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Animal Pond Pictures

Last Updated: 12/27/21

Animal Pond Pictures:

Amphibians - on their own page
Mammals
Birds
Insects
Arachnids
Snails and Clams
Reptiles - turtles and snakes
Worms

For more general information on these photos, see my pond pictures page index.

Photos are arranged in the order of most recent to oldest.

Mammals

In my newsletters, you can read stories about our raccoons. One young one started hanging around during the day for a week in late August to September, 2004. Here are some photos of that raccoon:
1. Raccoon up a tree - 8/31/04.
2. Raccoon up a tree - looking really scared, 8/31/04.
3. Raccoon in the marginals of my pond - seems to be saying "I didn't do it!" (referring to my 14" goldfish Jack I had just found dead.) - 9/1/04.
4. Raccoon in the pond overflow - 9/1/04.
5. Raccoon running from the pond - 9/1/04.

Baby opossum eating dog food on the back porch on 12/5/03.
Newborn fawn in the woods on 5/26/03.
Fawns by my 1800 gallon pond on 7/18/02. One, on the left, is partially hidden. The twin white-tailed deer can also be seen in this photo by our Chinese chestnut tree.
Raccoon on 10/12/01 on our back porch, enjoying dinner, facing the camera.
Raccoon on 10/12/01 on our back porch, same as above but view of the side of his head.

Birds

A great blue heron spent Christmas time at my pond in 2021.

Great blue heron on 12/23/21.

On 7/17/17, we went to the Maryland zoo. Here are some waterfowl photos.
Black crowned night heron rookery - four adults, two sitting on nests
Black crowned night heron
Little blue heron
Trumpeter swans

A heron was around on 7/17/16, and then he/she was on the rim of the pool. I got some really clear photos!
Great blue heron standing on the pool
Great blue heron close-up (not the same photo as the last one)

Great blue heron on 5/22/14.

Great blue heron in the front yard on 5/16/10.
Great blue heron - close-up from the last photo.

I took more photos and videos of the heron on 12/9/07. It was dawn so I am sorry that the photos are pretty dark. He was no longer really scared of me so I got some outside photos. The videos are not great quality (they look better if you make them smaller).
Heron - sitting on the 1800 gallon pond, taken through the glass
Heron - walking away from the 153 gallon pond
Heron - close-up of the previous photo
Heron - standing on the edge of the 1800 gallon pond net; photo taken outside
Heron - close-up of the previous photo; note his bedraggled appearance
Heron - 2047 KB, mpg movie - standing by the 153 gallon pond until I open the door and get him to fly off
Heron - 1696 KB, mpg movie - him slowly walking over to the 153 gallon pond
Heron - 1209 KB, mpg movie - sitting on my 1800 gallon pond net

I took a bunch of photos and two videos of a great blue heron on 11/27/07. The ponds were netted and safe. The heron returned on 12/5/07 when we got 4 inches of snow. I was at work but my parents said he was walking around my ponds all day. I normally have the nets off before it snows but had yet to do that (too many leaves all around) so the fish were safe.
Heron - with the fake heron closer to the camera, on the north side of my 1800 gallon pond, 11/27/07
Heron - by my 153 gallon pond on 11/27/07
Heron - close-up of the heron from the last photo
I also got two short videos of the heron, mostly flying away! He was very skittish so whenever he saw me, he flew off. I wanted to get video of him slowly walking.
Heron - 771 KB, mpg movie. This video starts with the heron already in flight.
Heron - 1207 KB, mpg movie. This video starts with him on the ground by my 153 gallon pond. I started this video after taking the photo above. I then knocked on the window to get him to fly off.

My father took this photo of a great blue heron that had been hanging around my just netted 1800 gallon pond on 10/5/07:
Heron - most of the photo view for perspective; you can see inside the house and the netted pond
Heron - zoom in just on the heron

Heron footprints by my 1800 gallon pond on 2/27/05.
Adult great blue heron by the 153 gallon pond, photo facing north, 11/8/04.
Adult great blue heron by the 153 gallon pond, heron facing the camera, 11/8/04.
Adult great blue heron close-up, 11/8/04. Sorry that light seems to be hitting his face (my father took the photo while I was at work.).
Great Blue Heron in the back yard on 3/19/04.
10-day-old chickadees in the nest box next to the pond on 5/22/03.
Vultures near the pond on 1/6/02. On the ground are two turkey vultures. On the swing is a black vulture. The 153 gallon pond is to the left of the picture. There are also closeups here of the turkey vulture and black vulture at that time.
Four baby tufted titmice in the nest box next to the pond on 6/3/01. They left the nest the next day.
Juvenile great blue heron on my roof overlooking the pond on 10/15/00. For his/her "story," go to this site.

Insects

Water strider in my 153 gallon pond on 4/12/15.

