sparrow feeding on shore

Evidently there are still damselflies or dragonflies among the reeds and grasses on the shore.  This sparrow scored one while hopping in the shallow water of the pond. 

surviving below freezing - turtles

Since we had several cold days and nights already, Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta who live in the pond are getting ready for winter.  Lacking summer heat, this one was wandering very very slowly for a food item or a place to settle. Turtles will spend the next several months in frigid pond water below the frozen ice, with their metabolism and their heart rate slowed way down. They can absorb oxygen from the water through vascularized areas in their mouth, throat, and anus (cloacal respiration).  But using oxygen produces lactic acid in their body, which the turtle counteracts with minerals released from its shell and bones.  Painted Turtles do not eat during this time, but they do remain alert, especially to light from above.  In Spring, when the hours of daylight increase, they will respond.

floating pondweed

The floating leaves of Pondweed are fading at the end of summer.  And the leaves of the nearby trees fall in the water, drift with the breeze, and catch on the Pondweed.  They look golden in the sunlight, brighten the pond, and complement the wildflowers surrounding the water. 

Floating Pondweed Potemogeton natans  has two kinds of leaves; floating and submerged. The shiny leathery floating leaves are opaque, and support the whole plant which is rooted in the mud below. The submerged leaves are thin, transparent, and move with the water.  In summer these plants provide habitats for many tiny aquatic invertebrates. These in turn are used as food by frogs, snakes, turtles, and ducks who feed here. After these plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food in turn for the aquatic invertebrates.  The Pondweed survives winter with rhizomes buried in the mud at the bottom. 

yellow loosestrife

Autumn chores for me include wandering the riparian buffer around the pond and assisting dissemination of wildflower seeds.  Some native plants exist here in clumps.  Our goal is to spread desirable wildflowers throughout the buffer, while suppressing the 'weeds'.  The many tiny seeds on Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata form in small round capsules after the flower matures.

 

The capsule is formed from the five sepals, 

those green triangular-shaped structures behind or below the petals of the flowers.  As they dry out, the capsules harden.  When the seeds are ripe the spheres burst, the five parts open, and the seeds are released.  This is a perennial plant in the Primrose family, and important to native bees in Minnesota.  Next season they will bloom again, bright yellow.

muskrat tail

The muskrats who live here were gathering breakfast this morning in the pond.  One, with tail held high, munched aquatic plants growing to just below the water surface.  Their tails are 7 to 11 inches long, covered in scales rather than fur, and flattened vertically (side-to-side) to serve as a rudder in swimming. 

September wildflowers

 Coneflower, Mountain Mint, Sneezeweed, Ironweed, Asters, Goldenrod.

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.

damsel

 

Eastern Forktail damselfly. This is a young female who will change color as she matures.

dew drops

After a gentle rain all night and mist this morning . . .  jewels left among the wildflowers and seeds.

Monkey Flower

Blooming now -- small lilac-purple flowers at the very edge of the pond.  Some native plants around the pond, like these, are not noticeable until you get close.  Monkey Flower Mimulus ringens.  The name comes from the Latin diminutive of mimus meaning "a mimic" or little monkey.  The flowers are like tiny snapdragons, less than one inch long.  Bumblebees are important native pollinators for this species.  Monkey Flower is a native plant, naturalized along the pond's margin. 

Monarch butterfly caterpillars

The  rose flowers of Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata plants are blooming in several places along the shore around the pond.  Actually, the flowers can vary in color from soft mauve to dusty pink to soft crimson violet.  This milkweed attracts a profusion of butterflies and other pollinators who lap up its nectar.  The Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus uses the milkweed as its host plant. A host plant is where the butterfly will lays its eggs exclusively, because the larvae that hatch will have a ready supply of the only plant they will eat.  This Swamp Milkweed had two different size caterpillars feasting on leaves.  (In these photos, golden aphids share the sweetness of the plant.)

muskrat mid-summer meals

Now that the clover growing near the pond is on the wane, the muskrats are finding other plants to eat.

Here, the muskrats eat pondweed, rushes, grasses, sedges, and other aquatic vegetation.  We do not often see them feeding right where they find food.  They usually cut and drag plants to a feeding spot near one of their travel paths.  There, they can eat without worrying about predators.

Muskrats consume about one-third of their weight each day.  That's a lot of greens!

pond morning sounds

Mornings near the pond are so peaceful, with the birds singing and the breeze rustling through the grasses and reeds. 

Then you notice the bullfrogs calling. It is said they can be heard up to a quarter mile away.  They are vociferous from early June through July.

green heron - frog for lunch

Green Heron tried to lure fish by picking up floating bits of vegetation and throwing them out on the water.  This bird is able to use tools for fishing!  But after a while with no success, he went to the rocky shore and watched for movement of something else.  When a frog revealed its presence, the Heron grabbed it for lunch.  We witnessed the frog kicking for a minute, then the Heron stretched his neck longer to swallow it completely.

green heron hunting

Green Herons look small and stocky (pictured here), until one is hunting for a meal on the shore of the pond.  Then they stretch their neck full length  to reach the prey.

They hang out in small freshwater wetlands near ponds and streams lined with thick vegetation.  All the better to hide in while hunting. 

Herons are opportunistic feeders . . .  they'll eat fish or whatever they find along the shore . . . aquatic insects, frogs, grasshoppers, snakes, or small rodents.

A Green Heron Butorides virescens is one of the few birds that actually uses tools.  They will try a variety of baits and lures, including leaves, insects, earthworms, twigs, or feathers . . .  dropping the item onto the surface of the water and grabbing the small fish that comes up.

We saw this one pick up floating bits and fling them back on to the water surface.

swamp milkweed blooming

Last summer, a few Milkweed plants were blooming on the wetland surrounding the pond.

This is Swamp
Milkweed Asclepias incarnata; it thrives in wet soil, and we encourage it here for the pollinators who thrive on the flowers' nectar.

It usually blooms pink, on two foot tall stems. There are some white blooms also.

This fall, we will try to coax the seeds of these plants to sprout new plants for more blooms in future seasons.

frog

The sun was low in the west behind us.  

We thought it was a yellow flower floating in the middle of the pond. 

Then, it seemed to be a toy yellow frog. 

Really yellow. 

Someone's joke.

Binoculars, to get a better look.  Bullfrog!

knapweed

Unfortunately, everything that looks appealing is not a good thing.

This plant opened its blooms this week with a pretty show of purple among the other wildflowers in the pond area.  We had watched this plant through Spring because we did not see it last season here.

Despite its interesting bloom, Spotted Knapweed Centaurea stoebe is on the Minnesota prohibited weed list. Knapweeds are invasive plants that can out-compete native plants with chemicals that poison the soil and inhibit native plants.

Note: This is a non-native invasive plant that can compete with native wildflowers.  Letting it grow here will reduce the good quality wildlife habitat in the natural wetland around our pond.  We will be removing it.

hatched Tree Swallows

Yesterday, the three eggs in the Tree Swallow nest were arranged carefully on a bed of white fine feathers (above).  The long feathers upright around the cup are placed carefully by the female adult to hide the eggs from predators. This morning, the eggs were hatched (below).  The 3 baby birds look like pink wriggling gummy worms. They have no feathers and cannot control their movements, so they flop around until one of the parents will bring a food item.  Then the babies will ‘gape’ their beak open to receive food.

It was a lovely day, although hot and humid. This pond is part of the stormwater system. The technique uses creeks, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and ditches to manage stormwater run-off. All of the water gathered makes its way to the St. Croix River or infiltrates into the groundwater aquifer.