Happy New Year, 2016!
January 1, 2016
Soggy, brown, gray, and no snow - that's how we started the new year. It has been a mild, wet winter so far.
Even from a distance, the Root Ball at Cottonwood Pond looked like half a doughnut - a light, dry circle in the middle and a dark half-circle of wetness surrounding it, around the edge.
What was new at Cottonwood Pond for the first day of 2016?
The pond water was still and unruffled by any wind, as clear as glass, and reflective.
The fine, silty mud had settled completely onto the layer of leaves on the bottom.
There were a few odd, white bubbles on the water surface. Was this from oxygen release from below?
The Seep path had been cleared by recent rainwater pouring through the dead leaf layer. Heavy rains had also created an auxiliary path (to the right in photo, above), gouged out a hole in the Seep ...
... and further exposed the Bark Ledge near the Creek.
The Cove below the Root Ball was crystal clear.
The Temporary Creek had been recently running, depositing more mud among last year's Monkey Flower stalks.
Dark mud in the swampy area was full of holes and trails left by worms.
The abundant rain and mild weather had encouraged Elderberry leaves to sprout and woke up dormant fungi.
Animals had left behind evidence of their visits here.
Scat, with a Persimmon seed
Tracks in the mud
Welcome to 2016 at Cottonwood Pond. It will, no doubt, be a year of many transitions.
"little pond", the Trunk and the Root Ball
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