I got photos of a rare damselfly that had been hanging around our driveway on 7/20/13. He was a male Ebony Jewelwing, Calopteryx maculala.
Ebony Jewelwing
Ebony Jewelwing

From the 3/30/13 cleaning of the 153 gallon pond:
Aquatic beetle and a ramshorn snail waiting in a kiddie pool during the cleaning. This guy is probably an adult predaceous diving beetle, perhaps Acilius mediatus.
Water strider waiting in a kiddie pool.

Kelly sent the following water insect photos courtesy of "The Black River Action Team" on 6/20/12.
Water Scorpion
A burrowing mayfly larvae - Hexagenia limbata.
A male adult dobsonfly
Hellgrammite - pupal form, dobsonfly.
A giant water bug
An adult stonefly

From the 153 gallon pond cleaning on 3/14/12:
Crane fly larvae

I took this photo when I was doing chores on 7/24/11. I had the camera out for some other things by chance. Here is a newly-emerged damselfly adult next to its exoskeleton. The damsefly was still white and soft and would stiffen up and change color soon after.
Damselfly

Male common whitetail dragonfly on 6/26/11 on my pond stone.
Male common whitetail dragonfly - close-up of the previous photo.

These photos are from 5/4/11 when I removed the woodfrog tadpoles from the 50 gallon basement pond and found a damselfly larvae. I thought it was a mayfly larvae but Robert corrected me on 11/7/14. The caudal gills had fallen off the larvae.
Damselfly larvae
Damselfly larvae, another view.

Twelve-spotted skimmer - Libellula pulchella on 5/16/10, sitting on the sandstone bridge across my 153 gallon pond.

This aquatic beetle larvae of unknown species was stuck in the filter material from my 153 gallon pond filter on 11/15/09. He was bent over backwards and biting at the filter material that was holding his rear down.
Beetle larvae

Dragonfly nymph found during the 153 gallon cleaning on 4/1/09.

From the 153 gallon pond cleaning on 4/1/08:
Crane fly larvae in my hand.
Dragonfly nymph waiting in one of the kiddie pools.

From the 153 gallon pond cleaning on 3/29/07:
Two crane flies and a green frog tadpole sitting in my little bucket after I found them.
Two crane flies, a green frog tadpole, and a baby rosy red minnow in the bucket.
Two crane flies, a green frog tadpole, and a baby rosy red minnow in the bucket.

Mayfly in my 1800 gallon pond on 3/25/07.
Mayfly - the original photo from which the above photo was cropped to give you a sense of scale. I made an area to point to the tiny mayfly.

Dragonfly - this dragonfly has just come out of its empty exoskeleton which is also in the photo. I think it is some sort of darner but am not sure because it is kind of plain. This was taken 8/31/06.
Dragonfly - similar to the last photo, 8/31/06.
Dragonfly - similar to the last photo, 8/31/06.

Here is a photo of an empty exoskeleton of a dragonfly after it has left. They crawl out of the water at that time. Judi sent this photo on 7/4/06 for identification.

Water strider close-up, in the fish-waiting bucket on 3/30/06.
Caterpillar that I found in the bottom of my 1800 gallon pond on 2/13/05.
Damselfly in the basement near my indoor 20 gallon tub pond on 1/1/05.

On 5/29/04, I found three dead dragonflies and photographed them:
All three dragonflies - the order of them left to right is below in the close-ups
Male twelve-spotted skimmer - Libellula pulchella; he was sucked dry, probably by a spider (the other two were intact)
Male blue dasher - Pachydiplax longipennis, with a live cicada
Female twelve-spotted skimmer - Libellula pulchella, with a live cicada

Cranefly larvae from my 153 gallon pond on 3/29/04.
Adult cranefly on the house on 6/10/03. The larvae are big and live in ponds (see previous photo taken the following year).
Dragonfly nymphs - photo sent to me by someone else in May 2003.
Tiger swallowtail butterfly on a butterfly bush next to the 1800 gallon pond on 9/21/02.
Dragonfly by the 1800 gallon pond on 7/7/02. My dragonfly book helped me identify her as a female common whitetail, Libellula lydia which is similar to the female 12-spotted skimmer, Libellula pulchella except this girl has diagonal white dashes along the abdomen making her the common whitetail. See a photo of a female 12-spotted above for comparison.
Damselfly by the 153 gallon pond on 7/7/02. The digital camera cannot focus on something so small so the photo is fuzzy. I cannot identify it since the picture is not very good. But, it does show the shape of a damselfly.
Dragonfly that just left the water at the top with its wings still folded around it, its former larval exoskeleton at the bottom, by my 1800 gallon pond waterfall on 98/01.
Dragonfly resting at my 1800 gallon pond on 7/18/00. It is probably a blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis).

Arachnids

Fishing spider - these big spiders hang out in my pond, taken 7/12/09. I believe it is Dolomedes triton.

Orb weaver spider resting on its web between my tall marginal pond plants on 9/29/01.

Snails

Pond snail on 3/25/12.

