Pot Trellis Replanted and Beautiful

I love it when a plan comes together.  When I built the pot trellis, my first and only so far, it was a complete success.  I introduced the pot trellis last year (click here to see that post).

 

 

We have also planted flowers, ground cover and various vines in the ground under the pot trellis.  The vines we hope will eventually grow and cover some of the yellow trellis but for some reason we have black thumbs when it comes to growing vines.  The flowers and ground cover will be a haven for this years batch of toads when they transition from legless toadlets to miniature clones of their parents.

I'm excited just thinking about it.

Stay tuned for some pictures of the lip-lips that are just beautiful too.

I hope my my friend Over-the-hill-Teri got around to building her pot trellis so we can compare.

Whoohoo!

Spring 2009 Has Sprung!

As spring augers winter out of the way on the high desert of Western Colorado the trees are leafing out, the nurseries are stocking up and our fingernails are filled with dirt. WOW! What a beautiful time of year.

The pond is waiting for Joe's return although that will probably be a month away... if Joe returns at all.  Daytime temperatures are just now getting consistent with temperatures in the 70's.  The night time lows are still in the 40's.  Thus the pond water temperature isn't warm enough to make Joe happy.  If you recall, as winter temperature slowly dropped last fall, I was writing about Joe slowing down and all that torpor business.  In the spring it works just the opposite of late fall.  But it won't be long now.  I have my eyes peeled for any sign of Joe or her peers.

In the meantime I've been winning my battle with string algae thanks to a friend of Gingers who stopped by and brought her husband.  He is a chemist and his recommendation was to use a product called Cutrine.  It sure has made a difference in the clarity of the pond water and certainly is controlling the string algae.

While Joe hasn't made her appearance yet we have had a few visitors.  Ducks!  Just this morning a male and female Mallard stopped by to check the place out. I was disappointed they didn't go for a swim.  They seemed content to sun themselves for about 20 minutes and then proceeded to walk (waddle) around the yard.  After their inspection was complete they flew off.  A nice treat for us.

Last week we had the waskley wabbits ( for my international viewers that's what the cartoon character Elmer Fudd calls rabbits) come to the yard.  They decided they liked it pretty well and started to dig a den.  The bad news is they wanted the den located under a 2 year old tree.  I wound up putting chicken wire and plastic mesh around the tree mound.  So far that has discouraged the rabbits from digging.
 
All of the bird houses now have residents and they are busily building their nests.  It's kind of comical to watch some of the birds try and get a stiff piece of grass or reed through the bird house entrance.  The entrance is just a hole I drilled that is 5/8's of an inch in diameter. 

Over the winter I built a "Pot Trellis."  We planted the pots this past week and are waiting for some vine type of plant to arrive in the nurseries.  We will plant the vine in the dirt at the base of the trellis and hopefully that will fill in the bare spots on the trellis.  The pots are just set between the boards and when they tilt the top board stops them.  They are quite secure and there is no concern about being blown down.  I dare say the only concern expressed so far is if the trellis is yellow enough... Somewhere there has to be a school bus looking for it's paint [:o)

Our first humming bird was spotted on April 14 after a fierce wind with gusts into the 60 mph range.  We figure the little guy literally "blew into town!"

All the trees survived the winter and are now sporting their bright green leaves.  The plants that looked like they would never ever grow again are once again thriving as they change color while soaking up the sun.  We found worms in the soil and the robin red breasts are visiting regularly.  The who-who birdies are still with us as are the finches and sparrows.  Hawks of various sizes stop by from time to time.

I think it's going to be a good year!

Enough of the Bird Already

I was thinking it's time for a little change of blog pace. There are other things going on out back besides lay'n eggs and editing video. I took my camera and snapped a few pictures to show y'all how things are coming along.  It's a dynamic time of year and it just gets me excited to watch things change so fast.

Ginger is just finishing planting the gourd seeds. You remember the
 gourd trellis from last year? This year it's going to be bigger and
better 'cuz we've done this before. Note the smurf hands :)

This picture goes with previous pictures I've posted earlier this spring.
The purpose of the picture is to show the difference just a  few weeks can make.
Do ya think that purple ash on the left will ever turn green. Must have missed
the memo about a early spring.

Same as above.

This is Alejandro  F. doing his chore of topping off the skimmer pond. I just love the way it works without flaws
year after year.  You may remember when s/he got her makeover... that was fun.

The water lilies are coming back bigger than last year. They will turn green.  If you look
really close at the base of the farthest lilies in between the two large rocks is a dash of
orange.  That, my friends is Gleem, one of our gold fish... she is hiding.

Our raised garden. It's starting to fill out and there are some surprise plants coming back that were not
supposed to live through the winter. That's like finding an onion ring in your french fries. Cool!

