Ponds

Hello, my name is Johnny. I'm going to be telling you about ponds. A pond is a small mid-deep body of water which is full of life. There are a few ponds around where I live. The ponds are Yates Mill and Simpkins pond. I visit these ponds a few times a year, and I like to study the fish and tadpoles that live in them.

Now I'm gonna tell you about some of the plants that you could possibly see at a pond. My favorite plant that lives in a pond is a cattail. Cattails are plants that look like a real cat's tail. They are very tail and at the end of the stem is a large brown area and a red spike. Another plant you may see is a lily pad. They are quite often found in small house ponds. They allow frogs to be in the middle of the pond without being under water. Lily pads sortof look like a green circle with a V cut out in the front. The next plant I'm gonna tell you about is duck weed. Duck weed is a plant that is sortof like a lily pad. The difference is that it is much smaller, and there are many different platforms growing from the plant. Other plants like trees, flowers, vines, and bushes grow around the pond including one you don't want to run into called poison ivy.

Ponds also provide a home for many different types of animals. Some animals are also born in ponds. Ponds might have tadpoles and frogs. If you look closely, you may see some frog eggs or tadpoles in the pond water. Ponds are also a home to small fish called minnows. Minnows are extremely common. The next animal I'm going to tell you about are water snakes. At Yates Mill, there is a reserve area where Northern Water Snakes live. Sometimes if you look in the water, you will see shells. These shells are from mollusks or tiny clam like animals that live in fresh water. The next animal I want to tell you about is also related from the sea. It is a fresh water jellyfish. These animals are very similar to ocean jellyfish. We often see turtles sitting on logs in shallow pond water. When we walk by, the usually jump into the water. Sometimes we see turtles swimming too.

Now we're going to talk about a few insects that live in or near ponds. Diving beetles live on top of the water but will sometimes dive into it too. Another very common pond insect is the dragonfly which is loved by many especially my mom who loves to take pictures of them. They sortof look like dragons combined with wings and an insect body. Related to the dragonfly is a damselfly. Damselflies are smaller versions of dragonflies. Here's a bug that you might hate. It is called a mosquito. Every time I go to a pond, they make me itchy.

I want to talk about birds at ponds now. My mom's favorite bird from a pond is the Great Blue Heron. It's a large, blue bird with long legs that stalks fish. We often try to take pictures of them. Recently, at Yates Mill, I got within 10 feet of one. He wasn't very afraid of me. Another bird is the Kingfisher. Like the Great Blue Heron, he eats fish. Instead of stalking, he dives into the water and grabs fish with his beak. Cormorants are another bird we sometimes see. They sit on tree trunks and rocks in the water and are mostly black. They also eat fish. Ducks and geese are other birds that live around ponds. They eat plants and bread if you offer it to them. They lay their eggs near the water, and after the eggs hatch, the mothers teach their babies how to swim.

As you can see, ponds are a very, very busy place filled with many different plants, animals, insects, birds, and amphibians. The next time you go to a pond, you should try to see all of these lifeforms. They are really fun to study. Maybe you can even take a few pictures like me.