The milkweed patch went gangbusters with flowers, but I only saw two monarchs over the 10 days or so when they were at their height, and spotted a single monarch caterpillar (which wasn't on the plant the next day, so could have potentially become a bird's snack). However, I'm trying to content myself with how much joy the bee population was getting from them! The phrase "hive of activity" was extremely apt. The smell of the milkweed flowers, while subtle, is rich and warm - really lovely when brought to you over a breeze.
I went out on the pond a second time to do reed removal, and discovered that the damn thing still has a slow leak. I'm hitting it with more flexseal this week. Also, the oarlock pin worked great...on the oarlock I managed to get it on to. The other one flew off into the water as soon as I tried to attach it. I had Sean run and grab me a safety pin, which turned out to be a cheap piece of shit (thanks Amazon), but I was still able to twist the metal to hold the other oar in place. It was still very awkward with two oars of the same length, but whatever.
The second video is just to capture the "bullfrog chorus" at the pond. In previous weeks it was more overlaid with birds, but I realized that most of the birds have probably fledged their kids by now and are less aggressive (redwing blackbirds, I'm looking at you). The bullfrogs remind me of a group of stringed instruments hidden around the pond, each with a single chord being plucked when they sound off. Not captured, but always funny/surprising to me: if you walk up to the pond and startle them, even if you don't see them, you'll hear this high-pitched "scree!" and a plop as they jump in. Combine that with three or four little red-eared sliders paddling madly to safety when you come near, and it's about enough to hurt a girl's feelings. I just want to be friendsssssss!