Friday, August 14, 2015

In the Midst of Summer





In the Midst of Summer

July 21, 2015





The heat of summer normally brings our Creek down to a trickle (or less), and the last couple of years have shown that Cottonwood Pond shrinks, also. After a spring and early summer full of heavy rains, we had a stretch of no rain and plenty of heat and sun. How had Cottonwood Pond fared after going from one extreme to another?


 
The Creek, still running a little, could barely be seen. Evidence of its route was but a vague, blurry dark line through the dense greenery.

 A wide spot in the greenery where the Creek passes under the Barkless Log and dams up a bit


 The puddle that forms to the side of the Creek, next to the Barkless Log


The Creek just downstream from where it passes Cottonwood Pond – can you find it?

With so much greenery (and mud), I decided to walk the Very Rotten Log over the Creek to get to Cottonwood Pond.




The VERY Rotten Log, after all of that rain – actually, slimy. To the right is where it gave way under my foot. At every step, I could see moisture squish up around my shoes from the moss and rotted wood. This was the most careful crossing on the Very Rotten Log I had ever taken.

 “Sawdust” where burrowing creatures have been accelerating the rotting process

How long will it be before I cannot use this log to cross?

 Looking to the southeast where the Very Rotten Log extends between Cottonwood Pond and the Creek, disappearing into the cover of Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) plants, then eventually disappearing into the ground, from rot

 The Seep was hardly visible at all, except where, at its meeting with the Creek, the Bark Ledge was exposed - only a tall clump of grass gave away the location of the Dam, or Zig-Zag in the Seep

A Black Winged Damselfly (Calopteryx maculata) landing on a Jewelweed leaf – a female, told by body color and white spots on its wings 


Approaching Cottonwood Pond, I could see that the pond water had gone way down, though not quite to a puddle.

 Looking to the northwest


There was only soft mud under the Barkless Log at the Inlet, which was very wide and clear (I measured it as a 6-inch tall space.) No rain water had been flowing through for some time, allowing animal prints to remain in the mud.




 To the north, the Pond corner, Seep origin and Isthmus were nothing but mud. And Mud Pile #1, below the Root Ball Bottom, was covered in very tall Jewelweed and Clearweed (Pilea pumila) plants.

Would the Pond still be supporting life? I got a closer look.

Frogs!! 
Possibly Western Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris triseriata) or young Green Frogs (Rana clamitans melanota) , or both.
Some squeaked and jumped into the water.
Some stayed in the water, heads poking above the surface ...


... some sat still on the mud ... 


… and some escaped into the relative safety of the Cove, among the rootlets at the base of the Root Ball.


There were also Raccoon tracks up to the Cove, so maybe it wasn't so safe for frogs.

In fact, mud was covered everywhere with Raccoon prints. They, likely a whole family, had been very busy.

 At Pond edge, near Inlet

 Prints on other side of Inlet, where Raccoons were walking through


There was a tunnel at the edge of the Pond, near the Cove, the opening halfway under water, and a “skid mark” in the mud where something slid in or out of the tunnel. What animal did this? A Crawdad? A Frog? A Water Snake? Whatever it was, the Raccoons likely captured it (well, maybe not a snake.) Their “finger” prints skirted the top of the hole like the semi-circle of bricks above a railroad tunnel. The many prints nearby, including those of long Raccoon heels pressed deeply into the mud, left evidence of Coon determination. One hind footprint was halfway in the water, above the skid mark. I imagined the Coon bending over, grasping at the creature with its hand-like front paws as it tried to slip either into the tunnel or further into the water. By this, I cannot tell if it was captured, but I know Raccoons don't often miss.

There were plenty of fresh Crawdad chimneys around Cottonwood Pond, conditions being very favorable for building them, including this one, built around a grass stem and a Jewelweed plant ...


… and this very tiny, skinny one. 


Pond Snails and water insects were active in the water, mostly near edges.

One spider was, unfortunately, no longer active ... 


… but there was plenty of evidence of active web weavers around. 


 Web on the Root Ball Bottom

 Webs stretched over plants on the woods floor
  
I went around to the other side of the Inlet, toward the Swampy Spot on the east side.

And, what to my wondering eyes did appear?


 The Mystery Plants had bloomed!!


As I had suspected, they were Monkey Flowers (genus Mimulus) – but what species?

 Do you see the monkey face in the flower?

