Living On a Pond

I always longed to live on the water. There is something about the sound of the surf and the smell of salt water that is so soothing.

Well as Oprah always says, "be careful how you throw things out to the universe". So my wish to live on the water was not specific enough, through a series of events I wound up living on fresh water pond. It is not what I had my mind set on in my dreams, but the pond is beautiful and relaxing.

The opportunity for watching birds, butterflies and small mammals is full of joy. We sometimes stand on our dock and just watch the fish swimming around; it is far better than watching fish in an aquarium.

The view changes with the seasons and there are surprises -- wildlife sightings. Surprises are good. They keep life interesting.

Pretty much through spring, summer and early fall, the view is green as shown in the intro photo.

As you will see the view changes depending on time of day and season.

Early on, when we first lived in this house, we were out on our deck. All of a sudden this giant bird flew toward us. It looked as if he was coming right at us, but he soared upward over the house.

As he got closer, we saw the white head and bright golden beak and realized it was a bald eagle.

In Connecticut, the bald eagle was near extinction for many years. A while back we became aware that they were coming back in the Connecticut River valley. We don't live near the Connecticut River valley so we were really surprised.

Since the first appearance, we have seen the eagle quite often. We were watching the eagle circle around once, and all of a sudden he dove so fast, hit the water with his feet and rose up with a large fish in his talons. It was absolutely amazing. He was so far up that it was hard to fathom that he saw the fish from that height.

Only once have we seen a river otter swimming by on his back.

So exciting to see this animal up close and personal. Supposedly they are shy, however, he was swimming close to shore and did not seem to have a care in the world.

As our otter visited only once, I have not been able to capture a picture of him. The photo shown is a public domain photo.

Not Surprising As Otters Eat Crayfish

There is a large rock. partially submerged in the water, behind our property. In order to keep boaters and jet skiers from hitting the rock, we mark it.

The best way to mark is to use an empty bleach bottle. We string a rope through the handle of the bleach bottle and attach the other end to a cinder block. We sink the cinder block and the bleach bottle floats above the water.

In the winter, we have to take the bottle in as the breaking ice flows would carry the bottle and our cinder block away.

A few years ago, when we pulled the cinder block up, there was a crayfish in the hole of the cinder block. It looks exactly like a small lobster only much darker. The crayfish was about 9 inches long.

We see cormorants often. Usually they sit on the docks and dry themselves out.

Once, when lake living was new to me, I looked out and saw a bird being constantly "pulled under" the water. The poor bird would stay under water for a long time and then bob up momentarily. Thinking bird was entangled in a nylon fishing line or a discarded plastic bag. I was ready to take our boat out and rescue the bird. It was then that it flew away.

Later, I realized when a cormorant fishes it dives way down and stays under water. This is typical behavior and the cormorant has the capacity to stay under water a long time.

We love to see the families of geese with new fuzzy babies in the Spring.

The photo shows the typical way the geese travel year after year. There always seems to be a cluster of several families together. There will always be an adult at the front and one at the rear, with the babies sheltered in between. We assume this is for protection.

This photo was taken in early June and this was my first sighting of them this year. Usually, they seem to appear when the little ones are not much bigger than a baby chick.

I took this photo of the full moon on a clear night. It was taken from the same vantage point as the intro photo.

By the way, it was taken as I stood at home in Connecticut. If you look through the trees, and to the right, one the opposite shore, you are looking at Rhode Island.