Since returning from Florida and finding the bubbler detached from the pond, I’ve been worried that the fish might not survive this year – the bubbler normally keeps air flowing in to the pond water, and an opening in the ice; but detached this year, ice was solid to at least 10″, with no fresh air 😦
Now, with no snow for a few days, and sun doing melting, the ice on the pond has thinned, enough that we can see orange patches under the ice:
Happily, these orange patches move around too! So at least some of the fish have survived so far.
We installed a second bubbler today, which hopefully will assist the fish in continuing to survive through the rest of this long cold winter.