In Search of Carp

I recently spotted the survivor of the goldfish I added to my pond years ago, and was very excited a few days later when a friend offered me young Koi raised in her pond. Catching the babies was an entertaining challenge that made me want to go bragging to my fisherman friends.  We added about a dozen Koi to my pond, and I went down this morning in hopes of seeing how they are doing.

I think I have discovered what is happening to the world's frogs - they are migrating to the Pacific Northwest. Every step I took around the pond caused several frogs to leap into the safety of the water. There are egg masses attached to cattails and floating in shallow areas. There are actually only two species, I think (Pacific Tree Frogs and Red-Legged Frogs), but there are lots of those.

After a full circuit of the pond I saw what must be the original red goldfish, and maybe one of the red Koi. It's still not warm enough out for fish to be very active (unlike the frogs), so hopefully the others are hiding in the thick vegetation. 

Looking back on the early pictures of my pond, I'm amazed at how well it's developed. I don't know how the vegetation finds it way in, but there are now many kinds of plants in and around it. And then there are the frogs, salamanders, and water insects. I'm really enjoying seeing it become a more natural pond.