Snails - trapdoor snails (the biggest ones) and their babies (the smallest ones), black ramshorn snails (the round ones), and Melantho snails (the elongate ones), on the day that I got them, 4/28/11.

I got a dozen adult trapdoor snails on 4/7/10. One female had given birth to 13 babies in transit which is common.
Adult trapdoor snails and babies
8 adult trapdoor snails

I got six clams on 4/7/10 and took these photos.
Six clams in the laundry tub
Clam in my hand, top view
Clam in my hand, side view
Clams in basket
Clams in basket with lid on
Clam basket - showing opening left for the bitterlings to get in and out

From the 3/31/10 cleaning of the 153 gallon pond:
Snail eggs on a two gallon Lerio pot.
Snail eggs
Snail eggs
Black ramshorn snails in my hand; a few of them before I put them back in to the pond.

On 4/1/08, I cleaned out my 153 gallon pond and took photos of some snail eggs on my Lerio pots. They are probably ramshorn snail eggs (although there were some pond snails and Melantho snails in the pond too. The eggs for all three species look basically the same.)
Snail eggs on a one gallon Lerio pot.
Close up of snail eggs from the previous photo.
Snail eggs on a two gallon pot.

Japanese trapdoor snail that I got on 5/23/07.
Japanese trapdoor snails that I got on 5/23/07.
Melantho snails that I got on 5/23/07. Sorry, it is not in focus.
Empty trapdoor snail removed from my 1800 gallon pond on 2/13/05.
Trumpet snail on 12/28/02 in my 20 gallon tank. Sorry that the photo is so fuzzy but the camera would not focus.
Trapdoor snail on 5/2/02. He is alive but out of the water and closed up.
Black ramshorn snail on 5/2/02. Alive but out of the water.
Lots of snails on 5/2/02 including trapdoor adults and babies, black ramshorns, Melantho (a type of pond snail?, looks like trumpet snails to me), and pond snails. This was an order I received that day.
Ramshorn snails in my 20 gallon tank on 4/22/01; this species is not the one sold for ponds; it is very small; it also lives in my ponds.

Reptiles

I saw a common water snake at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens on 7/3/15 in a waterlily pond.
Common water snake

Head of 7-month-old snapping turtle on the day of Snappy's release, 5/25/03. Notice the neat stripe behind his eyes, how small his eyes are, the fat folds on his legs since he was well fed, his sharp pointy claws, and the bumps on his neck. He was not a dull turtle!
7-month-old snapping turtle on the day of his release, 5/25/03. Notice the nice VVVV's along his back shell. His shell was about 3.5 inches long, his head was 1" except when stretched out to 2", his tail was about 3" sticking out, so Snappy was 7-8" total when stretched out all the way.
Four-month-old common snapping turtle on 2/12/03. To see photos of his setup, see Snappy's page. These first five photos are all of Snappy (the name I gave him).
Hatchling common snapping turtle out of water next to a ruler with his tail tucked in, about two weeks old, 10/26/02.
Hatchling common snapping turtle in water with his tail out, about one week old, 10/20/02.
Carapace of female Eastern painted turtle - this is an above view of Molly on 4/20/02 (see the page on painted turtles.).
Back left foot of female Eastern painted turtle - this shows her back foot which is missing a few toes and has mild fungus, 4/20/02.
Tail of female Eastern painted turtle - this shows her tail which is one way to determine sex, 4/20/02. A male's tail is wider.
Front foot of female Eastern painted turtle - this shows her front foot which also can be used to determine sex, 4/20/02. Males have longer nails than Molly's.
Plastron of female Eastern painted turtle - this shows her belly which is yet another way to determine sex, 4/20/02. Molly's plastron was pretty flat. A male's would be concave (be rounded inwards) to allow him to mount (sit on top of) a female for mating.
Dead garter snake on 8/2/01. This 21 inch garter snake was killed only moments before I found it on our road. Its fatal injury can be seen a few inches down its body.
Underbelly of dead garter snake on 8/2/01. This is the same snake as above but a photo of its underneath.

To see a lot more turtle photos, go to my turtle page/index.

Worms

Leech - one of the leeches from the pond stuck in the bucket, 3/6/12.

I took these photos of my PondMaster filter from the 153 gallon pond on 8/8/10. The filter is covered in things every summer. For years, I thought these were limpets. Why? Someone told me that they were, and when I looked at certain limpet photos, they looked identical. Then, in October of 2012, I happened to see a photo of ribbon leech cocoons (egg cases). Moreso than the limpet photos, these looked like what I had. I never saw any leeches in or coming out of the cocoons but they did seem to go flat after a certain period of time. They were also only obvious in the warm months and not in the cold ones. I am pretty sure that these are, in fact, leech cocoons on my filter.
Leech cocoons
Leech cocoons
Leech cocoons

A leech in the bucket I was using when I cleaned out the 50 gallon tub pond on 3/25/07.

Leech found while cleaning the 153 gallon pond on 3/30/16, head to the left.

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