Last Updated: 9/3/12

1. On 8/5/12, I squirted off the filter flosses and did the usual. The 1800 gallon pond was at 80 degrees F and the 153 gallon pond at 78 degrees F. I squirted off the Cyprio biothings in the kiddie pool. I changed the oyster shell in a bag in the main filter.

2. On 8/8/12, I got in the pond to unclog the intake to the Cyprio filter. The mesh bag on it often gets sucked in to the intake, and the flow drops way down.

3. On 8/12/12, I squirted off the flosses and the bioballs which were really dirty. The 1800 gallon pond was at 75 degrees F and the 153 gallon pond at 74 degrees F. I changed the PondMaster filters and did the usual. The weeds have really taken over around the pond. I hope to find time to work on that. I fertilized the lotus (the one in the pond died but the other is huge now but still no flowers) and lilies and canna but not much else. I found the hole in my right hip wader. While small, it floods the boot. I will try to patch it, perhaps with a liner patch, since I'm unemployed; I'd normally just buy another pair.

4. On 8/18/12, I had my first definite sighting (no doubt and a witness) of wild turkeys on our land around 11:35 am! I had previously thought maybe I had seen turkeys three times - once a large bird in a tree out front, one a hen with small poults out front (so long ago, I do not remember the details), and one a large turkey in a pine tree out back. This time, it was a hen and six poults who were probably about 8 weeks old. I first saw the 6 poults in a line down the road and wondered what they might be because they were too big for pheasants and too small for turkeys. Then, I saw the mother only about 30 feet away trying to scare our outdoor cat away. She then ran over to her babies and led them single file across and off our property. There was no time to get a camera.

5. On 8/19/12, I went out to do the pond chores. The 1800 and 153 gallon ponds were both at 72 degrees F. The little pump in the 50 gallon pond which is brand new seems to be broken like the last time. I didn't have time then to check it out. I just managed to put in the additives and top off all the smaller ponds when a storm arrived. I had to wait about an hour before I went out to the main pond to squirt all the flosses there. I changed the main filter floss which I do four times a year. The next morning, my father opened that trash bag, and a swarm of midges flew out! There must have been a lot of pupae in the submerged floss that hatched, perhaps because it dried out.

6. I linked in these old photos:

From 5/13/12, at my big pond:
Blue standard iris.
Yellow flag iris flowering, facing northwest.
Male green frog
Young bullfrog
Yellow flag iris - close-up of a flower
Young bullfrog - notice how there is no line down the body like the green frog has.

7. On 8/26/12, I did the usual. The 1800 gallon pond was at 73 degrees F and the 153 gallon pond at 73 degrees F too. I squirted off the flosses. I cut down some of the rice cut grass and yellow flag iris growing in the shallow overflow area (right in the liner). I removed the new pump in the 50 gallon pond as it had just been grinding (no pumping) all week. I would later take it apart to find no apparent reason for it not to be working. I just put it up for the year.

8. Here are some more old photos that I am finally linking in!

From 5/20/12:
Purple iris in bloom in the 153 gallon pond
Flowering iris in the 1800 gallon pond, flowering purple iris and yellow flag iris in the marginal area.
Purple iris - close-up of the flower in the 1800 gallon pond
Pond fish including Colin at the upper left and Nikita and Riley at the bottom, two orfe at the top, and goldfish.
Watercress flowers
Watercress in the waterfall, facing east
Flowering iris in the 1800 gallon pond, flowering purple iris and yellow flag iris in the marginal area, facing south.
Water forget-me-not in flower
Water forget-me-not - flower close-up

From 5/22/12:
Bulltoad - a male American toad amplexing a female bullfrog! Sometimes, they get confused!
Bulltoad - a male American toad amplexing a female bullfrog, close-up!
Gray treefrog tadpoles in the pool cover.

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