Cottonwood Pond: Snow and Ice and Stan

Snow and Ice and Stan

January 27, 2015

Snow!!

I had been waiting for a snowfall. It was a light cover on January 27, but with a promise of more. I could not miss seeing Cottonwood Pond on this day.

Apparently, Stanislaus Cat couldn't, either.

The cold creek meandered past the icy pond. The Root Ball stood out in dark relief against the snow.

Wildlife in our woods had recently left their trails.

Some were coming from Cottonwood Pond, over the Very Rotten Log.

Stan was leaving his own trail of prints.

Ice and snow crystals formed in various patterns on the creek and in the fissures of the Cottonwood trunk.

The Seep was frozen and full of snow, so I could not tell if it had flowed more since January 2.

But, I did see designs on top of the pond that may have indicated movement.

From the northwest ....

... and from the southeast.

Lobes of frosty white had pushed across the pond's surface from the northwest. Was water pushing this way from “little pond” overflow and the Isthmus? It didn't seem likely such a strong flow would come from there. Maybe a strong northerly wind had pushed just the surface molecules of water, freezing the action in place, like tiny, frozen whitecaps.

The only section of pond without ice or slush was that near the Root Ball. Had it been consistently flowing under there, resisting a freeze?

The Inlet and the New Inlet under the Barkless Log were wide open. The bending of weeds and grasses toward the log showed there had been a flow of water through the Inlets recently.

I knew this was true when, looking behind me to the southeast, I saw an active Temporary Creek heading toward Cottonwood Pond.

(The downed tree seen in the distance is a much smaller one, just above the Temporary Creek)

Stanislaus and I went around the Root Ball to check out “little pond”.

Even with snow cover, it was obvious that “little pond” had flowed through the Isthmus to the main pond.

From this perspective, I pondered the pond.

When there was enough water, the two ponds connected via the Isthmus on the north end, sometimes going around the Two-Trunk Tree.

At the other side of the Trunk, water from the main pond was moving through the Cove under the Root Ball, then flowing under the Trunk and meeting up with overflow from “little pond.”

Mud piles were gradually decreasing the pond size at both ends of the Root Ball. Would this someday be one doughnut-shaped pond with a Mud Pile/Root Ball Island in the middle?

Meanwhile, Stan crept across the thin ice, curious about the deeper part of “little pond”. He gingerly stepped one front paw toward the ice, bending his head forward to sniff.