high water

This morning, after
7 inches of rain fell overnight, the pond is higher than usual and some of the shoreline around it is under water.  The critters are trying to find their favorite places to feed or soak up the sun.


I was watching a turtle crawl slowly up on a small rise among the grasses.


Then a frog croaked, and I noticed him right near the turtle.  We've been hearing these Green Frogs
Rana (Aquarana) clamitans
for several weeks.  They are usually secretive; this is first time I've seen one here.  Do you see him in the photo below?

chamomile

Daisy-like flowers are scattered here and there around the pond.  Most are the Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, a common wild flower. 

This flower, German Chamomile Matricaria chamomilla, is another plant grown in some places as a crop. The flowers contain a blue essential oil that is distilled and used in health care and beauty products.

German Chamomile has an upright stem that branches with fine fern-like foliage and multiple flowers that do look like small daisies.

In some places this plant is considered a nuisance weed.  We (and the pollinators) enjoy its presence as a bright spot among green wildflowers, grasses, sedges, and rushes circling the pond.

whitetail and bluet

The pond is a magnet for dragonflies and damselflies.  Both are in the Odonata family. Above is a damselfly hunting for a food item in the grasses surrounding the pond.  It is less than 1.5 inches long.

Their species lay eggs in the water or on aquatic plants, then the nymphs or larvae hatch and live in the water.  The young go through several stages until adulthood, feeding on smaller creatures in the pond.

This Common Whitetail dragonfly Plathemis lydia was resting on the big rock.  It is about 2 inches long.

raided nest

Many Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta live in our pond. They mate once a year; in Minnesota, it is usually late May or June. Usually, Painted Turtles lay between 4 and 15 eggs. This year, the females looked for nest sites with soft sandy soil, even if they have to cross lawns and rocky shores.


One found a good spot on the sunny slope above the pond. Because she knows her hatchlings will instinctively head straight for the water, from here their short trip will be downhill.  She dug a shallow hole with her hind feet, and deposited her eggs.  She covered the hole carefully and returned to the water, her job done for this season.

The eggs usually hatch about 72 days later, in late August or early September.  Unfortunately, turtle nests are often discovered by birds, raccoons or skunks, who make a meal of the eggs.  It's not unusual for many of painted turtle eggs to be lost to predators.  We found a few raided turtle egg nests like this one . . .  the eggs eaten and the shells strewn around the hole.

red-winged blackbirds hatched

The female Red-winged Blackbird has been constantly hunting and making frequent trips back to her nest.  This signaled to me that her eggs have hatched.  This species usually lays 2 to 4 eggs per brood.  Sure, enough, there are three chicks in the nest.  They look out-of-focus because, while the other material in the frame is still, the new babies are fuzzy and wriggling.  Their beaks are pointed to lower left in this photo.

With help of tall boots and a pole for my camera, I was able to peer into the reeds and see the beauty of her architecture skills.  Blackbirds wind stringy plant material around several upright stems, then weave in a platform of coarse, wet vegetation. She adds more wet material to shape a cup, plastering the inside with mud. To protect her babies, she lines the cup with fine, dry grasses.

thistle

We have been watching this thistle plant, while removing the other "field" thistles from the wetland area.  Probably 'Musk Thistle' Carduus nutans, or ‘Plumeless Thistle’ Carduus acanthoides, the seed germinated last summer.  It over wintered as a rosette protected by leaf litter and a cover of snow.

We noticed this rosette among the ground clutter after the snow melted.  Through May, it resumed vegetative growth.  It is growing tall now, and branching out to produce numerous large flower heads.
This particular plant is just a lot of green now, hiding among more green.

But when it finally blossoms, you will not be able to miss the deep purple magenta flowers!

After blooming and setting seed the whole plant will die, thereby completing the life cycle.
But this plant can produce 120,000 seeds that could germinate this season and form little rosettes to wait out winter.  Rather than allow this species to spread and become a nuisance in the pond area, DNR recommends control before flowering.  We will enjoy the beginning of flowering and try to cut off development of any seeds.

