#pond bugs

[martha-anne]

Pond bugs!

A few months ago I made a tiny pond in my garden. This week there are bugs in it!

If anybody knows what these are or what it means that they have moved in, I'd appreciate it!

[platycryptus]

Metrobates hesperius is a small, wingless water strider that forms large swarms on the surface of lakes and rivers, feeding on insects that fall in.

Their swarming behavior and erratic movements might help them avoid being picked out as a target by predators, like the dragonflies I saw flying past and trying to pluck them from the water.

(Massachusetts, 7/9/24)

[heartnosekid]

🪷 praying mantises with plants 🪴

for @4ng3l-g4br13l!

🪴-🪷-🪴 / 🪷-🪴-🪷 / 🪴-🪷-🪴

[hellsitegenetics]

Sneaking in under the wire before asks get closed to profess my love for my favorite critter on earth and that's BIRDS BABY

Guys got wings and flight (mostly) and FEATHERS? birds baby! Little beaks and little feet and nests?? ALL BIRDS BABY

Went to college for six years to study these fuckers (affectionate) (well the whole six years wasnt birds, the first three were Denial and Failing Chemistry More Than Once), and now I'm studying birds and I'm an avid birder and I love them more than potentially most other things

my current favorite is the belted kingfisher in case anyone was curious (you weren't but you should google him anyway they're perfect) and a close second is literally any of the nightjar/goatsucker family (pennant winged nightjar anyone?? literally PERFECT BEING)

anyway sorry for all the yelling im a little overtired and want all my babies to migrate home safe as the weather warms up

so all of this bird-flavored ranting to a captive audience to say: I am DETERMINED to be the first bird detected on this page

🐦‍⬛

String identified:

ag t a gt c t at ctt at a tat' A

G gt g a gt (t) a AT? a! tt a a tt t a t?? A A

t t cg a t t t c (actat) ( t a at , t t t a a ag Ct Ta c), a ' tg a ' a a a t ta tta t t tg

ct at t t g ca a a c ( 't t gg aa t' ct) a a c c ta a t gta/gatc a (at g gta a?? ta CT G)

aa a t g a tt t a at a a t gat a a t at a

a t -a atg t a cat ac t a: a T t t t tct t ag

Closest match: Gerris lacustris genome assembly, chromosome: 9 Common name: Common pond skater

[petitedeath]

Anyone who knows me knows I do not do commissions. But I made an exception for a talented friend who just got their own tattoo studio. This piece is small, only 5x7 inches and is ink with black watercolor and gold accents.

[altargokart]

i feel sticky, rain makes me feel thick 

i want to squeeze myself out like a lemon 

[missedmilemarkers]

[hugforslug]

Exploring my little pond

[maudiemoods]

Need to fly a kite or eat dirt or something

[ruduraro]

my latest Oh See. she is a pond skater named Scooter

[martha-anne]

I have a small garden. This is a relatively recent development, and it has been occupying a lot of my thoughts.

Writing about those thoughts here seems like as good an outlet as any.

The garden is looking particularly bad at the moment. Rather than speculating about what I want it to be like, I’m going to write about some things that have already happened and which I am happy about.

These pruned plants - a blackcurrant bush and a rose! I had never pruned anything before (I had never had anything that needed pruning before) and I felt paralysed by my own incompetence at first. I’m very glad to have given it a go. Either I've done it right, or I will have learned something about how not to prune.

Speaking of being paralysed by incompetence, these fenceposts! I knew I wanted to put up some kind of plant support/trellis along the back of this bed, but the task felt utterly insurmountable a few months ago. I had no idea how to go about it, so I did what I always do in such situations and asked my mum for advice. Cue posts, post-spikes, a mallet, and an improvised drive-in tool… I still need to string wires between them, but soon I’ll have a structure to train plants up.

This heap of twigs! These are the prunings from the blackcurrant and rose plants mentioned in the first point. There was not enough space in the compost bin for them at the time, so I’ve left them in a pile over winter. I hope it is a nice home for some appreciative bugs.

The compost! How do I love my compost bin? Let me count the ways.This pile of decomposing matter brings me indescribable joy. Since we started composting cardboard and food scraps we have so little waste to go into the dustbin. The compost is full of worms and all sorts of other life. I like to check on it in the mornings before I go to work.

The pond! I dug this a few months ago, and at the time I remember feeling like it was the first honest day’s work of my life. I got some water plants for free from a local facebook plant swap group. The eventual aim of this pond is to attract frogs to help deal with the slug population - I’m playing the long game. Of course, it will take some time for the ecosystem to stabilise - but already there is life! I was delighted to discover water hog-lice a few weeks ago. It’s a Christmas miracle!

This no-dig lasagna gardening bed! Every online resource said that this kind of bed is better if left for several months before being planted up. I planted mine immediately and the results were not amazing - so I’ve learned something, and this coming year it should be better.

Tulips! I mentally calculated and purchased what I felt was an appropriate amount of tulips for the space. A week later, a visiting friend brought the same quantity of tulip bulbs again as a housewarming gift. Finding somewhere for them all to go was a challenge, but my friend and I managed it together. I’ve now mostly forgotten where we planted them, which will be a fun springtime surprise.

There is so much I want to do with this space and so much I’ve tried which has already failed. I don’t really know much about gardening yet, but in 10 years time maybe I will have figured it out ;) Three cheers for my shabby January garden!

[euniexenoblade]

Film shots of Walden Ponds in Boulder, CO. Featuring @mind-altering-bugs

[shakypics]

[sheahuntphotography]

butterflies and lily pads

(Wilder Institute, AB | 16/09/2024)

[kedreeva]

Fascinated by running water

[video id: a young peahen's head visible over a sink with a purple cutting board and a knife in it. The faucet is running a very small stream of water, and the peahen is examining it and taking bites as if she can grab the stream

End ID]

[gummi-stims]

Lego motion scenes by Taylor Heanue