DLC wrote:
I have a one acre pond that was build in July, 2008. I have added
nothing; either animal or plant.

However, much is happening. Cat Tails, duck weed, black willow, and
other plants I haven't identified have arrived.

Canada geese are nesting. Swallows skim the surface scooping up insects.

There are also thousands of small tadpoles. These are only about 1/4"
and are black. I don't see any gills, but I wonder if these are frog or
salamander tadpoles. I hear peepers at night.


I just returned from visiting our tree farm with the new pond.

I have decided that the tadpoles; now gone; are in fact, Eastern
Spadefoot Toads. I clearly hear their calls out in the pasture near the
pond.

The Canada geese have one gosling. Once, while I was walking around the
pond, I disturbed the parents so that they swam out from the cattails.
After they had gone about fifty feet, they realized junior wasn't
there. They turned around and both honked loudly, junior swam out from
the cattails as fast as he could. A small happy moment to remember.

The other surprise was finding a 13" snapping turtle sunning on the dam.
We have had for many years two or three snapping turtles in Sharp's
Fork which is a small river about 1500 feet east and 200 downhill from
the pond. Sharp's Fork overflows several times each year and I surmise
that the turtle got washed into the pasture and wandered into the pond.
Now there is only one lonely turtle in Sharp's Fork.

Green Frogs have found the pond.

A Great Blue Heron and a smaller heron (I haven't identified this) seem
to be regular visitors.