Well things around the pond have been so busy lately that I may accidentally omit a thing or two from this brief update. To begin, the previously mentioned vanguard of migrating water birds has arrived–in droves–along with squadrons of its feathered followers. The last time I updated our avian inventory, I mentioned that we had been visited by several flights of beautiful wood ducks, mallards and a pair of pretty but unwelcome geese. Who, incidentally, are still here and beginning to act like they not only own the place, but plan on moving in and picking out wallpaper for a nursery. Hate to sound un-neighborly, but these are the kind of folks for whom one does not call in the welcome wagon. That is, unless you enjoy neighbors who poop all over your yard then unleash a brood of unruly billed brats who follow their example.
Moving on, some of the rest of our avian inventory includes 4 wood ducks last Mon. 2 mallards and 2 wood ducks mid-week, and 3 mallards today, 2 males and a female. Must be a busy lady. In fact, she looked a bit tired. So the local airways are well populated.
Not so with the denizens of the deep. The unusually cold winter has kept the pond water very cold. Fish, being cold blooded, derive their body temps from the surrounding environment–water. In this case, very cold water. The colder the water, the colder the fish. The colder the fish, the more lethargic it is. Its metabolism cranks way down and its needs for nourishment approach zero. It reaches a state that the ichthyologists call stupor. Sort of hibernation light, The fish then tend to cluster in areas of the “warmest” water they can find. That means on or near the bottom of the pond. Cold water being less dense than warm it moves to the top of the pond in cold temps. And all of this because fish are cold blooded–or poikilothermic. Love that word. Makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about. Poikilothermic. Poikilothermic.
That’s the latest from around the pond. Birds fly. Fish slumber. And we wait for warmer weather.
A Sylvan Secret
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