Lately the water has warmed enough that the American Toads have been using the water to lay eggs. The days and nights especially bring splashes on the surface and toad chirps. Some of the egg strands already have produced clouds of 'toad-poles' or toadlets. All that ruckus over the weekend attracted 2 barred owls. We hear them in the woods but rarely see them. The buffet of toads was too much for them though. We had just staked out a minnow net to create a 'feeding area' with a small entry and exit area to try to remove some unwanted goldfish and the owls immediately seemed to prefer the perch on the posts or even on the front of the aluminum boat. It is neat to see and hear them. The robins and ducks are right next to them and don't seem alarmed by the owls at all. Hopefully they stick around, they are fun to watch!
The Great Blue Heron on the other hand can leave at any time. We scare him off and reward our pup Scout handsomely when he chases him/her/them.
please forgive the chocolate colored water. It was like a switch flipped last week and water went to chocolate color almost overnight. I think the crayfish became active and are stirring the daylights out of the bottom of the pond. Visibility is like zero.... I was hoping the soilfloc would keep the bottom silt stuck together more but apparently crayfish still found a way through it...
