fuzzi's Puttering Around the Demesne in 2017!

Starting the year with one of our resident Gray squirrels...this one figured out how to access the feeders...hmm...

On Friday night through most of Saturday we had a winter storm. First it was cold rain, then freezing rain, then sleet, then snow, then it kept mixing all different types of precipitation, what a mess.

But I had ample opportunities to feed and photograph wild birds at my feeders. Here are my favorites:


Carolina Wren, on a feeder I hung just outside my kitchen window


Myrtle Warbler, aka a Yellow-rumped Warbler


Pine Warbler


Junco, aka "snowbird"


Tufted Titmouse


My favorite of all, a Carolina Chickadee


This is a first-time sighting for me: a Fox Sparrow!


Starlings, pests, but their plumage is interesting, and this photobomb was worth sharing!


Brown-headed Nuthatch...the tiniest of all the birds at my feeders, a mere 3" or so long.


Male and female Goldfinches


And finally, an Eastern Towhee, a bird that prefers the forest floor and rarely visits feeders. I felt honored!

I also had Bluejays and Cardinals, House finches, and other sparrows, but I figured this would do.

Nice photos!

Ah, the juncos did find North Carolina this year! :)

>2 fuzzi: Wow, that is a lot of variety! I have only counted five species on my feeder this year (Not counting the giant oaf of a Magpie that never figure out how to get to the seeds).

>5 LunaticDruid: the storm brought in a few extras, like the Starlings, the Towhee, and the Fox Sparrow. The Goldfinches show up when the weather gets really cold. The rest do show up at least a couple times a week, hard to say exactly as it's usually dark when I leave for work, and dark when I get home. I do most of my bird watching on the weekends.

>3 harrygbutler: thank you!

>4 CassieBash: yes, we get them whenever there's a storm.

Beautiful photos!

>7 AlisaBryce: thank you! I had beautiful subjects.

Oh, wow...on my wishlist:
Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America by Nathan Pieplow

You should also check out Birding By Ear.

>10 2wonderY: thank you! Which version do you have?

I have the Eastern/Central. But I loaned it out to a friend last year.

>9 fuzzi: Sounds like something Erika and I need, too! :-)

>10 2wonderY: The Birding by Ear CDs are very good.

>12 2wonderY: I was imprecise: what type, CD?

>13 harrygbutler: thanks for the second.

>14 fuzzi: You're welcome. Thanks for sharing about the new field guide; Erika just ordered a copy for us. :-)

Beautiful photos, fuzzi! thank you for sending this link to me on Harry's thread.

Once I saw the pics of the birds above, I knew you had to live in NC. I'm in central NC. I've already seen a towhee this year, exciting, and have actually started an official list of birds and dates. It's never too late to start, right?

>16 karenmarie: never ever too late!

I was started early on "birding", about age 7, by my mother. She kept a small spiral-bound notebook of her sightings.

I wish I had that journal.

She bought me my most recent Peterson's, back in 1988, and I still have her personal copy, printed in the 1960's, I think.

I believe Peterson's Birds of Eastern North America is the best bird guide, and I've tried a few.

Thank you for your kind words. I've wanted to photograph birds since I was young, but without a decent camera and zoom lens, it's almost impossible. The equipment makes the difference.

While I'm here, an update:

1. The male Towhee was joined by a female, and they have been eating under the feeders daily, as far as I can tell, I'm excited!

2. The Fox sparrow has also moved into the neighborhood, for now.

3. Another newcomer to my feeders has been a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (woodpecker)

I'll try to add a few pictures this weekend.

Here we go!

Because I don't limit myself to puttering outside..


My 29 gallon freshwater aquarium

And outside...we had a snow "storm" on the twelfth...


Snow on wild violets


White-breasted Nuthatch with a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the background


Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (woodpecker)


Brown Thrasher


Bluejay


Bluejay flying away


Balding male Cardinal


Fox sparrow


Mockingbird


Myrtle, aka "Yellow-rumped" warbler


Female Towhee (see the red eyes?)


Male Towhee

And a few days later...


Goldfinch on right, scolding a male House finch, on left


Female Cardinal and Goldfinch share the feeder


Myrtle warbler attempting to land on a suet feeder (he succeeded)


Red-bellied woodpecker (male)

And from today, a beeutiful 73F sunny Saturday...


Mourning dove and reflection


My first Green frog!


Anole


Skink!


Blueberry blossoms

>19 fuzzi: I so envy you your abundance of birds and amphibians. There used to be more around my house, but the city has rapidly crept out and surrounded me (faster than I thought it would, to be honest). The raccoons and sweet little quail have mostly vanished, and I don't remember the last time I saw a opossum. We still do have quite a few birds, but nothing like the wealth of variety and color that you've photographed above.

Your close up view of the Mockingbird is amazing. I don't know that I've ever seen one so close. I do miss them (it's too cold here for them, but I had them all around when I lived in SoCal). Lovely shots, every one of them.

>19 fuzzi: Wonderful pictures! I do so envy your skinks and anoles. The only reptiles northwest Indiana has are turtles and snakes. I guess I should be grateful that at least our snake species, for the most part, are non-venomous.

>20 Lyndatrue: Not even an opossum?? That's sad, because my boyfriend Derek lives on the edge of Ball State and sees the occasional opossum, raccoon, and once even a fox! And opposums are good things to have because they are natural tick control.

>19 fuzzi: Great photos as usual!

>20 Lyndatrue: so sad, sorry to hear about the urban growth. We live in an area where all the farmland is disappearing, being replaced by and overrun with new housing developments, such a shame.

There are still a few deer that we occasionally see by the side of the road, mainly at dusk, but the herds are smaller in number and stature from ten years ago. I used to see foxes, but no more, and until a few days ago, I'd not seen an opossum in several years.

We still get raccoons, nightly, coming for the feral cats' food, and garbage if someone forgets to put the large enamel stock pot on top of the trash can lid (it's filled with rocks, and makes an effective raccoon deterrent).

We have an empty treed lot next to us that slopes down to a swampy patch, and will most likely never be developed. I let the edges of the yard get overgrown, and we put all our branches and yard trimmings in a large brush pile, which both birds and snakes appreciate. Aside from venomous snakes (and fire-ants!!), we're pretty tolerant, even welcoming, to wildlife on our 1/3 acre.

The Mockingbird photo was taken with my 300x lens at a distance of less than 15', just outside my kitchen window. I liked the peanut in its beak, probably part of the peanut butter suet they so enjoy.

>21 CassieBash: we didn't see any lizards growing up in Connecticut, though I did collect toads for a while. Here in NC we have three venomous snake species, though the only one I've seen is the Copperhead.

An opossum not only eats an estimated 5000 ticks per year, they rarely get rabies, due to their low body temperature (I just looked that up).

>22 harrygbutler: thanks!

Astonishing photos - thank you for sharing!

Are any of the bird photos taken through your windows?

For Bird (hoping for) GOOD NEWS, every morning, I compare a picture & map from
the 2016 Sibley's Page-a-Day Calendar with that bird's description & map
from our now loose leaf copy of the 2001 SMITHSONIAN Handbook of North
American birds.

Today's report: The Peregrine Falcon has extended its range on both the
northern West Coast and in The Northeast.

>25 m.belljackson: all the bird photos are taken through my kitchen window.

Good news about the Peregrine; there were some worries about their survival, back in the 1960s.

>24 fuzzi: Like bats, I think that a lot of people overestimate how many opossums carry rabies. You're far more likely to get rabies from raccoons, which many people find cute and cuddly but can be just as vicious as any other wild animal if upset, frightened, or provoked. A bit of odd trivia for you: the armadillo is the only other animal (aside from man) that can get leprosy. All other mammals have body temperatures that exceed the leprosy bacteria's survival threshold. This is why they tell people to stay away from armadillos.

>25 m.belljackson: & >26 fuzzi: The Peregrine is a very adaptable bird and once the species recovered from DDT effects, it expanded its range because it was able to live in cities, eating the pigeons. Many cities now welcome Peregrines. I know I would!

>27 CassieBash: interesting bit about Armadillos...

The only books I have about a Peregrine is My Side of the Mountain and its sequels.

I do have a book Red-tails in Love, which has been sitting, unread, on my shelf for a while...hmm..

>27 CassieBash: A few years ago at a conference in Ft Worth, there were armadillo races. Granted, armadillos are cute as can be...from 50+ feet away; but just watching made me shudder and scream (in my head) leprosy!!!! I mentioned that armadillos can carry leprosy to a friend that night (I was evil and waited until after he'd handled the armadillos...with heavy leather gloves). His eyes got huge before he raced off to wash his hands. Mean mean mean, I know.

