Enjoying A Nature Preserve

[Fish Folk]

Spent some quality time with Fish Folk Jr. today in a Nature Preserve about 15 mins from our home. Here are a few miscellaneous items in the "Enjoy Nature Daily" vein.

Thinking as aquarists, we sometimes gather alder cones for our fry tanks, breeding projects, shrimp tanks, etc. They grow wild here. We've tested them before, and found that they don't yield an equal amount of tannins into the water. Some are more potent than others in that regard.

Nearby was evidence of a beaver at work. Murphy isn't the only fella who needs to cut his teeth! Last year we filmed the beaver pair swimming around in the pond. 

Fish Folk Jr. caught and released a few Bluegills today. They're nearly as colorful in spawning dress as any cichlid in the hobby, but aren't well suited for the home aquarium. Memorial Day is about the right time of the year to find them nesting. They clean out a 2 x 2 dirt / stone bottomed crater in shallow water, and spawn over it.

And when the fishing got too tedious (aka we must now sit patiently and wait) . . . there's always fun to be had catching a few water lizards. All were released unharmed. 

 

[Trish]

We see evidence of beaver here as well... but never the beaver.  Guess they don't like having their photos taken!  What a wonderful place to take your mini-me.