Cottonwood Pond: It's a Jungle Down There!

It's a Jungle Down There!

May 14, 2014

and an April Retrospective

In early April, it still looked like winter in the woods, with leafless trees and barely any green on the ground.

From a distance, there were more spots of green in and near the Seep than elsewhere.

The Seep on April 4, green mostly from tufts of grass

We'd had much rain (after much snow melt) and there was more water than ever. Everything was swelling.

Seven days later, a vague mist of green was showing up below the canopy. Still, the trees were leafless, though buds were swelling. Still, there was an abundance of water, with “little pond” connecting to the larger pond.

Water was pooling at the end of the Temporary Creek, and clusters of a “mystery plant” had appeared here, with dark, shiny leaves pointing out of the water from dark red petioles. They were nowhere else.

Suddenly, eight days later, the forest floor was exploding. Mayapple plants had popped up, covering sections of slope.

Spring Beauty was in bloom, carpets of green speckled with white.

The bright blue clusters of Virginia Bluebells were opening, the first time I had seen them since I had planted this gift from a friend.

Tiny leaves and flowers were appearing in the canopy, which became a light veil of green over the woods.

Blobs of soft green algae had developed under the water of Cottonwood Pond.

Even the mud of the root ball bottom had a green tinge.

Near the root ball top, leaves were bursting from a serendipitous crop of young Elderberry shrubs.

The “mystery plants” in the nearby pool had gotten a little taller and were growing more leaves from the centers.

Another eleven days passed before I could get down to Cottonwood Pond again. There had been so much else going on in life to keep by busy and, unfortunately, out of the woods. In the meantime, we' had more consistently warmish weather, more sun, and more rain.

I found time to see Cottonwood Pond from the edge of the woods. My normally clear view was beginning to be obscured by an abundance of young green leaves. Spring flowers continued to bloom in a succession of whites, lavenders, purples and maroons.

Cottonwood Pond was surrounded by greenery. There was also, still, abundant water. I hoped I would hear frogs calling. I had been hearing a multitude of Chorus frogs calling from the pond behind the house across the road.

It always seems to happen so suddenly, as if one day the light mist of new green in the trees turns, the next day …

May 14

… into a veritable jungle of fully blasted-out leaves. I needed to go down the slope for a less obscured view of Cottonwood Pond.

The creek was running fast, tumbling over obstacles, after heavy rain. It was still raining, though lightly, when I was there that day.

The creek was also carving out new spaces on the banks that used to be crawdad homes.

The Seep was exploding in green, though not as densely as last year. This year, water and mud had rushed through and spread outwards …

… and was carrying clouds of silt from the pond area to the creek.

Lush greenery was crowding up to the edge of the pond.

The Inlets were even larger than before.

The Stinging Nettles were suddenly flourishing.

The Temporary Creek, perhaps no longer temporary, was larger than ever before. The “mystery plants”, in the slow, pooled area, ha grown much taller, stems stretching out now, longer between the leaves. They were no longer compact bunches.

The new Elderberry Grove had become an Elderberry Jungle.

Below the Cottonwood Trunk, things were looking rather swampy ...

...and “little pond” really could not be defined as “little pond” anymore.

How “little pond” looked on April 4

Life was wriggling like crazy in “little pond”, and in Cottonwood Pond as well. Tiny Backswimmers swirled at the surface, and occasionally dived down to the bottom. The pupae of mosquitoes were doing their wiggly dances just under the pond surface.