With the heat, and the need to tend the vegetables, I’ve rather neglected the pond this year. I haven’t spent as many hours just sitting nearby looking for frogs and enjoying the plants. Today I walked back to take a look, and discovered that we have tadpoles! And I hadn’t seen ones like this before, with orangish tails. Doing a little internet research, I discovered that these are tree frog tadpoles. They have the capacity to color their tales when they are exposed to predators like dragonfly nymphs, which we are also likely to have in the pond. Amazing! According to researchers, the orange tails protect them by the tails being targeted by predators, rather than more vulnerable parts of their bodies. I do remember when the tree frog was calling its distinctive song from the pond earlier in the season.

Meanwhile, our water lilies have been really healthy this season, and another strange color phenomenon has taken place there. We have white water lilies, but one has turned pink around the edges. I couldn’t find any explanation for this color change.

Despite my neglect, the pond seems to be thriving this season. We’ve had lovely marsh marigolds, and blue flag irises in their turn, as well as sweetflag, and the arrowhead plants are abundant. They bloom later. The lily pads are more numerous than in prior years, which helps to cool the water and make safe places for tadpoles. These mysteries of life and beauty feed my spirit during troubling times.