Pond Photo Journal

June 2001

We went to the pond on June 1st with Ms. McLane, our teacher friend who bicycled around the world! Here we are in front of school ready to go!

The island was beautiful! The grasses were growing taller. There were flowers on the red osier dogwood.

The maple tree at the pond had "helicopter wings"! The maple tree flowers were no longer blooming.

We showed Ms. McLane where we saw turtles by the island!

There were lots of turtles by the island. Some were in the water. Some were on logs. Some were on the shore of the big pond.

We stood very, very quietly watching the turtles for a long time! It was really fun to see the turtles!

We kept spotting more turtles and showed each other where they were. It was a hot day, so we had water bottles with us.

We saw blackbirds on the shore and flying around the pond. They were walking on the grass. We think they were looking for insects to eat. It was fun to watch them!

We saw just one male mallard duck swimming in the big pond. Maybe the female and ducklings were hidden in a nest in the tall grasses of the island.

There were lots of grass clippings in the pond water because the city mows the grass. There was also some algae on the surface of the pond water.

The grasses on the island were taller than when we were here in May. Our class helped the city plant grass seeds on the island that would make good nesting habitats for mallards.

The red osier dogwood on the island had white flowers! We like this shrub because it has red branches and a neat name!

There was water in the waterfall. The water in the waterfall is pumped up above the waterfall from the small pond. The city had finished fixing the pump so the waterfall was running. We really like watching the water tumble over the waterfall into the big pond.

We like to make science observations at the pond! If you watch quietly, you can see all kinds of wildlife like birds and turtles!

There was water in the stream that runs downhill from the big pond to the small pond. The stream is really pretty.

The small pond was filled again. It was muddy with just a small puddle of water in May. The city had to drain the small pond to fix the pump that pumps water up to the waterfall.

This is the new pump put in by the city.

When we left the ponds, we saw wild roses blooming right near the ponds.