It’s bright and sunny out today and our new fish are busy exploring their new home. They really seem to be enjoying themselves as they swim briskly in circles around the pond — under the waterfall, over the cave, in the splashes of the frog spitter, around the waterlily, into the cave, over the cave . . . . .

I took a few photos of them out and about in the sun at about noon EDT — four of the six of them visible here.

Also snapped a picture of Phyllis the frog looking much like she is the lifeguard of the pond. She’s sitting staring into the water watching the lap swimming of her new friends.

Then, the fish decided I had been around the pond a bit too long, or was a bit too close, and everyone swam to the bottom and disappeared into the cave. I can see from my kitchen window that the day was much too nice for them to stay “inside” either — and they are now all back out swimming again. The sun is glinting off their golden backs!

Six new fish (our new Best Fish Friends) were relocated from Rhode Island to our pond home today.  It’s cold here, and as soon as they were freed from their transportation bags, they swam a bit and then headed to the cave at the bottom of the pond.  Hopefully, we’ll see them again tomorrow when they come up to look around their new home.

We have three frogs in the pond this spring, a female, a youngster, and a male, who answers all questions, including “what’s your name?” with “Gurk!”.   He’s trying to blend in with petals from the weeping cherry tree.

Our pond dealer, when asked when to net the pond, said “the day before the leaves fall”.  Last Sunday (Oct 7) was close enough — they were just starting to drop then.   Our maples are about halfway done already, but the oaks haven’t started yet, except for acorns, which are dropping like popcorn in a microwave oven.    The tropical plants (canna and taro) are in for the winter, the hardies still need to be trimmed back, but that will wait until it gets a bit colder, as they are all still looking pretty healthy.  Today’s water temp is about 58F.
The net is supported by pvc electrical conduit, which flexes very nicely and keeps the net, and the leaves that it catches, out of the water.  Depending on the angle of the sun, the net ranges from nearly invisible to nearly opaque, but overall, it’s not a bad tradeoff.

The waterlilly in the center of this photo has been amazing.  We purchased it right after filling the pond last August, and started adding fertilizer tablets to its pot when growth started in the spring.    For a while, each new leaf was an event, but now there are a large number of them.  It’s bloomed  continuously since June 21, generally with one or two blooms at a time, so three has been a special treat.

The smaller, darker colored leaves at the top are a newer plant, purchased this spring.   It’s bloomed once, while we were out of town last week    We’re hoping to see another before the season ends.     If this one takes off like the first, we’ll have to find another spot for it so that the two don’t crowd each other.

Along the left side, there are two marsh marigolds (big leaves) on either side of a corkscrew rush along the pond edge, and a mass of floating water hyacinths in the middle of the pond (left edge of the photo).

It started because we had some extra gravel to use when the pond was built last year, and a covered a corner of the lawn that would have been awkward to mow anyway.  Quickly realized it was a great spot, but it needed a table and chairs, and therefore, a smoother surface.   Some leftover flagstone from a friend’s project, a little bit of sweat, and voila!, a patio.  

It’s a great place to sit in the evening and watch the fish swim and in and out of the lights.

Reflections of the “skyline” taken while the waterfall was shut off.    An unusual view, since the pump normally runs 24×7.

Our first waterlilly bloom arrived on the summer solstice. Here it is a few days later as it’s starting to close up for the evening.

and an afternoon view, wide open:

With spring moving along, most of the plants in and around the pond are starting to fill out pretty nicely. Here’s a current view.

Here are all 10 of our “adult” fish (we have some small fry that aren’t photagraphable yet). From left to right, led by “Spot”, “Ringo”, “Spots”, “Backslash” (above Spots), “Big Red”, “Whitey” (above Big Red), “Blackie”, “Golden Boy”, “unnamed”, and “Dix” at the upper right.