Moving the babies for the Winter

Today's project was to move the babies in the secondary pond to the main pond. It is easier to care for only one pond over the winter - so we joined the two schools. The blueberry and strawberry plants are beautiful fall red!

Thelma is always there to 'help out.'

Had to remove the netting.

Chris catches and Dan transfers. We ended up catching 23 fish.

Incredible size difference. Geisha looks like a whole other generation, but she's one of the gang.

We will be keeping Geisha and also the two with the red heads, Momo and Mini-spot.

I got a picture of all three four-colored fish. Spot, Mini-spot and Tiny-spot!

The bottom pictureis of letting them go in the main pond and them finding their way. They seem pretty happy. Geisha has decided to hang out with the big fish. The others all joined the baby school.

Getting Ready for Fall

Covering both ponds for the fall is a big job.

It is sad to put away the Summer sitting area.

I took a picture of the beech tree over the lower pond to give an idea of why we need to cover the ponds with netting. When those leaves fall, they create a tea in the pond that robs the water of oxygen.

I also took a picture of the maple tree - it's a monster and it is planning to drop every one of those leaves into our pond....unless we stop it!!

In the last picture, you can see the fish protected by both the falling leaves and the migrating great blue herron. Cats and squirrels always manage to figure out how to get under the netting to get their drinks - but the bird cannot get in!

Baby Pictures October 9

Three new pictures - they really don't want to be called 'babies' anymore - they are growing so fast. In the top picture, you can see Geisha but under her, with the red head is Momo and on the right you can see Spot. This is a good picture of the various colors that are developing.

The second picture shows Spot and Mini-spot.

The Third picture is Geisha and Goldie....and other Goldie and a couple other Goldies. On the right is one we think might be blue. Too early to tell. And in the background is Mini-spot.

Upper Pond Group

The group in the upper (primary) pond number about 28. In the first picture lower mid-right is 'Fiji'. We are hoping he grows to be a tri-color with lots of bright red. Right now he has a red head and some red on his sides.

The second picture is a nice overview of both schools, the elders and the babies.

Picture number three shows Ichabod (and Fuji at the very top) looking over the children.

The final picture is Suki and the kids.

Lower Pond Group

Today's pictures of the group in the lower (secondary) pond. Our current count is 18 fish - survivors of a group of hundreds. You can see the varying colors and sizes in these three pictures.

The second picture shows 'Spot' - a black and white with red on his head, and 'Momo' a white with orange spots. I also see 'Mini Spot' and "Ninja jr.' as well as various fish called Sunny, Blackie, Whitey.....

The third picture shows a clear view of Geisha, our champ. Amazing how much bigger she is that the rest.