OK - so the Field of Dreams theory proves true (again), ie "If You Build
It, They Will Come". Haven't been paying too much attention to my bird pool
this year - keep in mind that it's about 8" deep at the most and just gets
more shallow from there, down to about 1-2" for the birds to bath in -
that's all it's for. It's about a 5x5 45mil liner, so in all it's about 3
ft wide by 4 ft long (or so).

Up 'til this year I had a habit of emptying and refilling it on a weekly
basis, cleaning the goop off the bottom w/my vac; this year I noticed
dragonfly nymphs and decided to leave it to its own devices. I have only a
small filter that runs a small fountain spray just to keep the water moving
and keep the mosquitos out. I had tons of unidentifiable life this year -
grains of salt and pepper swimming around, as well as some black snails,
water bugs, water skimmers and who knows what else. The water is clear, the
goop just settles on the bottom. Every other day or so I stop the fountain,
take the filter media out and hose it off - it gets goopy.

Well, late yesterday afternoon I decided to get some stuff off the top
(rotting iris fronds that I put over the deep end for cooling cover for the
DF nymphs lasted months, but finally were yucky) -and- shwooop something
golden darted from one end to the other, much digging and moving and
disturbing goes by and I see Mr. or Mrs. Goldfish about 2 1/2" long, then I
notice another one only because it moved as he is mostly dark in color,
about the same size (would have thought it a frog moving about had I only
seen the 2nd one).

What the heck? Do you guys/gals think I had fish eggs on my plants when I
bought them earlier this year? I don't have a "wild" population of goldfish
in these parts (20 mi. N of Boston) - and what do I do w/them this winter?
Put them in a GF bowl? Or, if I buy a deicer will it keep the water warm
enough? And, what temp can they survive down to and up to? It's small and
heats up in the day when it's getting sun and I'm sure cools down at night.
Yikes, I'm a mom! ;-)

I'm just mystified that they escaped my notice until they were this big -
but, again, haven't really been doing too much rooting around in there.

And, as a final note, on my way out this morning to examine further I scared
a small frog off my lawn into the pond - first one this year. I definitely
have a lack of frogs and toads in the yard this year.

TIA,
~LeeAnne


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If you're an insomniac, agnostic, dyslexic do you lay
awake at night wondering if there is a dog?
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