blooming water plantain

This summer, scant rain fell in July and August. The pond suffered lower water levels as each day passed.  

Eventually, some aquatic plants that grow at the edge of the pond stood in mud rather than in shallow water. 

But the Northern Water Plantain Alisma triviale thrived despite the drought.  It sent up stems more than 2 feet high on which many whorls of white flowers opened, each about 1/4" across.

leopard frog

Leopard Frogs Lithobates pipiens  who live in our pond may travel one or two miles from water in the summer.  You might hear them make a long, deep 'snore' noise lasting several seconds ending with a chuck-chuck-chuck.  In the fall, Leopard Frogs come back to their pond.  We saw this one hopping across the sandy shore.  They spend the cold winter in the water, burrowed into the mud, hibernating with their metabolism slowed.

turtle munching

The pond was quiet and clear today, after a rain shower overnight.  We could see to the mud, sand, and rocks on the bottom. 

A Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta was very visible in the water, looking for lunch.  Painted turtles feed mainly on aquatic vegetation, algae, small water insects, dragonfly larvae, crustaceans, plants like water lily or duckweed, and sometimes dead or injured fish.  

When this turtle bumped into a floating mass of algae or plant matter, it was lunch time!

Painted Turtle

Lack of rain has exposed some of the rocks in the pond as water level recedes.  The Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta climb on the rocks to bask in the sun.  Females grow to 10 inches, while males are slightly smaller at full size.  They are common in Minnesota, and sometimes called "mud turtles".