Gorgeous photos, fuzzi! Thank you for sharing here. It makes me want to borrow my daughter's good digital 35mm camera.

>28 fuzzi: I know a bit about armadillos, but sadly (as you probably know from reading my 75 book challenge threads) I know a lot more about leprosy.

>29 lesmel: Leprosy is not as contagious as people think, making many leprosy--and Biblical--scholars question whether leprosy really was the disease mentioned throughout the Bible. It's possible that the Biblical disease refers to something that was technically different but perhaps all were lumped into the same category in those days. After all, many diseases have similar symptoms and it's possible that doctors then didn't know the difference between two subtly different illnesses.

It takes a long, long time usually for a healthy person to contract the disease, with long-term exposure almost a necessity. So handling an armadillo one time (especially wearing gloves) is probably a negligible risk. Here's what the CDC has to say about Hansen's Disease, aka leprosy.

>31 CassieBash: Yeah, but I couldn't resist tormenting a friend/former co-worker just a little. Although, I did tell him I was deadly serious about armadillos carrying leprosy. Plus, I would guess these little guys were all hand-raised on an armadillo farm. Unlike the armadillos that used to chase us along the river bank at camp.

I've only seen one armadillo, several years ago, by the side of the road near Pensacola, FL. It was roadkill, so I've yet to see a live armadillo...

>32 lesmel: Yeah, they were probably clean.

>32 lesmel: Like me and the beavers. I'm up to two road kills and no live sightings. Oh, and badgers, too. But at least my younger sister saw a live one once.

When daughter's high school jazz band went to Disneyworld to compete in 2011, we frequently saw armadillos, all of them alive.

>35 karenmarie: it was on my only trip to Disney that I saw my first egret!

>34 CassieBash: I've not seen a live beaver or badger :(

I've never seen an armadillo in the wild that I recall, nor a beaver or badger. My most unusual wildlife sighting was probably a mink that lived around the pond in an office park where I worked for a while.

>37 harrygbutler: ooh, a mink!

I've seen Ring-necked pheasants, wild turkeys, gray and red foxes...

...two black bears in Shenandoah...

...oh, and prong-horned antelope and jack rabbits on a trip to Montana.

Interesting segue on animals, and it jogged my memory.

I've seen quite a few beavers (although not recently, because I haven't been where they'd be). I've seen badgers, too. Beavers are only cute in wildlife documentaries, and from a distance. Badgers are beautiful in the distance as well (but they have those claws, so close up is bad). I've seen a wolverine, in my long vanished youth, a few times, and moose and elk (of course). I've also seen my share of skunks, and was never as dumb as my brothers (both of whom pushed their luck, and got what they deserved). I've seen foxes, and wolves, and coyotes. I've seen plenty of bears, and been close enough to a grizzly (who'd eaten, thank goodness) to smell it. I've held a bear cub (before it was taken away by the forest service, to wherever they took orphans in those days). Bear cubs are the most cuddly thing I've ever held, and it was HARD to let it go.

No armadillos, though. :-}

My home city has a huge and mostly undeveloped river valley running through it, which is a major wildlife habitat and corridor, so seeing beavers, muskrats, deer, coyotes, hares, squirrels, chipmunks, porcupines, skunks, etc. is common. My husband saw a weasel, once. Occasionally, people report bears, cougars, and moose in the valley but I haven't seen those myself. I've seen pronghorn antelope, hognosed snakes, and badgers on road trips to southern Alberta. Bears, bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and marmots in the nearer national parks. I've never seen a wolf or cougar, though.

That doesn't count the birds, of course. Too many of those to list.

>40 tardis: >39 Lyndatrue: I love how this thread has progressed!

I've seen (and fed) skunks, as well, but in the stupidity of my youth at Girl Scout camp (we didn't get sprayed). I don't think any of us realized that skunks quite often are rabid.

>41 fuzzi: When we lived in a townhouse in Rochester, N.Y., nearly 20 years ago there was a family of skunks around. You'd see them ambling about when you got home late in the evening, and there were many summer nights we couldn't keep our patio door open because they'd wander through all the tiny back yards (there were no fences). They were cute enough from a distance, but I could have done without the aroma. :-)

Our dog Hildy encountered one a few years ago in our back yard late, late at night. Not a fun time for her or us.

Seen mink on occasion, usually close to ditches or swampy areas, and pheasants. Should I be lucky enough to get photo or video evidence of our beavers or badgers, I'll be sure to post, though right now my aim is to get photos or videos of our red Reynard. Since we have foxes in the area, we haven't had coyotes--but we have in the past. (Coyotes drive out foxes so you don't often get the two together in developed or even farmland areas--not enough range.) Seen a hognosed snake but usually it's the garter snakes we see--many get hit while sunning themselves in the road. Once saw a rattler--rather small and fortunately it didn't strike anyone, even the dog that stepped on it (she was oblivious). We had a rare black bear further north from us that wandered back into Michigan where it came from (bears aren't found in Indiana anymore) and every once in awhile you hear of a wolf or cougar sighting. Pronghorns, bison, elk, moose, marmots and wolverines aren't in this area.

>42 harrygbutler: One of our dogs, a German shepherd/malamute/wolf cross, ran afoul of skunks more than once. She was never hurt (except for her dignity) but the smell was terrible. One morning she came in before school and while she didn't rub on us, the odor stayed with us anyway. They sent us home because we had the scent lingering on us.

We've had several skunks around our place over the years. Last year we had a family that tried to move in under our back porch. Husband blocked it after making sure they weren't in residence.

And maybe 8-10 years ago we heard terrible noises outside the French doors and there, about 15 feet away, were two skunks going at it - raucous, and extremely smelly skunk sex! Usually the aroma doesn't make it into the house, but that time it did. Phew!

Final stunk story - when I was in high school our pure white cat Martini had a run in with a skunk. We had heard that tomato juice neutralizes the odor, so my Mom and I gave her a tomato juice and then shampoo bath. She was pink for a week, and I had tomato juice and blood streaks on my arms. Martini did not like baths.

We need a wildlife thread! https://www.librarything.com/topic/253809

>44 karenmarie: hahaha! I shouldn't laugh, but I wanted to...Martini did not like baths, lol.

>45 lesmel: I don't mind you posting here, but okay... I'll check out the thread. :)

>45 lesmel: lesmel - What a great idea - thank you!

Okay, I need help...I have tried several sites online, and still can't ID this wildflower:


Wildflower tbi (to be identified) - photo #1


Wildflower tbi (to be identified) - photo #2


Wildflower tbi (to be identified) - photo #3

It's blooming right now, late March, in eastern NC, USA.

The flower stem is a foot tall or less (30.5 cm).

Anyone?

It looks like Blue Toadflax to me. We have it in New Hampshire but I'm not sure about the overall range. Google will know. :o)

>48 fuzzi: How large are those blossoms? It does indeed look like Linaria (one of my favorites).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linaria

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linaria_purpurea

I have a ton of pictures of various colors growing in my garden, over the years. I'll have to see if I can find some.

I'm thinking of Linaria canadensis (or, more properly, Nuttallanthus canadensis)

>50 Lyndatrue: I'm guessing the blossoms are less than 1/2" across.

Toadflax looks close, thanks!

EDIT: I'm going back with a trowel, toadflax is food for Buckeye butterflies:

http://www.nababutterfly.com/Nuttallanthus%20texanus.html

>51 muddy21: That's exactly it. Luckily one of the non-invasive varieties, as well.

>52 fuzzi: You can do that with your wildflowers? Texas has some laws against removing wildflowers (although, I'm not sure they are enforced) and some trees.

>55 lesmel: I am sure it will be okay to remove some, as the flowers are next to a construction site at work. On Tuesday they were fine, by the sidewalk, but the next day some were run over (tire marks) and the ground was disturbed. They'll probably next be sprayed by Round-Up, that's what the university uses to control "weeds" (non-grass). I'd prefer to rehome a couple.

New site I found:
http://wildflowersearch.org/search?oldstate=gmc%3A35.980%2C-78.510%3Bgms%3A4%3Bp...

>55 lesmel: I say if they're getting run over and killed with pesticides, no one will care about removing them. Obviously the university doesn't see fit to keep them around, or they would have told the construction people to be more careful. But legally, I don't know. You can always ask a university official; they'll probably think you're crazy but likely won't care.

