Spring Saturation Points

Spring Saturation Points

March 29, 2014

There was more rain, more pooling of water.  We'd had enough warmer days for the ground to finally thaw, so water was able to seep into the ground instead of running across the surface. 

Seeds buried in the ground, waiting through the long winter, were able to absorb moisture, swell, and send down root, then send up stalk.

Roots could find their way around soil particles, gathering nutrition with the help of water.  Almost overnight, new plants were sending up stems and unfurling leaves,

 Jewelweed

 Waterleaf just beginning

 Waterleaf further along

some had developed flower buds,

 Spring Beauty

 Cut-Leaved Toothwort

Prairie Trillium in bud

and some were blooming. 

                                                              Harbinger-of-Spring

Mosses were turning bright green and succulent,

and some getting a head start by growing sporophytes. 

 Mushrooms, too, were softening, or developing from latent spores in the warmer, wet environment.

Snails found this environment very habitable, too. 

The Creek was flowing steadily and musically as the spring songs of birds darted from various parts of the woods. 

 The Pond-like Place was prominent again.

Cottonwood Pond was full.  In fact, it was well overflowing from the northwest corner into the Seep, which was full of water all the way to the Creek.

 I hopped onto the Very Rotten Log and used it to walk over to the pond.  I could feel the softness of the rotting wood through my soles and heard a slight squish as my boots squeezed a little water from the spongy decay.

  I had a better view of the Seep, and saw a spot of green near the log.

                                Honewort plant coming up in Seep area – it loves wet feet! 

More mud was piling up under the root ball at the north end.

 Here is a view of the south end of the pond.  The Very Rotten Log continues along the edge.  It has served almost as a border, but I noticed that there was also water on the other side of the log, at its far end. The Young Maple stands at the edge with its feet in the water, acting as a good measuring device for changing water depth.  The Bent Blue Beech, with it clinging amber leaves, arches gracefully over the pond near the far end (its top, not seen here, leans on the root ball).  The Barkless Log serves as a border for the south end of the pond, with the Very Rotten Log extending under and beyond it. 

I saw a “light at the end of the tunnel” below the intersection of the Very Rotten Log and Barkless Log.  Had the New Inlet become even wider?  Also, there was more water under the Barkless Log near the Root Ball, and a glimmer of light below the log there, too.  Last time, I had suspected that a Newer Inlet was forming from the rush of excess water.

I went to the other side of the pond and Barkless Log to have a look.

 A stream of water was flowing down to the pond, and the New Inlet appeared wider.  But, water had spread to either side and did appear to be creating a Newer Inlet to the right, and possibly another to the left (Newest?).  The Very Rotten Log was extremely rotten at this end, appearing to gradually melt into the ground.  The excess water that had been rushing and pooling in this area was surely expediting that process.  And, that left-most possible inlet, to the left of the Very Rotten Log, was showing more space and light under the log, as I had noticed from the other side.

I looked to the East and saw that there was still a temporary creek, of sorts, flowing along the base of the slopes and heading toward Cottonwood Pond.  I am sure water was seeping down the slopes and gathering in that “creek”.

Here, water was seeping, pooling and flowing toward the pond.  I could see even more clearly that another inlet was beginning to form under Barkless Log.

 And, yes, the New Inlet, alongside Very Rotten Log, had most definitely become wider.  In fact, it looked more as if the pond was beginning to extend beyond Barkless Log.

Nearby, Crawdad chimneys were saturated with water down in their holes.

I looked over Barkless Log and into the pond.  There was much reflection on the water's surface, but, to the left near the log, I could see that mud had been building up from the force of the water that sometimes pushed under the log.

 

 Nearer the Root Ball, I had a close look at Newer Inlet, where water was certainly increasing.

 Looking between the fork of Barkless Log, I had a good view of the increasing amount of water in the corner, as well as an increase in the pile-up of mud, both at the corner of the pond and root ball and on top of the log, where it surely was washing off and collecting below.

 An abundance of water was also flowing along the slope bases toward the Fallen Cottonwood Trunk.  There was more water here than what was flowing toward the new inlets of Cottonwood Pond.

Water flowing under the trunk was running or seeping into “little pond”, at the topside of the Root Ball.

 In fact, so much had flowed to this area that “little pond” had greatly increased in size since lat year.  It was extending beyond the trunk and across the ground around it. 

 The whole area was well saturated. Silas gingerly walked his light body over the place, but I could not walk here without my boots sinking and leaving pools of water.

 Here, a Bush Honeysuckle has taken hold.  I must remove this very invasive species and all other of its kind from these woods, or there will be nothing but Bush Honeysuckle.  It is interesting, though, to wonder what would happen if this particular area became filled with this kind of plant.  Would the roots drink up much of the water, and the plants serve as a catchment for soil and debris, turning the space into a comparatively drier place?  Interesting, but not an experiment that I will allow to happen.

Again, “little pond” and Cottonwood Pond had become linked around the north end of the Root Ball.  Water was gathering around the Two-Trunk Tree, spilling into the larger pond, and then spilling into the Seep, on its way to the Creek.  Previous to this visit, the water had been higher.  I have seen it that way before, when this “isthmus” between ponds was so great that it seemed like one big circled-around pond.

 view of the Seep, north end of Cottonwood Pond, “isthmus”, and north edge of “little pond”.

 view of Cottonwood trunk, root ball and surroundings from up hill, looking southwest.

Looking at this place as a whole, seeing what has happened to it and how it has changed, has brought to mind new questions:

–        How far might Cottonwood Pond extend beyond its south edge?

–        How much more will those three inlets enlarge, and what affect would this have on the pond? Will the divisions between inlets someday disappear?

–        How far might “little pond” extend beyond the trunk, and beyond its other banks?  Will it someday be as large as Cottonwood Pond?

–        How much more rain will we have during the rest of the year?  Or, will we have another drought this summer?  After the great influx of water so far this winter and early spring, how much would drought bring down the pond's water level (compared to last summer's “Cottonwood Puddle”)?

–        I do think that there has been an increase in the tilt of the Root Ball toward Cottonwood Pond, and that this tilt has been caused by the Root Ball (and trunk base) sinking further, due to immense saturation of the ground below.  How much more would this happen? How much farther might it all sink? As the Root Ball tilts farther and creates more of a sheltered, dark area, how might this affect how wildlife (frogs, birds, water insects, etc.) use the area?

–        Will there someday be no distinction between a Cottonwood Pond and “little pond”?  Will there someday be one big, round pond with a sunken Cottonwood root ball “island” in the middle? Will it become “Cottonwood Pond” and “Cottonwood Island”?

–        Or, will the whole thing, someday, become “Cottonwood Swamp”?

New names for use in the blog:  New Inlet, Newer Inlet, Two-Trunk Tree.

Possible future names: Newest Inlet, The Isthmus, The Influx, The Temporary Creek