I have tadpoles!!!
Not many... but they're flitting around in the pond.
Short form (I'm working on my long-promised "pond post" with lots of pics, but it'll take a few more days.)
Mine isn't a "living" pond -- no fish (they would eat the tadpoles) and no plants. Consequently, keeping it clean is an ongoing process. There's a product called Algaefix to cut down on algae; it's touted as safe for animals, fish, and frogs, and does a pretty good job. At least the pond doesn't generate mats of floating algae (it did before I discovered this), although the water is still kind of greenish. (Little black bugs live on the bottom, so I figure if the Algaefix doesn't hurt them, it won't hurt anything else.) Late last year I started adding Pondzyme sludge-destroyer; I don't have fish to create sludge, but it couldn't hurt, right? It did seem to improve things.
But this summer the water's been getting greener. I started using the Algaefix every-other-day (compared to once a week), and recently every day. It helped, but the water still isn't as clear as I'd like. (It's a pond; I know the water won't be crystal, and the animals don't care, but I want a reasonable level of clarity -- something I'd consider drinking if I was dying of thirst, rather than something I couldn't force myself to drink even under those circumstances.) But we get so much dirt blowing around, and it sinks to the bottom, creates a layer of mud, which also cuts down on clarity and (I think) promotes algae growth. So about 10 days ago I waded into the pond, put in a larger pump (300 gallons per hour instead of 120 gal/hr), and rearranged the 'furnishings'. (BIG rocks; details in the later pond post.) That cleared areas of the floor, so I got my pool-skimming net and slid it along the bottom, scooping up a bunch of mud and dumping it on the ground around the edges. Some slips through the net, of course, but I get quite a bit. I've gone out to scoop more a couple of times since then.
ANYway (yeah, even my "short" isn't short), we've had rain -- 1.1 inch the 24th came down quite heavy, then 1 inch yesterday (the 26th) also came down quite heavy. I listened for frogs after each, but nothing. We have 50-60% chances of rain the next three days, so I've been thinking, maybe...
Also had 1.1 inch rain May 18th. Around here, 1/10th inch rain is enough to promote weed growth; after 1 inch, they're going crazy. The horses used to eat them for me; I can't keep up. So this evening was cooler (only 80 degrees), and I went out to pull up a bunch around the pond. I put them in a big plastic bin, then throw it over the fence for the neighbor's livestock. Did that for an hour and decided it was enough. But before I went in, I figured I could dredge up three or four nets-full of mud. I grabbed the net from the barn, unplugged the pump to pull it out of the water. (Easier to avoid the pump-hose if it's not on the bottom.) Hmm... how odd; I've missed the past two days of adding Algaefix, but the water is much clearer. Maybe the rain cleared it somehow. Ah, well, be grateful for little things. I got down on my knees to grab the pump and saw something wiggling in the water. It didn't look like the bugs I usually see -- they skitter, not wiggle. Looked closer and... TADPOLES!!!
*big, big grin* I've been wishing for tadpoles; I knew those little eating machines would clear out the algae if they ever showed up. They're very tiny; I assume the eggs were laid the 24th, and they hatched the 25th or 26th. And there aren't the multiple hundreds I've had other years, but if we get more rain, there may be more eggs laid -- if the tadpoles don't eat unhatched eggs. I don't know, but wouldn't be surprised; their eating habits are very like piranha, except they're smaller and don't have teeth. I once saw a large -- about 2-1/2 inches -- grasshopper land in the tadpole pool; an hour later, the taddies had eaten it completely.
Of course, I didn't scoop mud -- too much chance of catching some taddies and not noticing. But now I don't have to worry about cleaning the pond until they turn into toads/frogs. (I still don't know which they are.)
And for a bird update -- yes, the orioles decided the jelly bowl was still safe; I spent 15 minutes watching them take turns this morning, but this post is already long enough. Another day.
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