Pond scum

So, I experienced a fascinating morning this morning, on the search of fresh water creatures.  Our friend, Doug, with whom we are staying here outside Baltimore, is a biologist, former professor at Hopkins.  Now that it is warm here, all the happy microscopic critters in ponds are out frolicking and observable with a syringe and a microscope.  We scooped up two samples from the creek bordering their property and one from their pond - and took a look.  We saw spirogyra, peritrichia, protonema, diatoms, closteriums, ostracod, a rotofer and a flea larva.  We also saw green algae making zoospores!  It was really cool.