Here we have the blooms on our chives.  When no one is watching I pull
one of the blooms off, just now and then, and eat it. Better than dandelions.
I just love the color.

OK, I admit it... I couldn't post something on my blog without mentioning the current/recent focus of this blog, the
finch nest with eggs.  The nest is between the trellis and window.   I was thinking you might enjoy a different perspective.  Also, this is our pot trellis. The trellis will fill out in the coming months. 

That's it for now. Hope your having a great weekend and enjoying this wonderful weather.

Whoohoo!!!

I Spied a Baby Toad

It seems like everyone has seen one of the baby toads. Everyone but me that is. On Wednesday about 4 PM that officially changed.

On Tuesday Ginger was watering and rousted a baby toad from it's niche under the pot trellis (remember the yellow pot trellis?). So on Wednesday when she went out to water, she instructed me to follow her and told me where to stand and proceeded to water.

Sure enough after just a few sprinkles this little green toad hops out from under these plants and is sitting on some ground cover. It was small but had not residual tail. I would estimate it's length at about 1 1/4 inches from head to rump. Just a little miniature toad.

I even had my camera with me. I am sorry to report that I was only able to get three shots of the toad before it disappeared into the plants. The pictures were blurry to the point that you wouldn't know it was a toad or a green rock.

The next time Ginger waters I will assume my toad observation post and try again.

Stay tuned 'O loyal followers....

A Proud Toad Daddy ~ With Pictures!!!

On Thursday when Ginger told me she was going to water the pot trellis I jumped up, grabbed my camera and assumed the position assigned me the previous day.  With the zoom already set and tested on a flower I was ready for the little guy to jump right out there like he did on Wednesday.

Ginger started to water.  I watched.  Ginger watered.  I watched and waited.  Ginger watered.  I watched, waited and fiddled with the camera.  Ginger watered.  I gave it up.  No toad sighting this Thursday.

Friday.  Once again I assumed the assigned position for toad watching.  This time the little guy jumped right out from under some plants.  I was armed with my trusty digital camera.  As soon as I attempted to take the first picture the little guy jumped and was gone.  I was left with a rather nice picture of a flower but no baby toad pictures.

I risked the wrath of the position gods and moved closer.  I reached out and moved a plant to peer around it's base.  There he was... but I was too close to take his picture.  I handed the camera to Ginger and asked her to give it a try.  She didn't have her glasses on.

Ginger handed the camera back to me and reached toward the plant to hold it back so I could move away and take the picture.  As soon as I moved our baby once again jumped and was gone.

Humph.  I stepped back and Ginger grabbed the hose and started to water again.  Immediately she saw movement and pointed.  TARGET IDENTIFIED!

I took a picture.  I took a few more.  The toad moved.  I saw where it went.  I took more pictures.  So here are the best two pictures.  If you like you can click on the pictures to see the full sized version.

It's hard to discern this little guys actual size from these images.  At the most he is 1 1/4 inches long.  If I had to buy it a suit I would get something smaller than a Tinker Bell size.

If you look closely at the left picture you can see a dark tube just above and to the right of the baby toad.  This is a 1/4 inch driper hose... maybe that will help with the perspective.

This ex-toadlet is doing just fine in the feeding department and looks very healthy.  I imagine it will spend the winter in/near the pot trellis area.  Maybe even sing'n a tune next spring

Happy Anniversary #1

Today is our 1 Year Anniversary for this Frog Blog!

Over the course of the last 365 days I've published over 100 blog entries.  I've become eligible to apply for social security.  Named the ponds... Skimmer, Joe's Pond, Bridge Pond, No-name Pond.  Had visits by my son and daughter and my grandkids.  Drained the pond... a couple of times... once on purpose.  Got the wall to wall carpet cleaned.  Installed a wood floor in my computer room.  Painted the walls too.  I've observed a plethora of different bird visits including raptors of various varieties.  Shoveled snow.  Watched it hail.  Fed about 200 pounds of seed to our fine feathered friends.  Watched 3 batches of Woodhouse's Toads hatch only to have most die overnight.  Put about 7000 miles on my truck.  Put about 2 miles on my wheelbarrow.  We found 2 snake skins in the yard.  Discovered Joe the bird eating bull frog.  Had my 26th wedding anniversary.  Welcomed Joe back this past spring.  Rebuilt 3 waterfalls while learning the joys of "yucky pucky."  Wondered about Joe vanishing in June.  Planted 4 new trees.  Discovered toadlets that had grown into baby toads.  Chased rabbits from the yard.  Found a leak in the pond.  I've made 8 slide shows.  Witnessed an unusual amount of rain. Bought a new car for my wife.  Pulled string algae from the bridge pond.  Installed 2 new pond pumps or had 2 pumps quit which ever way you want to look at it.  Started the fake rock project... the ongoing fake rock project.  Named the waterfalls... Bio-Falls, No-name Falls, Humpty Dumpty Falls and Joe's Station.  Installed some fence on the side of the house.  Saved a trapped toad and also a trapped Joe.  Built shelves in the closet.  Saw a squirrel try to jump the pond.  Started a new web site.  Bought a savings bond.  Used almost 5 pounds of sugar feeding humming birds.  Built a pot trellis.  Started my Slide Show web site.  Keep discovering baby toads... they are alive too!