Mallard chicks

A pair of Mallards showed up with ducklings on the pond.  There were only six ducklings today, and they looked older than the brood of eleven  that we saw on May 15.  We can't know if this is the same or a different brood, but it seems like the young here are appropriately more mature.  The bills are longer and their feathers seem smoother than the ducklings we saw before.   (right: closeup of one of the 6)

RWBB nest

The Red-winged Blackbird nest is hidden in vegetation at the far end of the pond.  The female was in the nest when I approached.  The male adult protested my presence there, flying over my head while squawking loudly. He brushed against my hat several times to make sure I knew he was serious.

Hidden in marsh vegetation, the female had built a sturdy cup of grass a few feet out from the shore.  Suspended above the water and lashed to stiff standing reeds from last season, the nest is purposely hard to reach.  She had built it of grass, reeds, leaves, rootlets, and lined it with fine grass.  While I watched, she only squashed down further in the nest to hide her eggs.

Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus typically have 3 or 4 eggs in a clutch, and they may have a second clutch each season.

Sandpiper

This morning a Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius was finding a meal -- small invertebrates,  crustaceans, or insects -- among the reeds on the shore.

They nest on the ground near water, so we will be looking for Sandpiper nests as we do citizen science for NestWatch this season.
https://nestwatch.org/

muskrat take-in dinner

This adult Muskrat is probably taking a meal home to the nest.  They can bear more than one litter per year.  Carrying this much food, rather than eating on the spot, suggests this adult has a litter unable yet to feed on their own.  In Minnesota, Muskrats, Ondatra zibethicus, eat vegetation they they find and harvest in wetlands.  They weigh 2 to 5 pounds, and live in burrows or domed nests on the edge of ponds or streams.

Mallard bath

These two Mallards are cleaning up.
Each duck dips the front of her or his body into the pond and splashes water on the rest of their body.  Ducks' feathers make them buoyant so they can roll, rock, shake, and wiggle their tail and still stay afloat.

muskrat tail

The muskrats are nocturnal; we usually see them around the pond later in the day. 
Muskrats use their tails as rudders to steer themselves in the water and for a little extra propulsion.
Their tails have scales instead of fur.  A muskrat tail is long, thin, and roundish, flattened side to side.
Muskrats use their tails as rudders to steer themselves in the water and for a little extra propulsion.

Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal are also dabbling ducks, but smaller than the Mallards we frequently see on the pond.

They eat vegetation and grains, but in nesting season look for aquatic insects and larvae, crustaceans, clams, and snails.

This male was accompanied by a female and she wandered into the reeds to feed there.

spring thaw

The pond is thawed out, except for a bit of ice on the edges in the morning.  The mallards dabble close to shore, or rest and preen on last year's dried vegetation.  Occasionally, a few Canada Geese drop in to see what's up on the pond.  Mostly, they wander around on the boulevard grass, honking at one another.

turtle pile

Painted turtles have come out of hibernation.  They spent the winter in burrows dug into the mud at the bottom of the pond.  They can hibernate without oxygen for months. 

Now that the pond is warming up, they are emerging again.  They find a sunny spot to absorb the heat.

mallards on pond

First mallards this Spring on the pond.  They both look healthy and robust, ready for nesting season.

snowy pond February

How different the same view looks in winter! Still, we see evidence of critters who live at the pond by their tracks in the snow.

winter feeder

The seed feeder hangs on a pole.  I attached a forked tree branch so the birds have something to perch on.  In this grey winter landscape, it is hard to spot.  But the birds find it easily.

rest stop

Occasionally, Canada Geese land on the pond to feed on pondweed or take a rest during migration.  These five stopped for just an hour.

sweet flag

A small cluster of Sweet Flag Acorus americanus grows in a wet spot at the edge of the wild wild woods.  A cylindrical form protrudes from amidst the leaves, showing pale bumps today that will become the plant's flowers.  Mother Nature arranges them in a diamond pattern.  So subtle, you have to look closely to spot the few flower structures among the green and white sword-like leaves.