MORNING AT THE POND

Today I drove again to the inland area around Zminj and spent a good part of the morning near the small pond at the edge of the village that goes by the name of Jopi.

(Enlargeable)

I visited this place only a couple of times and always in the early autumn.

The Water striders (Gerris lacustris) were patroling the surface in search of prey ...

(Enlargeable)

... while the frogs were mostly quietly floating.

A friend was also there with me. She was trying to catch a frog with the camera.

The frogs in question ...

(Enlargeable)

... are the Pelophylax esculentus, one of the most common and widespread species in Europe.

Tadpoles were also present in the shallows.

I spent half an hour ...

... observing the frogs ...

... and then ...

... I decided to mount the macro lens and explore a bit the lawn around the pond.

(Enlargeable)

There I photographed this crab spider of the genus Xysticus. Many similar-looking spiders from the same genus present in the area make identifying the exact species pretty difficult.

This Dwarf mallow (Malva neglecta) was also photographed on the lawn.

(Enlargeable)

Meanwhile, two more explorers arrived at the pond.

(Enlargeable)

A little girl came from one of the neighboring houses accompanied by her grandmother.

(Enlargeable)

The grandma told us about her goose pet that visits the pond from time to time, always accompanied by her, or her and the little girl. They, grandma & the girl soon walked back home ...

... and I continued photographing the frogs.

Some of them were now only partially in the water ...

... in the shallows at the edge of the pond.

At one point, this Libellula depressa dragonfly landed on a branch sprouting from the water ...

(Enlargeable)

... and then, a minute or two later, two frogs that were floating near the center of the small pond, started to communicate pretty loudly.
Since the photographs can't convey the sounds, I decided to record a bit of footage that ended up in the following video. 😎 Have a good viewing.

▶️ Watch on 3Speak

---

A quick look at the frogs singing in the pond. The video looks better as a part of a longer post on HIVE, than as a standalone thing.

---

▶️ 3Speak

The frogs were singing for five or ten minutes and then got quiet ...

... because a goose came close to the water ...

(Enlargeable)

... accompanied by the lady introduced earlier in the post.

(Enlargeable)

The goose took a walk around the pond and had a short bath.

(Enlargeable)

On the outskirts of my hometown, about two hundred meters from where I live, there is a much larger pond. People from the town and especially from my neighborhood regularly take their dogs to have fun in the muddy water. This goose and the bird's relationship with the old lady reminded me of those dogs. It was clear that they are real friends.

Here you can see the sedge in bloom.

Large parchment of the muddy terrain near the pond was covered with this plant.

Eleocharis palustris is the name of this species. The upper part of the spike is covered with female flowers and the lower with male flowers.

This wolf spider from the genus Pardosa was hiding among the sedge. I can't tell you the exact species, but I'm sure that this is a female because is carrying the cocoon with eggs.

(Enlargeable)

And that's it. After a short absence, the dragonfly returned to the same branch. I took only two more shots ...

... before entering the car and driving back home.

AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS, AND THE VIDEO ARE MY WORK - THE END.