>57 CassieBash: no one will care, really.

I missed my chance today due to strong storms rolling through, but I will see if the plants are still around on Monday.

Look!



First sighting of a skipper in 2017, a Silver-spotted skipper!

That's a wildflower, vetch, that he/she is checking out.

>59 fuzzi: Nice!

>59 fuzzi: Nice green frog. Not seeing a skipper...do you have the right link?

>59 fuzzi: it's showing here...?

Check out my gallery, you should be able to view it there.

>62 fuzzi: OK, I'm seeing the skipper now. Maybe I caught it before you corrected it? Or maybe it was a LT glitch? Anyway, it's good to see the skipper; hopefully in a month or two I'll be seeing them as well (and raising them if I can find the caterpillars!).

>63 CassieBash: good! He/she's a pretty one!

The weekend was nice, mild and sunny with some breeze. I wanted to do more, but as the saying goes: "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". I managed to do a bunch of weeding, laid cardboard down in several areas to suppress weeds, and caught two bullfrogs (and re-homed them, I'm not a monster!).

Yikes, suddenly a bazillion unread posts popped up... Unsurprisingly you are further into spring than I am. Yesterday was the first day I've seen multiple butterflies, and they were all cabbage white.

>65 qebo: it's been consistently fair/warm here for a couple weeks. I think we had our most recent frost a couple weeks ago, though we're not safe to plant annuals for another week or so.

WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SNAKES, DO NOT LOOK AT THE NEXT POST...

On my after work walk around the yard, I noticed a strange vine growing in the chain link fence...

...it was not a vine...

...

...

...

...

...

Here "he" is, a non-venomous, yet to be identified snake:



He was only about two feet long, not sure if he was even an inch in diameter, so his prey was probably bugs, lizards, and other snakes.

I tried not to harass him too much, taking a lot of pictures (they're on my Facebook page), and then leaving him alone to do his hunting.

Snakes are welcome in my yard, as long as they aren't venomous, like Copperheads. Those types are re-homed, if at all possible.

>68 fuzzi: Great shot of him!

>68 fuzzi: It's lovely, your new pet. I don't much care for cockroaches, or humans, but I like most everything else.

>69 harrygbutler: thanks!

>70 Lyndatrue: agreed regarding cockroaches, and I'd add fire ants to the pariah category...

>68 fuzzi: Beautiful snake! Here's something that might help you identify him--a pictorial identification guide to North Carolina snakes. It even breaks out the poisonous ones into a separate category, so you can ignore those and concentrate on the others. Of course, if it's young, it may not have all the markings it will have as it matures. And garter snakes come in a lot of color/pattern varieties, so it could easily be one of those. Let us know what you decide!

Thanks! I thought it might be a juvenile rat snake, and it's been confirmed.

All rat snakes eat… rats… as well as other small animals including garden pests such as voles. They frequently enter the crawl space underneath houses to munch on the mice they find there. If you are finding rat snakes in your yard it is likely you are the host to a very healthy ecosystem.

http://www.appalachianfeet.com/2009/08/24/how-to-identify-a-juvenile-rat-snake/

Good snakes, eat everything...lol!

>73 fuzzi: Excellent! Rat snakes are very good!

>73 fuzzi: you are the host to a very healthy ecosystem
That's nice to know.

>74 CassieBash: yes!

>75 qebo: it is. I like seeing some critters, though I could do with fewer raccoons.

> fuzzi -

Maybe (the only) one good thing about Global Warming

is that rat snakes will migrate to Token Creek, Wisconsin, and slow

the exploding mouse population.

This year's main project is getting my "new" pond installed, and turning my "old" pond into a type of wetland/bog garden (not acidic, like a true bog).

I have two pre-formed ponds, the current 20 gallon one (that is buckling due to the high water table) and another preform of about 70-100 gallons. A friend of mine saw it by the side of the road and brought it home for me. It holds water just fine, but I'm not sure how much water it will hold.

This is sort of what the larger "new" pond looks like:


Here are my preliminary plans:


I'm thinking of using some sort of strainer/skimmer at the top end of the large pond, where I have "big pump" on the diagram. I've a large new-in-box pump that will be doing the bulk of the work.

My small pond has a waterfall like this:


and the pump is still working, so I'm thinking of incorporating it to help pump the water from the bog back into the main pond.

I can't raise the small pond or it will collapse, so I will need to have a pump to move the water from the small pond to the large pond. I was thinking of digging a hole, lining it with plastic or stone, then putting the waterfall in the hole, so the flow is just above the pond level.

Any thoughts/input from those with experience is appreciated. I'm working on a strict budget as it is, so lots of shiny new stuff is not feasible.

Thanks!

I'm not an engineer at this, so as far as I can tell, the idea of moving water with the current small pond pump should work. If you design it right, you can probably "hide" the hose that will pump water back down with rocks. If you know any farmers with rocks in their fields, you can probably get them free, especially if you pick them out of the fields yourself. We've done our share of that, and one of our close friend's husband actually brings them to us in his truck.

Your diagram looks basically like our setup, except for the second pump. Since our pond is sunk deep into the ground and the bog is just a little below ground level at its deepest, gravity does the work for us; when the water tops the spillway, it naturally goes over.

When you go to stock it with fish, just remember that koi get absolutely monstrous, and your 100-ish gallon pond may not be able to keep a koi comfortable. And start with two goldfish; if you have a pair and they really like the setup, you'll likely get more. We started with 5, and it only took a few years to get the population we have now.

>79 CassieBash: thanks!

No koi here, I know my limitations. I might add killifish or mosquito fish, haven't decided yet. I once added Shubunkin, but a bullfrog ate them. :(

No rocks here in NC, we have to BUY them, unreal.

How deep is your bog area?

>80 fuzzi: I've never measured it officially; the next nice-day opportunity I get, I'll try to remember to do that for you. I think there's about an inch or two of gravel at the bottom; the gravel helps anchor the native perennial plants we have planted in there, plus any debris that gets past the skimmer's filters gets caught in the bog, decays, and provides a natural silt and fertilizer for the plant. Last year for the first time, we got a pond vac and cleaned it out; the waterfall flow was weak and we blamed it on clogged hose. While the cleaning did help, I think part of our problem was the pump; it died shortly after we called it quits with the vac. We ask a lot of our pumps, since we run them year-round, and the pond's been in place for several years now.

>81 CassieBash: great, I'd appreciate that.

I'm thinking/pondering/meditating on having some sort of skimmer for the big pump, but don't know if it's needed, as the pond is only 75-100 gallons by my estimation.

My concern is that I don't want leaves and debris to get stuck in the hose that runs from the big pump to the bog.

How big (circumference) is your hose from the skimmer to the bog?

>82 fuzzi: Not that big, as I recall. Plus the skimmer has these big brush filters that tend to catch leaves, and I think there's also another filter that doesn't allow large debris through. Different skimmers may have different setups. Usually the leaves congregate in front of the skimmer door and that can cause a water flow issue, but if you take a net and scoop them out when they back up at the door, it's not a big problem. Most of the debris that gets through is smaller stuff, like fish and (presumably) frog waste and such. We've never had a clog in the underground part of the hose, only where the water comes out at the bog from the silt piling up and blocking the holes.

As for needing a skimmer for that size of a pond, I don't know. You might not need it. Our pond is much, much bigger so comparisons would be unfair. Ask around--we have a gardening center in Granger, Ginger Valley, that has a section that's specific for ponds and water gardens, with knowledgeable staff people who are always ready to give advice. Do you have a similar place?

>83 CassieBash: I've been doing some research online, but not found a definitive answer to when a skimmer is recommended.

Most of them start about $200, and require I cut a notch in my pond. I'm not keen on either of those requirements.

I've been thinking about a way to strain leaves and stuff before they get in the hose, like a dollar store plastic basket.

Thanks again for your input.

Woo! I found an in-pond skimmer on Amazon, and plan to order it and 20' of tubing before midnight. The weather is supposed to continue to be mild through the weekend, and I'm hoping to get the pond in the ground and running by Easter...I hope!

I spent about an hour weeding my perennial/bird garden and the area around the pond, all after work this evening. The mosquitoes are not yet bothersome, so I'm trying to get done what I can before the HEAT hits.

EDIT: my weeding progress:

Left is Stella D'Oro lilies, front of bird bath is Sedum, to the right of the bird bath (darker green) is a mix of Shasta dasies and Coreopsis, which is also behind the bird bath. The taller plants to the back/left are Canna lilies and Amaryllis.

