Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston Texas
Category Archives: Backyard Pond We’ve had a a fancy Goldfish in our pond that we named “Lumpy” because of this large “thing” on its back. Whatever it is, it’s been there for about 1 year, but has become progressively larger so we decided it was better to euthanize. We also didn’t want this “thing” if it happens to be… Okay, I’ve done it. I’ve cataloged most all my books. I still have some computer books at work I need to catalog, but for this blog I think I’m complete. I’ve organized the books into sections and I’ll also make the list available for download should you choose to keep it as a reference for…  While debating on who should get out of bed because it was cold, Leecy yells, “holy crap, there’s a big bird!” As we both dash out of bed to look at the backyard window, I noticed a huge Hawk sitting in my Maple Tree right above my Koi pond. That sucker was looking for a…  So guess what happens when you get lots of rain, which in turn brings out lots of frogs? Other than some very loud Frogs croaking at night attracting mates, you also get a Broad Banded Water Snake. At least that’s what I discovered today while I was cleaning the Pond. Fortunately I still have my…  Leecy says I like to play in the rain. Actually that’s not true, I was just trying to vacuum some of the fallen leaves out of the Pond. While I was vacuuming the leaves, I accidentally sucked up this little green thing. It turned out to be that baby Red Eared Slider that I found… I apologize for not providing any pictures or updates as of late. I’ll try and take and post new pictures tomorrow. Despite the lack of pictures, I can give everyone a verbal update. The Purple Martin babies (the original 5) all seemed to have fledged now. There are probably 20 Martins flying around every night. …  I’ve never seen one of these in my pond before. My neighbor and his little girls came over for a swim today. As I was letting the girls feed the Goldfish and Koi in the pond, my neighbor (somehow) noticed this baby Red Eared Slider. Now how he noticed this little thing in the pond,… Since a few people have asked, I also put together a brief “tour” of my backyard. Lots of plants are just now starting to bloom, but it should give a rough idea what it looks like at the beginning of Spring. If I can remember, I’ll do another later in the year so you can… I confess. I’m starting to get a little excited with each passing weekend. If it hold true that we will no longer have freezing temperatures, then those of around Houston can start finally taking a tally of what plants may survive, and which plants may have bit the dust. Since I have so very little… For those who don’t know or who are not living in the Houston area, we are having the coldest weather we’ve had in over 10 years. We’ve been having temperatures in the low 20′s which has just been devastating for many plants. We covered most of our fruit plants and have been bringing the milkweed…  It’s 5:30, time to feed the Koi and Goldfish in the pond. Did I mention I’ve had a couple of rats that come out at night to eat from the bird feeders? I think I have one less rat now, unless this rat is swimming upside down in my pond. Not sure how he got…  I’m going to attempt to present these pictures as I saw them so you can get a feel for how I went on this little field trip today. I’m walking down the trail to the Wildflower field and noticed this large, green Spider. On closer inspection I could see this Spider was eating some type… So I just so happened to get my new “toy” today. It’s a snake tong. First some history. I don’t particularly care for snakes. Sure, I can look at them and say “what a beauty” (to quote Steve Irwin), but they scare me. Since I have a pond, lots of vegetation, tons of frogs, and… Butterfly Koi that is. This is an image from my pond. It’s about 3000 gallons, with 3 Butterfly Koi (notice the long flowing tails on the yellow fish), and who knows how many fancy Goldfish. We didn’t start out with that many Goldfish, but they keep on breeding. |
|