpoles, frogs, and even snakes....Our family of doves are also always fun to watch...this year there is a white one with brown patches--I sure hope he stays around....they like to land on the pools and get a drink....also noticed my first water lily bloom yesterday...I didn't even know that I had any buds yet...and then I find a bloom...I thought that was really nice...We had our fist spawn just 2 days ago so it won't be long till I start seeing the little "eyelashes" around the ponds edge....
Lawanna