And interspersed are wild violets and wild strawberries.

Skimmer and tubing ordered, should arrive tomorrow!

Here's a photo of the skimmer I found on the web:


I've modified my diagram because the pump needs to be drawing water from the skimmer, and then pushing the water to the bog/waterfall.

I'm still stuck on the design of the bog/waterfall. There are lots of in-ground designs, but I think I need to raise the bog above the pond so that gravity takes over once the water is in the bog. I can't have the bog water too high, though, because then it would just fill the bog garden and spill over all the edges.

Hmm. Thinking.

Hmm. Maybe I'll just use one of these with plants in it, "for now":

Pond work is scheduled to start tomorrow, as I spent the better part of today on another project: creating a gate to replace one that had rotted away. I'm no handyman or carpenter, so it's a long process.

It's suppertime and this is what's been completed: the wooden frame has been created, made with pressure treated lumber and fastened with stainless steel screws. The two eye screws that are the main hinges have been screwed into the side of the frame, and I have applied a coating of tung oil as a weather protectant over the wood. I removed a piece of garden fencing from the "old" gate, and spray painted it to cover and retard the rust that is showing. I plan to use the fencing on the new gate, but I'm going to wait til morning to do that, and to add the diagonal brace, and also install the latch. Then we'll hang the gate, but I don't anticipate that last part will take long.

Compost news: I emptied most of one side of my dual bin, speading some of it around the Stella D'Oro lilies, and digging the rest into a raised bed. Inside the bin were four little red potatoes that had grown from kitchen refuse, wow!

Annual News: I purchased three red Pentas yesterday, and planted them in the aforementioned raised bed. The hummingbirds and butterflies love them! When I went back to Lowe's (home improvement store) to get my diagonal brace cut*, I picked up some Petite Marigolds and Vincas. I should go outside and plant them, but...

*At which point I discovered that Lowe's does not make diagonal cuts on 2x4s, so I bought a hand saw and am going to try to do it myself.

Update!


The finished gate!!


Installation of the "new" pond is progressing nicely. The hole was finished last night, and today I leveled the bottom and edges as best as I could. Then gravel and sand were added to the bottom, tamped and leveled, and finally I put the pond in the hole and have been "backfilling" it with sand. It's been pretty warm today, and I had to come inside several times to cool off.

>88 fuzzi: Nice work on the gate. Can you come over? :-}

I'll be interested to see how the pond turns out. Are you planning any special plants to grow in it?

>90 harrygbutler: Good job on the gate!

I should make gates this year for our gardens, which are fenced with garden fencing. The catch is that there aren't really any substantial fence posts (just the lighter metal posts for garden fencing). In one place I think I can use an arbor to make a gateway, but I'm not sure how I'll handle the other.

Wow! Look at you, fuzzi, all productive and such. What's your spring tonic recipe?

>88 fuzzi: Impressively productive!

>89 Lyndatrue: LOL...the gate was a copy of the one my father made six years ago; the left hand gate is still in good shape, so I only needed to do the right.

I have Pickerel rush, and a bedraggled pond liliy that has never bloomed, and some irises, too. A friend of mine gave me some nut-like seeds that are growing arrowhead-shaped leaves. I don't know what they are, uh oh...

Aside from some water hyacinth or water lettuce, not sure yet what I will be trying to grow. I want to do a bog/wetland garden, not sure yet what plants I will use there.

>90 harrygbutler: when I was a child we had a simple wooden gate for our garden, and I don't recall any special post, just the green metal fence posts.

>91 2wonderY: As far as a Spring tonic, your ridgetop posts inspire me... ;)

I've been taking probiotics on a regular basis, and have cut out most refined sugar from my diet, and I really DO feel better.

I like getting things done, but can't do much when the heat and humidity arrives, usually by mid-April. Luckily, we've not had the oppressive heat yet this year. I saw the weather forecast was for continued mild and clear for the next several days, so I took a three day weekend to make the gate, and get as much done on the pond as possible.

Note: the pond is in the ground, and filled with water, finished as it was getting dark! Hopefully we'll get the waterfall/bog set up next weekend, but that will be so much easier than the digging and leveling and backfilling and tamping...

>87 fuzzi: Bonus crop of potatoes--cool! Our compost mostly sprouts weeds.

>88 fuzzi: Pond and gate are looking good!

>93 fuzzi: If it were my bog and I lived in NC, I'd be planting carnivorous plants--some nice Venus flytraps, sundews, and pitcher plants. But that's just me. ;) Still, my sister planted swamp milkweed beside ours; it's native and any overflow from heavy rains just helps water it. Since the fish are in the bottom of the pond, only tadpoles and water insects have to worry about being washed out. In the bog, we tend to have native rushes and emergent plants. The pond itself has water lilies--do you plan on putting some of those in the pond for your fish to hide under?

>94 CassieBash: thank you!

Here it is, as of 8pm last night (I was determined to get it done as we're expecting a couple days of rain and storms) :



The skimmer will probably be at the far end, the waterfall at the bottom left, about "7 o'clock". I can't do any more until the skimmer and the diverter valve arrive: the latter not scheduled for delivery until Friday.

I'm not going to do a true acidic bog, but more of a water garden. Right now I'm mulling over using the broken wheelbarrow's tub as a base underneath the waterfall shell, filled with pea gravel, and planted. My dh is willing to remove the rusted hardware from the wheelbarrow, sand it and paint it any color I like. I have a small piece of pond liner I could put in the barrow so it doesn't leak. I'm not exactly sure how to add a slow drip from the top of the waterfall (8 gallon tub) into the barrow base, but I'll keep mulling it over.

Lilies like still water, and my one pond lily has never bloomed probably for that reason, so I'm not sure lilies are the best choice, but I'll probably get some water hyacinth and water lettuce, at least, for floating plants. My pickerel rush has created numerous plants, and if I repot them, I'll have many to add.

>95 fuzzi: Nice!

Looks great! I'm enjoying watching your progress on this project!

I like your use of the blocks to manage levels.

This was fun to watch (and not be the one sweating)! Can't wait to see more of it as you make decisions. :)

>95 fuzzi: It's going to be beautiful, truly. I love the little frog at the edge. I have to echo lesmel, though. The best part about this is watching, and admiring, and not doing any work. :-}

Water hyacinth will be lovely.

Thank you for all the kind comments!

I will give some credit to this book: Complete Guide to Water Gardens: Ponds, Fountains, Waterfalls, Streams, which was (still is) invaluable in so many ways. Many sites that offer information about installing a pond leave out so much about using a preform pond shell. Using pea gravel and sand to add support under the pond and to backfill the sides of a preform was something I saw no where else. We have a high water table, and often get 3" or more of rain in a good storm, so proper support is crucial. Rain water should drain to the bottom "well" UNDER the pond, where there is about a foot of sand and gravel packed firmly.

I'm not sure where I got the idea for the blocks, I've read so many pond sites online, and that book. I wanted blocks to help support the pond, and to keep it raised above the ground so there's no runoff INTO the pond.

My dh did a lot of the heavy digging, though we took turns. He and our son also helped unload the bags of sand (50# each) and pea gravel (50# each) from the pickup truck, as I just can't lift and walk/climb with that kind of weight anymore. I think the final count on sand was 23 bags, and 10 bags of pea gravel, I've sort of lost count. It's a good thing Lowe's is only about 1 1/2 miles away.

I did most of the filling, leveling, and backfilling myself, as my dh was not feeling well yesterday.

And yes, I did sleep soundly last night!

>100 Lyndatrue: the green frog? That was less than $1.00 at a yard sale. The friend who found and gave me the preform (someone had it by the side of the road for trash pickup) also gave me the two ceramic turtles on the right side wall.

I have a heron "spitter" waiting in the shed...

>95 fuzzi: That's true about the lilies; I forget that your pond will be much busier, water-flow wise, than ours due to size. It won't take long to fill that space with water hyacinth and lettuce; ours reproduces like crazy. In fact, we have a few hyacinth in a bucket on our back porch, where we keep it warm enough for them to winter over. There's also some duckweed in there; another favorite of fish and tadpoles, by the way.

>103 CassieBash: I've not had any "luck" keeping hyacinth alive over the winter, even in my aquarium. It's cheap enough to buy a couple plants in late Spring, and let them propagate.

The pump I have is about 1500gph, which might be too strong, but we'll see. I've ordered the diverter valve, which not only allows more than one water feature (in my case, the waterfall and at least one spitter), but allows you to reduce the flow some. If it's too strong, I'll just have to get another pump.

