Last Updated: 12/29/22

1. On 12/4/22 at 11:20 am, it was 38 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 44 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 42 degrees F. I did not get in the ponds. I put in additives. Water was not needed. I removed some leaves. That was about it. It is supposed to mostly be above freezing for the next week.

2. The great blue heron showed up 12/4/22 sitting on the deck. Then, he/she was in the pond on top of the net on the mornings of 12/6/22 and 12/7/22. The net kept the fish safe at that pond but he/she also was at the 153 gallon pond. Perhaps he/she ate one or more of my rosy red minnows or frogs.

3. At 1:11 pm on 12/11/22, the air temperature was 42 degrees F, and it was drizzling. The 1800 gallon pond was at 45 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 42 degrees F. I put the de-icers in the two ponds finally. I put out the lighted Rudolph and a candy cane so I can see from inside at night that the power is working. I pulled the big net off the waterfall. We are expecting some winter weather this week but more likely ice than snow. I got in the big pond to take out the main filter floss and squirt it out. There was a frog in there who I moved to the shallows of the big pond. I picked up some leaves around the big pond since the net was moved but I am sure many will end up in the pond now that the net does not cover the entire pond. I hope the heron does not jump in the deep end as I cannot get the net to sit just right so the waterfall is free of the net but the deep end is not.

4. At 12:56 pm on 12/18/22, it was 37 degrees F out with winds. The 1800 gallon pond was at 48 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 46 degrees F. I should have gotten in to squirt the filter floss because it is going to flash freeze next weekend, and I will not be able to get in. I just did not want to do it because I am a bad pond parent, and my pond is a disaster. I put in water and additives for the big pond.

5. We got a bad cold snap for the first time in a long time. On 12/23/22, by about 11 am, it was nearly 50 degrees F, and it had been raining all morning but the hell winds were howling. It dropped down below 20 degrees F within a few hours. It was 4 degrees F here at dawn on 12/24/22, 11 degrees F at dawn 12/25/22, and 14 degrees F at dawn on 12/26/22. Then, the temperatures are going up. The two fish ponds with aerators and de-icers flash froze up to the equipment. The three ponds without those things froze probably solid, killing any tadpoles, insects, and snails in there. Needlesstosay, I not only didn't want to get in the big pond but I couldn't. The thermometer was frozen into the big pond.

On 12/26/22 at 4:25 pm, the air temperature was all the way up to 31 degrees F. The 153 gallon pond's thermometer read 44 degrees F because the de-icer keeps it warmer than the air. The big pond was still mostly frozen.

E-mail Robyn Copyright © 1997-2024 Robyn Rhudy