Spring here in Marshville, NC has been unseasonably warm, and windy,... and over the past week cool again, and stormy.  The Spring chores are getting done, and breeding for 2012 has begun.

A stormy view across a neighbor's farm.

Spring warmth brings out the reptiles and amphibians.  This baby Black Rat Snake was scooped up out of one of the holding tanks here.  Like the sumi becomes more black, solid, and vivid on our Koi as they grow and mature,... the black on this young snake will become darker and more solid over the next year or two, and this banded pattern we see now will become almost completely covered.

Tosai Kohaku, 11 months old, and 11 inches.  A pond of tosai Kohaku were harvested this week, and some went back out to the mud to grow over the Summer,... while some others are now available for sale in several size and price categories.

A new-born water turtle,... a little larger than a quarter.  These little things are zipping all around the mud ponds right now.

In Spring a lot of Koi get moved around here,... some to mud ponds for the Summer, and some get pulled up and evaluated.  I always enjoy pulling these Koi up for a closer look.

A young female Shiro Utsuri.

A 23 month old Kohaku.

A 23 month old Sanke.

A mother Wren decided to build a nest in the frame of the farm 4-wheeler,... so now these baby birds have to ride around the farm with me when I feed the ponds and do chores.  I should probably get them all little helmets,... 4-wheeler rides here can get a little crazy!

Breeding is in full swing here, and so far all is looking wonderful,... Sanke fry are hatched and swimming,... and Showa eggs are incubating now.  I'm very excited about the parent sets for both of these,... wonderful characteristics in each.

Some Showa eggs.

The face of Sadazo lineage Sanke.

A view across my pasture to my neighbor's.  The old barn is part of the original farmstead that my Koi farm was once a part of.  Click on the link below to also see an aerial view of some of the local area, as well as other views around the Carolinas,... part of what I do when I'm not playing in the mud here.

http://www.fototime.com/225BC89FAC8DD5E/convx264.mp4