The skimmer arrived today, woo!

>104 fuzzi: That sounds like a pretty strong pump, all right. But then I don't know the gph on ours right off-hand, so perhaps that's not as strong as it sounds.

Hi fuzzi!

>95 fuzzi: Absolutely gorgeous! I am impressed.

>106 karenmarie: thank you!

Diverter valve is here, so now I just need the wheelbarrow base prepared, and then I can attach the filtration system!

The pond is not done, but it's running...



Duh, I never thought to check the cord length for my pump. The pond is almost 15 feet from the outlet, and the pump electrical cord was only ten feet...so I had to buy another pump, and then the hoses and valves did not match, wrong size. I bought hose to fit, but could not find the right sized diverter valve, so now my heron spitter is waiting for input.

Big, strong storms are headed our way, so I am so glad I was able to at least get the water flowing. More plants, new valve will come, hopefully by next weekend!

>108 fuzzi: cord length
Oops. But progress regardless!

>108 fuzzi: Looking good!

>108 fuzzi: Live and learn. Not sure I would have thought about that, either. But it's looking great! Love the toads up front on the stones.

>111 CassieBash: yep. No better teacher than experience!

I took a tip from you, CassieBash, I have uploaded a short video of my pond to Youtube:

https://youtu.be/lJk8SX4DySg

Not much, but it's a start.

>112 fuzzi: Love the video and the follow-up vids, too. Plecos!! :)

>113 CassieBash: I just counted five baby plecos. Dad is still in the "cave", and from what I've read, he'll guard until the last fry has left. Good Daddy!

>114 fuzzi: Fish daddies are surprisingly good fathers sometimes. Seahorses are the same way.

>116 fuzzi: Daddy Pleco has left the cave, he's done with his duties.

I found one dead baby a couple days ago (:sniff:), but as of last night, I counted eight (8) fry munching away on the zucchini I put in the aquarium. Dad's munching, too...I imagine he didn't eat much while on nursery duty.

Pond update, from the weekend:



We have "new pond syndrome" (algae bloom) but I expect that will clear up with the addition of plants, especially as they start to spread and grow.

More plant additions are on the horizon, but as we're heading out on vacation this Thursday, I didn't want to do much more until we get back.

The weather is getting normal for this time of year: hot, humid, and any more transplants will need careful attending in order to survive and thrive. I can't do that from 500 miles away...

Overhead view from yesterday, as the water lilies started to send up more pads:

>117 fuzzi: >118 fuzzi: I like the look of your pond.

Off to visit your granddaughter?

>117 fuzzi: It's just so lovely. The little stone pieces add so much to it. The frogs are very realistic (although perhaps those are toads, since they lack that glisten of frogs ;-}}.

>119 harrygbutler: thanks!

Hmm, how did you guess we were headed for Chicago and GRANDDAUGHTER??? ;)

>120 Lyndatrue: I'm quite happy with it, so far. It helps that I installed a 20g pond about 4-5 years ago, and have learned from my mistakes.

I like my critters, too.

I was just in the back yard so Tirzah could do her last "pit stop" before bed, and listened to the running water. It needs some little solar lights by the side...

Pleco update: I counted NINE pleco fry this evening, and showed my brother (who will be house/pet "sitting") how to prepare the zucchini for pleco consumption. In one day the hungry lil' darlings have just about stripped all the rind off a 4" wedge of that vegetable!

>117 fuzzi:, >118 fuzzi: Well that's turned out nicely, and it will mature over time.

I love the sound of running water. So soothing. Nice job!

>121 fuzzi: I guess all my mystery reading came in handy: Vacation + 500 miles away = visit to granddaughter! :-)

Driving again? If you end up on US 30 out by Donaldson (near Plymouth), give a wave to my workplace, Ancilla College! (I'm shameless with the plugs!) :)

>126 CassieBash: yes, Ma'am. And there's a distinct possibility we might take US-30 from Gallipolis, Ohio to Chicago. The usual route has an awful lot of "construction" warnings.

>126 CassieBash: Yes, it's orange cone season, indeed.

Pond update!



I added some petunias and coleus around the waterfall. I also weeded the north side, tried to level it, mulched it with cardboard, and then moved some of the Creeping Jenny to just outside the paving stones.

Oh, and I found a heavy cast iron bunny at the garden center! While I was out of town, there was a very strong storm that added so much rain it floated and flipped over my skimmer. That shouldn't happen again with Blackberry sitting on top!

...To be continued...

Looks great! Getting better all the time. Love the bunny, too.

>130 tardis: thank you. I can see it's going to continue to be a work-in-progress for a while.

I named the bunny after my favorite character in Watership Down.

Weather today looks clear, mild, so I am hoping to get the rest of my transplanting done, and move my house plants to their summer residence, the front porch. It's an eastern exposure, with only a little direct sunlight in the early morning, so even on the hottest, brightest days, even my begonias thrive.

Whew! I've been outside, puttering around the pond, and it looks a lot different from yesterday:



I added border stones from the old pond, repotted and potted iris, and planted more sprigs of Creeping Jenny around the borders, and in between the stones, so they can grow/trail over the rocks and ground. You can see there I planted one at the base of my heron "spitter".

I moved the banana trees next to the pond, to help protect the Creeping Jenny until it becomes established.

Once the sun is behind the trees on the west side of the property, I'll go back outside and transplant my Columbine, Cardinal Lobelia, and Bergamont.

And all my house plants are on the porch.

Edit: replaced photo with updated photo, showing the transplanted flowers on the left in front of the propane tank. They will grow tall enough to hide it somewhat.

Pond is looking great! Blackberry was a favorite of mine as well. Our skimmer has never flipped but it's embedded in the ground, so I don't think the wind can flip it.

>133 CassieBash: since it's a preform pond shell, I had to either cut a hole in the side of the pond, or get a "floating" skimmer. I chose the latter. It's weighed down with gravel but apparently not enough if we get 3" of rain!

I'm going to delete the photo in post 132, and replace it with the "final" photo I took at dusk after transplanting the Lobelia, etc.

The dirt will be covered with cardboard, then all the cardboard will be covered with cypress mulch.

>134 fuzzi: Well, in all fairness to the gravel, 3 inches of rain is quite a lot to get at one time.

>135 CassieBash: argh, the skimmer flipped again this evening, as I was using pond water on the transplants, and apparently lowered the water level too much.

I've now removed the foam insert on the skimmer door, and put a large paving stone on top.

It made me think of the videos I've seen of cars being flipped over in just a few inches of flood waters in the road. Water is a powerful force.

>136 fuzzi: Yes, it is; "Turn Around, Don't Drown!" is the catchy phrase the National Weather Service wants all motor vehicle operators to remember. There's a reason for that. The stone should work, I'd think. How large? ;)

>137 CassieBash: I recognize the phrase. The only fatalities we had from last September's hurricane were people who drove down flooded roads.

The stone is about the same size as the top of the skimmer, over an inch thick. I put Blackberry on top for good measure!

This evening there was a nice breeze as I repotted two Pickerel rush into shorter pots (the rims are now just below the water's surface) and put my last Bergamont into a large pot as well, next to the propane tank.

Now I just let the plants grow, and the pond cycle, before I consider adding fish.

Woo!


The water lily bloomed today!

And a couple butterflies came by:


Female Eastern tailed-blue butterfly


American Lady on the milkweed blossoms

Simply beautiful photographs - thank you!

>140 m.belljackson: my pleasure! If the butterflies let me get close, I can get some pretty shots.

Garden/Pond Update:

The weather has been very warm, sun is hot, with a slight non-cooling breeze.

Yesterday afternoon while looking out the kitchen window at the pond I noticed a black lizard, making its way around the pond...and noted it had no legs...I estimated it to be about 3 feet long. It probably was a black rat snake, like the one I saw earlier this year but in a black phase. At least I thought it was a black rat snake. Today as I walked toward the pond, I observed a small reptilian head poking out from beneath a sheet of cardboard. It ducked back under, and I went about my duties. About five minutes later I went over to the sheet of cardboard, and gently lifted the corner. Suddenly about five feet away I saw a think black snake shoot past the propane tank and into the overgrown blueberry patch. Any thin black snakes that moves that fast is a black racer. I'm not worried, it's non-venomous, and eats lizards, frogs, birds, and OTHER SNAKES (like Copperheads!). We're cool.

