Pond life, including the amazing new game show, SPOT THE FROGS!

[valis2]

To cheer myself up, here are some of my favorite new pond pics--pictures of Pond Life! Which is sort of like Thug Life, but wet. And kind of froggy.

Also, poor quality pictures of dragonflies for little_tristan. I wish they were better, hon, I'm sorry.

So the water level receded a little during late summer, and one morning I was looking out across the pond and I noticed what looked like a cannonball sitting on a little plug of land. I pulled out the binoculars, and was excited when I realized that it was a big turtle! Please forgive the poor quality of the photos--I had to use the telephoto lens and stuff and it was kind of a pain.


Seriously, this turtle is about a foot across. Later, I consulted the internet, and realized that it was a Blanding's turtle. Very exciting. I've seen red eared sliders/painted turtles, but never one of these, and it was pretty cool.


Amusingly enough, another turtle tried climbing on him while I was photographing. At one point, he kind of went, "HOLY COW I'M CLIMBING ON A TURTLE" and fell in. It was amusing. Well, to me. Then again, my humor age is about five years old.






And the other turtle behind him is like, "Bwuh? What just happened?"


Turtles in the water!




HOMG FROG!


HOMG ANOTHER FROG!


And now, step right up and play spot the frog! How many frogs are in this pic? C'mon, just guess. The answer will be posted on Friday. Winners will receive...uh...I have no idea. Virtual hugs, most likely.


This bird lives in a tree across the pond (the one next to the bushes, right at the edge of the pond) and occasionally wanders around on the "beach." Anybody know what kind of bird it is?


Dragonflies for L_T. Sadly, they look so much more vivid in person.




BUMBLEDY BEES!!




Water beetles. Tons of them!


DUDE. GIANT TADPOLES. Srsly.


These are my two grasshopper pals, who sat in my flowers all late summer long. Each day when I'd go out to water, they'd hop like mad, staying abreast of the spray. Okay, fine, they're not pond life, but they are kind of cool. Except when they chew on my hibiscus plant.

Comments

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

Wow, I love those turtles! I so miss having water right on the property. There's always something happening. :) And yay for dragonflies!

Also, I'm guessing 3 frogs.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

There's always somethin' goin' down at the pond. Right now it's a downpour, actually, but still. I love seeing all of the different pond life!

Glad you like the dragonflies!

And noted: guess for 3 frogs. ;)

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

Downpour! That I´d LOVE to see. And experience.
Love the turtle pics. Reminds me so much of our vacation in Corse, where we visited a Turtle Park. There are sooo many different types of turtles on this earth. It was loads of fun. And we saw a few turtles climbing and sliding on and off each other. Huge ones and tiny ones. Guess, that´s just what turtles do to pass the time.
Love the dragonfly pics, too. Such beautiful creatures!
I guess two frogs on the "beach".
Thanks so much for sharing! *hugs*

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I love turtles, too! They're awesome. It was SO cool to see that we have a different kind of turtle than the common red ears/painted turtles here! I was so excited to see that we have a Blanding's turtle. Actually, I suspect that we have more than one.

And they do love to climb on each other. lol!

And noted: guess for 2 frogs. :)

[idleleaves.livejournal.com]

EE, TURTLES. AND FROGS. AND LITTLE HOPPY THINGS. And dragonflies. *___* I adore them but they scare me a little IRL.

Lovely photos. <3 Am still hopelessly envious of your pond.

Also, I read the title of your entry as "porn life" the first time. Heh.

[idleleaves.livejournal.com]

Also, I see four frogs. I may be insane.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I love little hoppy things! These pics were so much fun to take, seriously.

And these dragonflies are the little, regular-sized ones. You would not BELIEVE the huge cruisers we had, too. Like, four times the size of a regular dragonfly. They were crazy big.

And noted: guess for 4 frogs. :)

[todayiamadaisy]

Turtles! Just when I think your pond couldn't be any cooler, you bring out the turtles. :-)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and not your average turtle, either! I was so totally excited to find out we have Blanding's turtles. My dad says that raccoons have caused a population drop in these turtles, so I'm happy that they have an oasis here.

Which is why I will never, ever support putting anything in the pond. People constantly ask me if I'm going to put koi in it, but there is no way I would. I don't want to upset the balance!

Wait, you didn't give me your Spot the Frog guess! How many frogs?

[todayiamadaisy]

I see two definite frogs and so many more shapes that could be frogs. I will say five.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Noted: guess for 5 frogs.

[droxy.livejournal.com]

Lovely picspam!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you! And what's your guess for the number of frogs in Spot the Frog?

[droxy.livejournal.com]

23

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Noted: guess for 23 frogs. lol!! Thanks!

[dementordelta.livejournal.com]

Now it really feels like I've been to your pond! It's like a virtual tour, complete with turtles!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Isn't it fun? I love being able to snap photos of the critters. Too bad I've missed some of the cooler things--like the HUGE dragonflies. I've never been able to catch them on camera! And the hummingbirds.

And what's your guess for the number of frogs in Spot the Frog?

[dementordelta.livejournal.com]

Oh, frogs! Um, I only saw two, so I'll guess like three? The two were so cute they were very distracting!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Noted: guess for 2 frogs. squee!

[innerslytherin]

Six frogs, I think. And that looks like a green heron to me. They are so gorgeous! One of those landed in my mom's backyard pond once (pond being about six feet across in this case) and gobbled up several of our goldfish.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I really thought it might be a green heron, but I wasn't sure. And it wanders up and down the "beach" and searches for frogs, I think. It's a larger bird than it looks--it's really pretty! My pic is made of fail, sadly, because of the distance and the fact that the bastard wouldn't stay still. lol.

Noted: guess for 6 frogs.

[innerslytherin]

I think that's a pretty good picture really. *G*

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! The others were slightly less blurry in some places but more blurry in other places. He was determined to NOT stand still, apparently!

ETA: holy cow, forgot the not.

[marginaliana]

I vote five frogs!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Noted: guess for 5 frogs. Yay for voting!! Thank you!!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_vocalion_/]

At first I didn't see any frogs, but then I spotted two. By the time I'd finished imagining things, I'd found 14, so my guess is 14. Except two of them looked like wee sea lions. And a few others might have been nothing more than bubbles in the mud. I followed the link from your most recent post. Sorry you're feeling cruddy. My daughter and my husband have the same thing. Hope you feel better soon.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

The crud is more or less the same, but I strained my neck and lower back while coughing, and now I'm a bit miserable. I hope to take it very easy today and spend some quality time with a heating pad. *nodnod*

Noted: guess for 14 frogs. Thank you! :)

And I hope your husband and daughter recover swiftly!

[hardboiledbaby]

Turkles! Kewl! :D

Frogs--uhm, 4?

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I love turtles so much! They've always been one of my favorite creatures.

Noted: guess for 4 frogs. :)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I guess 10 frogs. Your pond is great. Hope you soon feel better.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Glad you like the pond! And yeah, I hope I feel better soon, too.

Noted: guess for 10 frogs. :) Thank you!

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

Guess I'm late to the game so instead of guessing I'll just say "hello". I don't seem to post very much when work gets crazy...

Still love you pond pix...

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Poor you, I hope that work lets up soon! :(

And yay, glad you still like the pond pics! I enjoy taking them.

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

zOMG, pond! ;)

Woot wildlife. ;)

*HUGS*!!!!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I love taking pics of critters! Glad you liked this entry. :)

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

XD
Embarrassment Factor Gorgonzola!
is the best name Evar, quite likely. Good stuff. ;D

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hahaha!! It's from one of the A*Team summaries, I think, and it made me howl.