There is more but I'm probably losing my audience...

Happy Anniversary y'all...

Baby Toad Update

Remember the two baby toads I put in the pot trellis garden?  One sat on the tip of my finger and the other was rescued from the dreaded skimmer just a few days ago with pictures.  I'm here to report that both are doing just fine.  Ginger and I saw them today and they are fat little creatures.  Apparently not having any problems finding things to eat.

I was looking closely around the ground cover and small flowers in the garden and there is a plethora of small flying creatures, gnats or something similar.  I'm sure the abundance of small insects like that keep our babies happy with a high protein diet.

Like most baby creatures... they are so cute.

Another Survivor... Dontchaloveit?

I've started to check the skimmer every day if not twice a day. The thought of one of those little toads fight'n for hours and then getting sucked into the filter mat or taking the "joy ride" through the pump impellers and pipe to the bio-falls is just a bit much for my sensitive side.

I didn't find any toads on Thursday but I found another little tiny guy on Friday. He was in the basket swimming for all he was worth. I have no idea where they get the energy to fight the current.

I took out the skimmer basket with mini-toad inside and convinced him to get into my hand. Ginger was thinking and retrieved the camera.

As you can see in these pictures this guy is really small.

It has occurred to me that there has to be a "break point" where they have to live in the water versus preferring to live on land. I hope I'm making the right decision of putting them in the garden under the pot trellis.

On the other hand, it is only about 10 feet from there to the pond so if they want to climb back into the pond it isn't all that far... unless your only about a half inch long...

If you double click on the pictures you should be able to see (open) the original picture which is BIG and full of detail.  If that doesn't work let me know...

More Skimmer Toads!

I decided I needed to be checking the skimmer more often based on the latest discovery of the 2 baby toads found on Tuesday.  To that end on Wednesday morning I removed the lid and peered into the swirling water that was littered with debris.  Besides a little foam and a bunch of crud I didn't see anything.  I decided to remove the skimmer basket and search inside the skimmer itself.

And there, right at the bottom of the skimmer basket, was the tiniest toad I've see yet.  Slightly smaller than the one I retrieved on Tuesday.   This little guy was submerged and hang'n on to the bottom of the skimmer.  At first I thought he was dead... well, actually, at first I thought it was a small slug... but when I tipped the basket he crawled uphill.  WOW... another one. 

I'm no longer amazed... I'm what ever is beyond amazed.  These little creatures keep showing up when so many of their brothers didn't make it.  How in the world did they survive?

I took this guy and put him in the flowers by the pot trellis.  He sat on the ground cover for a few minutes and then hopped under the flowers. 

They are very small.  About the size of the fingernail of my pinkie finger.  I have hopes of someday remembering to have my camera at the ready so I can share with my blog fans how cute and small these critters are.

On another note:  Remember the frogs that were captured at my daughters place?  I asked her to mail me a few.  Would you believe she put them in an envelope and sent them?  Naw, I wouldn't either... she didn't.  They would never have survived the stamp cancellation process.  Everyone knows that....

2 New Toad Discoveries... Yep 2!!

The flapper on the front of my skimmer basket broke last week when I was cleaning the skimmer. It had been repaired once a few years ago so I wasn't all that put out to buy a new one.

The part came in Tuesday morning. Before installing it in the skimmer basket I cleaned the leaves and crud that had accumulated. When I went to re-install the basket I noticed a very small toad try'n it's best to swim out of the skimmer.

This little guy gave it his all. He was doing a cross between a frog kick and breast stroke and just made it out. He swam over to the side of the skimmer pond and was breath'n hard. I left him to recoup his energy and after about 30 minutes he was gone (not back to the skimmer).

I then returned to the skimmer to install the basket when I noticed another toad baby. This was was half the size of the previous one and had zero chance of getting out of the skimmer as long as the pump was going. I reached in and scooped him up. He clung to the tip of my finger. In fact, he was about the size of my finger tip. Very small. He too must have been exhausted because he didn't try to get away. I took him over the the garden under the pot trellis and deposited him on a plant. A few minutes later he was not to be found.

Tuesday was a great day in the baby toad arena. To think at one time I thought they had all died... I've learned a lesson about Ma Nature.

Now if Joe would return.....