The water hyacinth are blooming, as are many of the pickerel rush.

I bought ten "golden minnows" today (they are not true minnows, which are cold-water fish) and released them into the ponds: 2 grayish fish went into the 20g pond, the 8 golden ones into the big pond. I suspect they will be fine. The water temperature at the surface of the big pond is 87F, but will be cooler towards the bottom, and that's where I think they went.

The pond(s) area has been very busy with bees and dragonflies! I saw at least 5-6 dragonflies at one time, swooping and circling around each other. I did see a pair in tandem (I looked the other way) and later I saw the female hovering over the small pond, dipping her tail into the water repeatedly: laying eggs? Probably.

Speaking of laying eggs, I saw a Variegated fritillary flitting around the gardens, checking out the violets, and I am guessing she was laying eggs along the way.

I didn't get good pictures of the butterfly, and none of the snake(s), but will post more as I can.

Here is a Blue Dasher (female) dragonfly:



Have a good Memorial Day weekend to all my fellow Americans, and a good weekend to everyone else!

>142 fuzzi: Yes, you're probably right about the dragonfly tail-dipping/egg laying thing. I'm glad you have dragonflies there; I've seen few so far here but then our nights recently have remained a bit chilly. Keep us updated on the snake(s), please, even if you can't get a photo op.

All those critters! Things should start picking up here soon...

I came across this article about Water Hyacinths, and thought I'd share:

http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2014/03/water-hyacinth-in-kings-bay/

It's cooled down a bit here, feels chilly, and the frogs are not singing tonight. Every night for a couple weeks I have been serenaded by frogs outside the kitchen windows, near or in my ponds.

Last night I heard one which I had tentatively identified as a Green Tree frog by its voice, and slipped outside with my good DSLR set on flash. Several pictures followed, most which were out of focus, except this one:



I wish I could have gotten a decent photo of him with his throat all expanded, looking like a balloon, but the rest of the pictures were out of focus.

The main pond (100g) is doing well, the water is cleared to a point where I can almost see the bottom, 18" down. I don't see the fish I put in last week, but it's a big pond, and they might be over by the waterfall, hiding under the floating plants.

I have a bamboo "spitter" that someone gave to me, and I wanted to use on the small pond (20g). However, when I set it up on the weekend, I discovered that the electric cord for the pump was too short to reach the outside electrical outlet. Soooo, I went out and bought another pump, with a 16' cord. Unfortunately, it was too strong for a spitter, and instead of having the water come out of the bamboo in a gentle arc, it shot across the pond about 3 feet! I guess I need to get yet another pump for the spitter...

I'm seriously considering making a biological and mechanical filter for the big pond, so it stays clean even if I have a bunch of fish living in it. There are thousands of DIY pond filter plans/designs on the internet (look up "Wendy" and "Skippy" pond filters), and I've already started drawing diagrams of what I could construct. I still want to do a "bog" filter, but I think waiting until the autumn is best before doing more digging and construction.

>146 fuzzi: Sweet!

>146 fuzzi: Frogs are one of the few things I miss, living here in the desert. I've seen them down by the rivers, and along the banks, but certainly not up here, in my garden... Except that, a week or so ago, I saw (and rescued, against its will) a tiny frog. I imagine it's from one of the irrigation overflow ponds. Our summer has had very few hot days so far, so perhaps it will survive.

Your picture is beautiful.

>148 Lyndatrue: thank you!

Today was a hot day, and I began it with a strong headache, which ruined my early morning gardening plans. Since outside work is difficult during sweltering summer afternoons, I was going to finish up my current book, The Grandfathers. However, I was offered a like-new bookcase, and my afternoon was instead spent replacing my old bookcase with the newer one...and organizing it...



All the books here are TBR, with just a couple exceptions (a few of the Sharon Kay Penmans I have completed are included because I wanted all of her books on the same shelf).

Top shelf is mysteries, adventures, and westerns.
Second shelf is all sci-fi and fantasy.
Third shelf is all my Sharon Kay Penman collection, with a few Thomas B. Costain books tucked in for convenience.
Fourth shelf is a mishmash of larger or hardcover books that help keep the bookshelf steady, and that need to be read.

The brown shelf above has a mix of TBR books as well. I'm trying to keep the level of books low so I can see my clock...

>149 fuzzi: That looks to be a handy little bookcase. I've started shuffling some books around to get fairly imminent planned reads into a single spot, on a little three-shelf book case.

The heat curtailed our garden activities, too, though Erika did some earlier in the day, and once it got shady in the late afternoon we set up our drip irrigation kit for the main garden. It certainly has promise, but the hose end that came with the kit isn't very good and meant a lot of leaking at the rain barrel, so I'll have to head to the hardware store for a replacement. I've got beans to plant before work in the morning, too.

>150 harrygbutler: drip irrigation? How does it work?

I have a soaker hose in my shed that I've never used.

>151 fuzzi: It's the same principle as a soaker hose, delivering slow but steady water at ground level rather than watering from above, but the setup we used combines some stiffer tubing with the "tape" that has the drip outlets, so you can serve multiple rows without winding a hose among them. Here's the kit we started with: http://www.digcorp.com/homeowner-drip-irrigation-products/st100as-drip-soaker-ta.... We did get a longer length of poly tubing so that we could circle much of our raised-bed main garden, and we have enough drip tape and tubing to do our raised-bed annex garden as well. We'll be hooking them up to two rain barrels, but you can hook to a hose or spigot instead.

Eventually I may put in place some PVC piping all around the raised beds to use instead, but if this works, I won't be in a hurry to do it.

>152 harrygbutler: setting that up will save not only water, but a lot of work on your part. I still haul a watering can around for my potted plants, and annuals that are in need of a drink.

Update!

The heat is on here in eastern NC, with indices of about 101 due to the high humidity, so I won't be doing any more outside work until dusk.

I've not seen a lot of butterflies, but the Blue Dasher dragonflies have been extremely active, circling the small pond, apparently jockeying for position to impress the female I saw earlier:


Blue Dasher dragonfly, female

I've also seen Eastern Pondhawks (no decent pictures to share), White-tailed skimmers, and this one, to-be-identified:


A male Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, larger than the Blue Dashers

Also around the pond are damselflies, tiny 1" or less long, similar but not the same as dragonflies:

TBI Damselfly

Here's a butterfly picture, from last week:


Horace's Duskywing butterfly

And for those of you who are "birders", this sighting made me "ooh ooh" as I've not seen one of these in years:


Eastern Kingbird

Another "ooh ooh" moment, a new resident of the pond:


Southern Leopard frog

Oh, the pond? It's doing well. The water hyacinth and water lettuce grow rampantly, and I gift the culled plants to a friend who has a small turtle pond: her turtles eat plants like ice cream on a hot day!

The waterlilies bloom for a couple days, about once a week. Today this lily was on bloom day #2, but still looks good:


Waterlily bloom

And here's the whole "big" pond, about noon today. Up in the waterfall spillway, you can just see a blue and white ceramic decoy duck I added this weekend (thanks to a local thrift store!):


My "big" pond at noon

The cypress mulch was put down on Friday June 23rd, and I think it looks nice. I want to add more, but between being sick last week and the heat of the weekend, it's not gotten done. The light green ground cover you can see on the right side of the pond, and in little patches elsewhere, is "Creeping Jenny". I am encouraging it to grow all around the pond area.

It almost makes me yearn to live where you do, with all the water, and everything so green. Ah, but I saw you use the word "humidity" and I was cured. :-}

It's all really lovely to look at, and you have a new frog, too!

>155 Lyndatrue: I've learned to deal with the humidity: the winters are very mild, virtually no snow/ice driving (!!), cost of living is cheaper, and the people are very friendly.

And the variety of birds and insects (and herps) is amazing.

I almost lost my frog! When I took a bucketful of water hyacinth and lettuce "culls" to my friend, there was a frog in the bottom! I caught him before he was able to escape, and brought him back to his own home pond. Cute little guy, just a couple inches long.

Ponds are to frogs what baseball diamonds are to people: "Build it, and they will come." :)

Glad your yard had a new resident!

Here's one more I took this week, now posted to bugguide.net:



Writing spider and molt

>157 CassieBash: I love my frogs, with the exception of Bullfrogs. They are NOT welcome, as they have and will eat my fish!

From yesterday, a Common Whitetail skimmer (dragonfly), female:

Beautiful pics! I also have had to remove bullfrogs, but more for concern of the other frogs than the fish. Even the bullfrogs would have a hard time (though admittedly not impossible) with our 10"+ goldfish and koi.

