Pond Ice Melting

This year our pond began melting much sooner than usual. I noticed an otter eating a large fish on the rim of the hole in the ice made by the bubbler that oxygenates the pond so our fish don't smother. I set up the game camera to see if I could ascertain what specie of fish the otter catches. I never did find out but the sequence of noon photos (the camera automatically takes a photo at midnight and at noon) show the progression of the pond melting, refreezing and then fully opening to the sky.

I'll put the bubbler away until the next time the pond freezes over!

February 21: Edge of the Hole in the Ice Made by the Bubbler

February 22: Not Much Has Changed

February 23: The Edge of the Hole Had Refrozen the Night Before

February 24: Quite a Bit More Ice Melted Overnight

February 25: Rain Is Helping to Melt Even More Ice

February 26: About Half the Ice is Gone Off the Pond

February 27: Old Man Winter Closed Some of the Open Water

February 28: Balmy 56 Degrees Is Melting Ice Quickly

February 29: Ice All Gone

March 1: Cool But Still No Ice

March 4: By Noon, Very Thin Ice Has Returned

March 4 - 5PM: Open Water Has Expanded

March 5: Some Open Water has Refrozen

March 6: More Open Water and Very Thin Ice

March 7: Ice Gone, Not to Return (I Hope) Until Next Winter

March 8 AM: Our Goose Pair Returns

March 8 - Noon: Tranquil 58 degrees!

March 8: PM - Geese Return

March 10: Cloudy & 60 degrees!

March 11: Overcast and 50 degrees!

March 12: Sunny and 56 degrees!

March 13: Still 56 degrees!

Midway Through the Heating Season

It takes weeks for outdoor temperatures to catch the earth's dance around the sun. The hottest time of year is usually not the longest day, first day of summer, and the coldest rarely occurs around December 21, the shortest day. Seasons reflect this phenomenon by getting colder as winter progresses and the sun shines longer every day. Today in mid January we're halfway through a typical heating season - having burned half the wood we'll need to keep warm. It's been an extremely mild winter, so far. This month we even had a thunderstorm with a rainbow and haven't had to shovel the driveway yet, though we did have to sweep a few inches of snow off the deck.

So Far We've Burned Less Than a Quarter of Our Two Year Wood Supply

Rare January Rainbow

Tracks Plastered to Deck Boards Resist Sweeping

The pond finally froze over earlier this month and we had to install the bubbler to aerate the water. This also melts a large hole in the ice. Colder days shrink the size of the hole, warmer days expand it. Our neighbors' fish died last winter from lack of oxygen because heavy snow blocked sunlight from reaching underwater plants. Last week I installed a bubbler in their pond and they are enjoying an otter frolicking around the resulting hole and scooting up on the surrounding ice. 

Our Almost Frozen Pond

Pond Frozen All Across

Hole in Pond Ice by a Bubbler

Recently, a few nights went near zero so we had to bring the carboys of fermenting cider indoors. We also had to move the Granny Smith apples into the greenhouse where we crushed and squeezed most of them into 17 gallons of cider. We still have half a bushel for eating fresh and pies. When it is windy and well below freezing outdoors, sun warms the greenhouse to 50-60 degrees making it pleasant to work in shirtsleeves. Night time temperatures there drop to the low 30's. 

Row of 11 Buckets/Carboys of Fermenting Apple Cider, Pear, Grape and Berry Juices

Our Local Male Pheasant Out for a Stroll

First Pond Ice

It's December 7 and this morning a third of the pond was covered with ice. By noon most had melted. Yesterday we had an otter over two feet long visit us. It stayed only a few hours, scampering around the dock and diving to catch lunch before moving on.

View to the West Showing Ice Cover on Far Side

Pond View to the North, With the West Third Covered With Ice

This autumn has been remarkably mild, with more than 1,000 fresh, unfrozen Granny Smith apples still hanging on trees. We have dehydrated more than 100 pounds and have stored many times that amount in bins. Since we don't need any more apple sauce or dried slices, we'll probably juice them and make hard cider that will last more than a year. That way we can enjoy apples even if next year's crop fails. 

Apples on Trees With Heavy Frosted Grass in Foreground

A remarkable plant started blooming last week: A Winter Rose or Hellebore that is an amazing evergreen perennial with handsome, deep green foliage and pretty flowers that shine through winter and into spring. Our other flowers have frozen and are gone but this one is thriving! We'll have to propagate it and find other colors to help us through cold winters! We'll have to plant them where snow doesn't pile up. This flower will spend most of the winter under the snow that gets piled along the driveway unless we protect it and avoid shoveling on top of it.

Winter Rose

Closeup: Winter Rose