Today we spent the morning trying to figure out where the pond is going to go on the land. I am planning a large enough pond that will support more of the wildlife we have around here. There will be a bog garden in the back that will act as a filter, and it will hold a lot of marginal plants to help clean and filter the water. It will flow over some rocks into the pond. At this point I am not putting any fish in there besides a tadpole or a thousand. I would like this to be a wildlife pond. I can’t wait for the dragonflies and frogs to move in! We spent a good half hour laying out the hose, moving it and taking photos to figure out where the best sunshine, shade and location for viewing would be.So we found the perfect spot and it didn’t take Dick long to jump in and take a backstroke in the new pond. I felt bad telling him it will need to be dug and filled with water first. He seemed so enthusiastic and I didn’t want to spoil the moment.

Oh and yes the little tree in the middle with the fence will have to be moved too.

This will be a big project to dig since our soil here is Caliche limestone and rock hard.  I will probably have to rent a backhoe. And then the digging will begin. Tough work ahead.

This morning it seemed that all the Robins and Cedar Waxwings in Texas were visiting my back yard. And they sure did appreciate my little pond I built in summer. Here they are sharing a little sip from the pond. The water level was a little low so when they left I filled it up with some rainwater from my tanks.

Aren’t they just the sweetest birds? According to the books Robins live year round in eastern Texas. Now I am in Central Texas, so I assume they came for a Saturday picnic. The Cedar Waxwings are just here for the winter and have been appreciating the berries from my Youpon Holly tree. They showed their happiness by pooping the berries all over the driveway!

It’s 71 degrees today and their giving us a 90% chance of rain Tuesday night. I can’t wait.

Isn’t he just lovely? He was feasting on my lemon blossoms and an Ice Plant I bought at a nursery on Saturday.

Ice Plant (Carpobrotus edulis)

I also bought another Yaupon Holly that is full of berries and put him right next to the holly we have next to our window. Earlier this fall when our holly was covered in red berries the mockingbird would sit in it, eat and then attack the window, probably thinking his reflection was another imposter mockingbird trying to steal all his berries! He would spend hours banging against the glass until I lowered the blinds and he stopped. Well he did a great job of clearing out all the berries from the tree so that not even the sweet cedar waxwings could get any. It’s been a rough dry year and the holly was probably stressed and did not make that many berries.  Once the berries were gone, so was the mockingbird. I was sad to see him go. I loved his melodies.

When I added the new Holly to the area on Saturday – all covered in berries – our little mockingbird friend was back, banging on the window. I just wish the cedar waxwings would come back to get some berries before the mockingbird eats them all!!

On Saturday we also spent the morning planting tree saplings in one of the many Austin parks. The city has allocated 2 million dollars to remove invasive plants, and plant native trees and shrubs in their place. These were: Texas Mountain Laurel, Pecan, Mexican Plum, Black Walnut and Sycamore along with many others. This will add to my volunteer time for the Capital Area Master Naturalist program.

This is a sight for sore eyes in the middle of December. A Pipevine Swallow tail and a lot of bees on my lemon tree.  According to the database this fella is supposed to be in Mexico by now. I guess he couldn’t resist a little snack on the lemon tree blossoms. It’s been freezing at night and so when I bring the trees back outside in the morning when it’s warm enough, I usually have some pretty irate bees and butterflies buzzing around me wondering where the heck the trees have been. Even though I have explained to them countless times that I need to bring these trees in at night so they won’t die, they seem just as impatient each morning when I bring them back out. (Sigh)