One sample yielded a paramecium party. The screen was filled with small organisms zooming around like bumper cars.
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Paramecia are often abundant in stagnant basins and ponds, according to Wikipedia.

“A paramecium is a free-living, motile, single-cell (unicellular) organism belonging to the kingdom Protista that are naturally found in aquatic habitats. They have a lifespan of a hundred, a thousand or even a million years,” said a post on www.sciencefacts.net.

The post said that paramecia travel using their cilia. It also explained the bumper car-like movements.
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“The coordinated action of cilia propels the organism forward in a counterclockwise fashion.

The Paramecium spirals through the water as it progresses.

On hitting an obstacle, it reverses the beat of cilia to swim backward for a brief time before resuming its forward progress.

​If it runs into an obstacle again, it repeats this process, until it can get past the object,” continued the post. 

​In another water sample, I came upon a funnel shaped critter known as a stentor.

Stentor (previously known as "trumpet animalcules") is a genus of trumpet-shaped, ciliated protists common to most of the world, according to a post on Wikipedia.
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“A stentor is a single-celled freshwater protozoan belonging to the phylum Ciliophora, commonly found in ponds and slow-moving water bodies,” said a post on biologyinsights.com.

​“Its trumpet or horn shape can extend significantly when attached to a surface…. The stentor primarily exists in an attached state, using its holdfast to anchor to submerged plants or debris. However, these organisms are also capable of detaching and swimming freely, at which point they typically assume a more oval or pear shape,” the post explained.
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The post went on to mention that the stentor has a remarkable ability to regenerate lost body parts.

Meanwhile, other samples pulled from the icy waters revealed a critter that I had seen before, a rotifer.

I likened the rotifer’s look like a walrus with two mouths that rotate.
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“Rotifers are commonly known as wheel animals  …the name ‘rotifer’ derives from a Neo-Latin word meaning ‘wheel-bearer’ due to their characteristic ciliated crowns that resemble rotating wheels.

​These cilia are used for both locomotion and feeding,” said a post on animalfact.com .

​Rotifers are mostly found in freshwater habitats, according to the post.

“Rotifers primarily filter-feed on algae, bacteria, protozoans, phytoplankton, and organic detritus ... They modify their feeding behavior depending on environmental conditions and prey abundance,” the post explained.

​While Mother Nature was actively freezing water, the camera was busy freezing moments in time.

​Those included adorably awkward looks. 

​I often used the funny, funky faces for Facebook profile pictures.

If I could get a laugh or chuckle at my animal’s expense it was worth it.

​After all, their survival is at my expense. 

​No animals were harmed during the filming of this project.

Well, Clem’s ear was a little ripped up.

​That’s just the nature of things ‘round here. 

​Some Facebook posts that were of mushroom spores under a microscope inspired me.

I tried to get a few spores to come into focus, but I wasn’t successful.

​I did smush the gills against the glass slide and discovered something moving. There were nematodes, worms or some type of larva hidden in the gills.  

Meanwhile an April article posted by Penn State stated that the plant has garnered some interest from a research team.

​The study’s authors claimed that there was an uptick in the harvest and economic trade of this plant due to social media and the internet.

​People were starting to use the mysterious plant for medicinal purposes.

Team leader and senior author on the study Eric Burkhart, was quoted as saying, “As a wild harvested species, little has been documented about its use throughout the U.S. and any growing conservation needs.
This study helps to inform future research and education efforts so that consumer safety and wild conservation efforts can both be appropriately targeted and aligned.”     

​Zooming in on a couple of native orchids unveiled intricate blooms that made up a set of blossoms.

While the group of tiny flowers made the plants visible, there was so much more going on with a closer look.

​Both downy rattlesnake plantain and nodding ladies’ tresses sport showy small white flowers that grow on one stem. 

​A close-up photo of whorled yellow loosestrife revealed a spider hanging out in the background. 

​Meanwhile, the microscope uncovered the reason for the neighbor’s pond being green this summer.

​As the summer warmed up and the rain lessened the green hue covered more and more areas.

​The emerald coloring was due to tiny, microscopic creatures in the euglena family.