Finally, I could identify the Mystery Plants. They were Mimulus alatus, or the Sharp-winged Monkey Flower. I could distinguish it from a similar species (M. ringens,  or Allegheny Monkey Flower) by the longs stalks on the leaves, the short pedicels on the flowers, and the “winged” sepal at the base of the flowers.

A number of Mimulus blossoms had already fallen, scattered, on the Swampy Spot mud below. These pretty, delicate blossoms, as well as the bright orange, dramatic flowers of Jewelweed, will become part of the soil.

(Note I was able to walk through the Swampy Spot without boots this time, though my shoes got somewhat muddy)

Other plants in the vicinity:


A tall grass species (I have yet to identify any grass, sedge of rush species here).




 A Boxelder sapling (Acer negundo), which, when young, can be confused with Poison Ivy.


Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) shrubs with unripe berries.


 Wood Nettle (Laportea canadensis) in bloom.


False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica) in bloom.

I looked southeast of the Swampy Spot to the Temporary Creek, which feeds it. This creek has been leaning toward being not so Temporary. It even brought along an old rubber ball that I had seen before, well upstream in the regular Creek.


I assumed it entered our woods years ago when grandsons of our then neighbors across the road kicked it with too much vigor. Those boys all grew up, so it is amazing the ball has stayed inflated so long, if that was the source.

 Looking to the north from the Swampy Spot: Cottonwood Trunk below, upper limb of Barkless Log above

 Closer to the Trunk base – Barkless Log lower limb, Cottonwood Trunk, Barkless Log upper limb, extended branch of Bent Blue Beech


I worked my way over the Barkless Log's lower limb and the dense vegetation toward the Trunk base. Under the base, I could see through to “little pond.” Sometimes water continues from there to the other side of the Trunk.

Here, also, was the other side of the Cove. 


Here was where I saw frogs go to hide, and where Raccoon prints almost entered from either side. Maybe young Raccoons would be able to fit through.

I stooped under the Trunk and looked to see how it was doing.


Where bark had fallen off and wood was exposed, various clawed wildlife had been gouging at the wood, searching for tiny creatures within, hastening the deterioration of the Trunk.

 
Some of those tiny creatures had been burrowing in the Trunk, also hastening deterioration, and leaving a pile of “sawdust” on the mud below.

Fungi found the Trunk to be a very hospitable place to grow, with shade and an increasingly softer, more textured surface from moisture and rot. The fungi would be further disintegrating the wood by its mycelium below the surface growing between wood cells, deriving nutrients.

 Currently unidentified shelf fungus

 The fruiting bodies of the slime mold Comatricha typhoides


 
Looking up the Trunk, I saw that it was almost completely devoid of bark, which had fallen in sections to the woods floor, gradually becoming soil.
On the wood surface there were old burrows of insect larvae and claw marks of mammals.

When part of the Trunk completely deteriorates, how will that affect the balance of the Root Ball? And how long will this process take?

I stood at a vantage point from the northeast to look at the whole area encompassing the Root Ball Top, the Trunk and “little pond.”

  2-Trunk Tree to right, Isthmus between it and Root Ball

How different this was from the spring time! I could see no water through the vegetation, and the Root Ball Top was becoming a miniature woodland.

Going closer, I could see that “little pond” was all mud. 



Raccoon prints went from the far end of “little pond”, under the Trunk, and probably to the Cove, as well as around to the other side to pass through the Inlet to the main Pond. If only I could be there to secretly watch the Raccoons at night.

 Mud from the corner of “little pond” (left) to the 2-Trunk Tree (right), through the Isthmus, to the corner of the main Pond (upper left) and down the Seep (upper right)

It was time to finally identify the 2-Trunk Tree. After examining the opposite leaves to see that they had seven leaflets with soft surfaces and smooth edges, I determined it was an Ash, most likely a White Ash (Fraxinus americana.)
In fact, that's what the Young Tree at the edge of the main Pond turned out to be, also.
The vocabulary changes, then, to 2-Trunk White Ash and Young White Ash.

Note: The plants I had seen earlier in the year growing in the water of Cottonwood Pond were no longer there, though the spot was never dry.

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After the visit, it occurred to me that I need to keep a list of all species found at Cottonwood Pond and close by: plant, animal, fungi, etc. (some animals determined by the signs they leave or songs heard.) So, someday a Cottonwood Pond blog entry will be that list, possibly with accompanying photos. I am excited to see what may be added to the original list over time.

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Bonus photos:

  Turkey Tail fungi on nearby log (Polyporus versicolor)

 White Treehopper (species undetermined)

  
 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) with green fruit on slope between Cottonwood Pond and home

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