>158 fuzzi: Oh how cool! I didn't know about that spider.

>162 2wonderY: I wasn't sure if it was a deceased rival or a molt, but the lovely people at bugguide.net told me it was the latter.

Almost three weeks, time to play "catch up"!

The weather has been extremely hot and humid, so gardening is not possible, except for early morning or late evening (after sunset) watering.

See below for a few pictures from July:


7/2/17-White-tailed skimmer dragonfly, female


7/9/17-Blue Dasher dragonfly, female


7/4/17-Sleepy Orange butterfly


7/9/17-Clouded skipper (I think)


7/9/17-Canna lily bloom


7/11/17-Southern Leopard frog


7/16/17-Carolina chickadee eating suet


7/19/17-Bee on a Tithonia


7/19/17-Leaf footed bug (Acanthocephala terminalis)


7/22/17-Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly


7/23/17-Azure "summer" butterfly


7/20/17-Coreopsis


7/22/17-Water hyacinth blooms


7/23/17-My new bench by the pond


7/24/17-Damselfly close-up: these insects are less than 1" long

>164 fuzzi: That's it. Clean up the spare room. I'm coming to live at your house....

Well, I would, except the humidity protects you from my arrival.

Your little pond is really looking lovely.

>165 Lyndatrue: hahaha! Thanks. I've not shown you the weedy areas in the yard, just the prettiest.

The pond is a labor of love, and a work-in-progress, as it's only about 3 months from the original installation. I keep seeing things I want to change, add, or adjust. I saw the bench for sale at Sam's Club, and pondered for several days. The one I bought was the last one on the shelf, whew!

You might not be able to see it well, but there's a blue and white ceramic duck "decoy" in the top part of the pond, what I call the spillway. There's also a blue dragonfly wind chimes on one side, and a green hummingbird "whirlygig" on the other.

It makes me happy to just sit there and listen to the water. Oh, and watch the wildlife, even the occasional snake.

There's not much I can do right now due to the climate, which is hot and humid most of July and August. I do a little weeding when I water, but not too much for my body's sake. The plants I have around my yard are heat and drought tolerant, and most are perennials that require little upkeep. It is a constant battle to keep the weeds from taking over the cultivated areas. By September they're making inroads but when the weather cools, I get back on the attack.

I find it a worthwhile swap of dealing with some heat and humidity (that's what AC is for!) for virtually no snow in the winter, and the ability to garden have gardens eight months out of the year.

>164 fuzzi: I want to pet that frog!

>166 fuzzi: We have enough heat and humidity in Indiana; don't think I want any more. My thermostat has been stuck on high since the surgery so even our (relatively) mild summer so far has been too warm. I find that menopause makes days I would have once thought pleasant to be a little less so. So you're spare room is safe from me as well. I personally don't mind the snow as long as it isn't too deep. It's the wind chill when we get those arctic blasts (thanks, Canada). The lack of a garden is made up for by having a nice fire in the fireplace, a good book, and a cat and/or dog snuggled beside me, and the chance to sculpt things in the yard when the snow is the right consistency.

>167 CassieBash: if you're like me, when you get another 25 years under your belt, you won't enjoy shoveling snow, driving on snowy streets, and dealing generally with very cold weather. I don't miss it, one bit.

When we went to CT in February for a funeral, it snowed 18" overnight, and I had to clear off the car and drive in that mess. It also gave me a sinus infection (cold & damp air on face). No thank you!

We do get a small snowfall once or twice a year, like 2", but it melts by the next day...perfect!
:D

Yard Update!

First things first...I was at the farmers' market this morning, and was sharing my sorrow for the lack of Monarch butterflies despite growing milkweed for two years...and then I came home...and...

YES!!!


8/5/17 - My FIRST Monarch sighting, and I think it laid eggs in the milkweed patch. It flitted all around the milkweed stalks (they're looking pretty battered and worn right now), landing occasionally very briefly, and then headed over to my perennial garden where it stayed for at least five minutes, competing with the bees for the Tithonia blooms.

::happy::

Oh, and a few more pictures, too:


8/5/17 - Female Cloudless Sulfur butterfly


8/5/17 - Red-banded Hairstreak amongst the Coreopsis. These butterflies are less than 1" long.

And birds...


7/30/17 - Pond area, with a flamingo added (to the left of the bench).


Another flamingo in my yard! ;)

There's a craftsman who has set up "shop" at the farmers' market, selling flamingos, herons, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds created out of PVC pipe! He captured the look of the flamingos so well, I went back and bought a second one today.


7/29/17 - A Red-bellied woodpecker JUVENILE at my feeders. I am unsure if it is male or female though you can see some hint of red on its head.

And for anyone interested in seeing my ceramic duck:


8/3/17 - Water hyacinths blooming in the upper falls/spillway of my pond, along with the ceramic duck decoy and a frog ornament. The light green plants are water lettuce.

And frogs...


8/2/17 - A very very tiny tree frog (less than 1/2"), crawling out of my little pond. I suspect it has just emerged from its tadpole stage. Welcome, little one!


8/3/17 - "Baby" tree frog resting on a Water hyacinth.


8/3/17 - Southern Leopard frog hiding in the Creeping Jenny that grows all around my pond.


8/1/17 - Green frog (yes, that's the species' name)


8/1/17 - Green frog, looks like he's chewing on his "finger"

We had some cooler weather settle in for a bit, and I got some weeding and other yard work done, though not all. The heat is back, and I'm inside, catching up on household stuff, and editing photos from the last week or so.

Oh, and reading...

>169 fuzzi: I'm happy for you on the Monarch sighting, and envious of the ceramic duck. I know it would not survive here (it's too dry, and it would have to stay inside on a shelf somewhere), but it's really beautiful in your pond.

>170 Lyndatrue: thank you. I got the duck at a thrift store, so even if it fades from the sun, I've already gotten enjoyment out of it.

Love the frogs; your tree frogs are different from ours, so it's nice to see that variety. And southern leopard frogs look different from our northern ones.

The green frogs must be wide-spread, as ours look just like yours! :)

>172 CassieBash: I think that's a green tree frog, but at this stage in its life, it's hard to positively ID.

The yellow stripe gives the clue to the Southern Leopard frog.

Green frogs in NC are greener in the northern half of the state, and more "bronze" in the southern part. We're in the middle, so I've seen both types.

This is a great site for those interested in NC frogs, or herps in general: http://herpsofnc.org/green-frog/

Not technically around my demesne, but at work:



A hawk decided to take a rest inside one of the seldom-used courtyards. The catbirds went crazy and gathered in groups to scold it. I am not positive, but think it's a juvenile Red-tailed or Red-shouldered hawk.

Just a few photos to update this thread...I posted several butterfly pictures in the butterfly thread (https://www.librarything.com/topic/245217#5863171).


While technically not at home, here is a photo I took on vacation, at Cape Lookout National Park. What makes this picture so memorable for me is that the bird on the far right is a first view for me of an Arctic bird, a Black-bellied Plover! While I have photos of an adult, this one is of a juvenile.
The long-legged bird is a Willet, and the one in the middle is a Sanderling.


9/3/17 - Black racer checking out my pond, probably for frogs...


10/9/17 - Box turtle, one of two that my dog has found and brought to me, from my backyard.


10/18/17 - Bristlenose Plecostomus fry! Yes, I've set up a separate aquarium for the babies that my plecos keep producing. Once they are about 1" long, I sell them to a local pet store.


10/21/17 - I posted this picture of a Monarch butterfly on the butterfly thread, but am happy to share it here as well.


10/21/17 - a Southern Leopard frog! I've not seen one in a couple weeks, thought they were "gone".

>175 fuzzi: I especially love the frog.

It would be kind if you could drop by and take photos for me, here. I'd like a couple of the toads before they've all burrowed in for the winter, and there are still a couple of the very large dragonflies left (and this may be the very latest I've ever seen them).

Let me know when you're available. :-}

>175 fuzzi:

The THREE different birds in one photo - how cool is that?!

And the tiny Plecosthemes - always my favorite home aquarium fish - so much character...

>176 Lyndatrue: I'd love to, sometime. In all my travels I've never made it to the west coast. :)

Isn't he a beauty (the frog)? The Leopard frogs have been very shy, hard to photograph except from 15 feet away, but this one decided to let me approach, snapping away with my camera, until the camera was about 2 feet from its subject. Thank you, frog.

