Winter Ponderland

The groundhog had it right! The first measurable, shovel-worthy snow of the season fell last night and continues this morning.  My measuring stick found three inches accumulation. The pond and its environment received a beautiful coat of snow, and a sheet of ice formed on the water.

6 more weeks of …

Punxatawny Phil saw his shadow over the weekend portending six more weeks of winter. More what? What winter? Philly has only had an inch and a half of snow, and air temperatures averaged nearly 4 degrees above historical means in January. My water temp only dipped below 40F once and tops 50F as I write this. A thin sheet of ice formed one time, but it didn’t last but a few days.

Only a couple of my fish could even be called dormant – Flash and Ginger started spending most of their time motionless on the bottom when the water first dropped below 50. The others hang out under my fake lily pads or the heater and occasionally swim over to munch some yummy algae.

The upside to warm winters is having less stressed fish in the spring. Can’t wait!