It wont be long before the frog and toads start laying their eggs again. How can you tell them apart? Toad eggs are encased in long strings, Frog eggs are inside what can easily be described as "one big glob". Check out this site HERE for some nice photos of toad and frog eggs.

The first day of Spring is March 20th and it's time to do some maintenance on my pond again. Change out the filter pads and vacuum the bottom to get up all the gunk that has settled. I subscribe to "Splash" a Pond and Water Garden news letter. I found this article interesting and just had to share it. It asked "Does your pond stink?" and went on to say..."What makes a pond stink? Lack of Oxygen! If the pond pump is turned off during the winter and no pump runs to get oxygen to the bottom of the pond, then all the beneficial bacteria dies and only "anaerobic" bacteria survives. Basically the same ones that make your garbage stink. Not a real good situation for your fish either! How to fix it? Skim out leaves and sticks, vacuum the bottom if possible, turn on the  pond pump, add beneficial bacteria and inoculate the filter pads. In no time at all the pond will smell better and be on it's way back to health!".

Below is a couple of photos I took of the bees starting to visit my pond. I worry a little about them because I never know if they are the Africanized bees (also known as Killer bees) or not. We do have the Killer bees in our area. In fact, a woman and her husband just a ways down the road from us, were severely attacked by them a few years back. The woman did not survive the attack but her husband did. So I'm always a tad leery of them.

Click the photos below to see them larger and please excuse the algae bloom. I have to deal with it when the weather starts warming up and until the water lilies come up ... which is a few weeks away yet.