>177 m.belljackson: I know, waaay cool. Super cool. Horshack cool ("Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"). When I first saw the plover, I kept thinking it looked a lot like a bird I'd seen in my Peterson's, and the name came to mind, but it was looking at the photos that made the ID positive.

I love my plecos, they are so cute. Mom and Dad are still in the main aquarium (29 gallon), along with about a dozen assorted fry of various ages and sizes. Once they reach 1" I can sell them to a local fish store. The plecos hard to catch, though, without tearing apart the entire aquarium setup, live plants and all.

>175 fuzzi: That's a beautiful photo of frog.

I love plecos! But let's face it, I love all the critters you've photographed! :)

We had our first frost last night, a little later than usual (generally it's around November 1st), but this time it was not a killing one. Some of the annuals have darkened areas on several leaves, but not all. Even the tender pond plants were only "nipped", not killed.

We knew freezing weather was coming. Last weekend, in preparation for the upcoming winter, I pulled the vincas from their pots on the steps, and planted chrysanthemums I got on sale at the local home & garden store. They are already "perking up", and if the winter isn't too cold, they might even blossom some.

I've not done anything with either pond, yet. I'll put the potted water plants at the bottom to keep their roots from freezing once the water hyacinth and lettuce die. Once all the annuals are dead, I'll pull them and put them on the burn pile, but add the water plants to the compost barrel. That will also be the time when I gather up all my assorted pots and gardening decorations and put them in storage until the spring.

Another chore I tackled last weekend was cleaning out the feral cats' sleeping boxes. I made styrofoam shelters for my three ferals last year, which they then used all winter long. Last Friday I removed the straw that was matted down, adding it to my gardens as mulch before putting copious amounts of fresh, clean straw in the boxes. I use straw as it does not absorb moisture as hay or towels do. I'm glad I got that done before the cold weather arrived, and I suspect the kitties are glad, too!

So, yesterday afternoon, after seeing the weather forecast predicting below freezing temperatures, I brought my houseplants inside, and got them all arranged on a folding table in the kitchen. Java still has his food dish located on one side of the table, but with a lot less room. The Peace lilies, African violets, begonias, Christmas cacti, etcetera have done well in the west window every winter, so I don't anticipate problems. However, the window is also my main view of the bird feeders, so a little shifting of the plants might be needed so my bird watching isn't obscured too much!

The big Christmas cactus has buds, as usual for early November. We joke that it's our "Thanksgiving cactus" as it invariably blossoms just before or on that holiday. We keep it on the kitchen table as a centerpiece.

It was really cold yesterday afternoon (Friday), and again today, with a lazy wind (the wind is too "lazy" to go around you, so it goes through you, haha) so most of my day today was spent with indoor chores. My Pleco fry were outgrowing the 5 1/2 gallon tank I had them in, so I brought into the house a 10 gallon aquarium I'd stored in the shed. After a thorough cleaning with salt and water, I set it up with a heater and water pump/filter, then added "old" water from both aquariums, and transferred the fry and tank mates into their new "digs". I had to get a new fluorescent bulb for the hood as it had burned out, but everything else appears to be working correctly.

I noticed that Tirzah did so much better after she had a steroid shot, she was demonstrably in less pain, so I've been taking her to the vet once a week. The cold weather seemed to be affecting her last night, but after her Saturday morning shot, she's been more like her old self. She's sleeping QUIETLY at my feet as I type this post...to not hear her panting due to pain is wonderful.

And on the book front, a friend surprised me with the gift of a Rodale guide, Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds to Your Backyard, woo! I love Rodale books, own several, and they are always helpful.

Now I'm off to read...

>181 fuzzi: Me, too, on Rodale. I've never seen one that wasn't worthwhile.

As the year draws to a close, I think we're all racing winter to get things cleaned up, shut down, and ready for next spring.

>181 fuzzi:

Very inspiring!

I used blankets for feral - forgot to get fresh straw.

With my cats nipping on plants, I found that Peace lilies are toxic, maybe begonias also...

>183 m.belljackson: thanks!

In years past I discovered that my cats will eat Peace lilies down to the dirt if I don't have a barricade, so I made one from an old window screen, sans frame. They've never chewed on my Angelwing begonias, which I've had for years, but they're also behind the screen.

If you were closer I'd share my straw. I must have enough for years, inside a black trash bag on the porch.

We had another light frost last night that killed the coleus and impatiens, but as the night before, only nipped the pond plants.

>181 fuzzi: Glad Tirzah is better and the fry are well. Summer/fall was so extended here that it was hard to motivate myself to winterize the garden. I just finished taking in the pots; last week I finished putting the statuary away. Once the ground is good and frozen, I'll put a little insulation on the butterfly bush, which has taken some bad hits these past few years. It did leaf out some this year, but it did it very late and it didn't bloom. I'm not actively looking to kill it, but if it dies, I don't think I'll replace it. I'll just let the dwarf lilac nearby get a bit bigger. Normally, I don't try to winter over any garden plants, but this year I had a small verbena in a small pot that I've brought into work. If it lives, great; if not, no big loss.

I read that Rodale book as one of my past 75 Challenge books. Can't remember which year, though. Still have it; it's great.

Since I uploaded a couple pictures of the fry, thought I'd post them here:


Albino BNP (Bristlenose plecostomus) fry, in their 10 gallon "nursery". That's a chewed-up zucchini stuck on the glass at the waterline, using an airline suction cup!


Same tank, during the cleaning process. It takes me about 10 minutes every night to clean the nursery tank, doing a 1/3 water change, and using a net to remove much of the uneaten food and fish waste.

>187 fuzzi: At least those kids enjoy eating their vegetables. :)

>188 CassieBash: boy do they love their zucchini! I also drop a few algae wafers in the tank, daily, since these little suckers (literally) don't give algae a chance to grow!

>189 fuzzi: How could the algae possibly keep up with that herd? A plethora of plecos....

>190 CassieBash: haha, good one.

My dh (dear husband) asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I decided upon this:



I have a feeder pole, already, but it was crammed with too many feeders, so this is my second feeding station. The woodpecker feeder is also new, as I want to attract Pileated woodpeckers to my feeders. The feeder has a wooden "tail rest" for the larger woodpeckers. The bell baffle is necessary as we have both squirrels and raccoons that actively attempt to access the birds' food.

The suet cage feeder is for small birds, as only they can get inside to eat the suet cakes. I think I bought that last year.

And the metal tube feeder is one I picked up several years ago at a thrift store. The titmice, chickadees, and nuthatches like to cling to it and pick out the black oil sunflower seeds I provide. Occasionally the smaller Downy woodpeckers also eat the seeds.

Ooh! Ooh! A rare sighting (for me)!

Yesterday I was looking through the kitchen window at my feeders when I noticed a bird that did not "fit", it wasn't one of my "regulars", so I grabbed the closest camera, my little Ricoh, and shot a few pictures to help me ID the bird.



This is a Hermit thrush. The last time I saw a Hermit thrush was when we lived in South Carolina, 20 years ago. I'm tickled.

I wish the quality of the photo were better, but it was an overcast day, and my Ricoh did its best.

>192 fuzzi: We got a cage suet feeder, but the cage isn't far enough from the suet holder, and the larger birds can just hang on the cage and reach in with their heads to peck at the suet. I've looked at replacements but so far haven't found one that I'm confident will fix the problem. How is yours?

>193 fuzzi: Congrats on the rare sighting!

>193 fuzzi: Oooh, nice thrush! I see the resemblance between the thrush and our brown thrasher, which I believe is in the same family as the thrushes.

>194 harrygbutler: no problems here. After reading reviews of products that didn't work, I made sure to get a cage wide enough to prevent that problem. I might not eventually buy something from amazon.com, but I read the customer reviews there, first.

I got my cage at Wild Birds Unlimited.

Thanks. I wonder sometimes what birds I am "missing" not sitting by the window from sunrise to sunset...

>195 CassieBash: I believe they are related.

We get a lot of Carolina wrens, and I was thinking I might have a different variety of wren, since it cocked its tail. However, when I looked up thrushes in Peterson's, it said the Hermit thrush cocks its tail. And none of the wrens had a spotted breast.

>145 fuzzi: Serendipity. I stumbled across this long dormant thread after having just read about water hyacinths becoming an invasive species in Florida after escaping from someone's ornamental pond. Found it in Florida Ramble.

>198 varielle: I was wondering who read this old thread, guess I'd not unstarred it as I usually do once the year is past.

I hope you enjoyed whatever you read. 😉