Plenty of April Showers

Plenty of April Showers

April 2016

April 5 

April 12

April 16

April 26

April was such a busy month that I did not have time to keep up with regular reports on Cottonwood Pond, though I did get down to explore it often. We had a hot, dry spell early in the month (way too early for such heat), but after that the rains came, and came, and came …

The area changed drastically from the beginning to the end of April. The greatest changes were those in plant and animal life - the types, growth and abundance. After so many months of little activity, so much appeared, and it always seems miraculous – where was it all this time?

April 5

April 12

April 26

The Creek flowed all month, but definitely increased in speed and volume during the last half. Plants sprouted along the edges, and sometimes in the water. By the latter part of the month, young Jewelweed was evident there.

As the month progressed, the canopy filled out in the woods and bugs came to life, the sounds of birds were all around, giving territorial and mate-attracting songs and calls. The sudden abundance and texture of sound in the woods was remarkable as year-round birds became very active and migrants were arriving, including Wood Thrushes from Central America and Summer Tanagers all the way from South America. The pounding of Woodpeckers was louder and more frequent as they built nesting holes and pounded on wood to signal territorial claims.

Early in the month the area was still mostly brown with dustings of green color. There were mainly grasses, some Violets (not in bloom yet) and the very small beginnings of Jewelweed. By late April, the slope down to the bottom was covered in Mayapples, like broad umbrellas sheltering exquisite white blossoms below.

April 26 - Mayapples on the slope

April 26 - Mayapple blossom

They were so thick that it was difficult to traverse the slope without stepping on some.

My friend Cherie working her way down the slope, trying not to step on Mayapples - April 29

Upon reaching the bottom of the slope, the dark blanket of Mayapples turned to the pale green carpet of young Jewelweed in the bottomland …

… and Wood Nettles were sending up their prickly stalks and leaves among them.

April 26

Closer to Cottonwood Pond, changes were evident even from not-so-close inspection. Heavy rain periods stirred up sediment (and brought more into the pond from elsewhere), making the water cloudy. Also, more sediment was knocked from the Root Ball above. During calmer periods, the fine sediment settled onto the old autumn leaf layer on the bottom. The water was clear, and the sediment provided cover for the increasing number of small animals becoming active on and below the leaf layer. The area around the pond became distinctly lush and green as the month moved along.

April 5

April 12

April 16

April 26

Plant material from trees overhead floated on the pond surface – male and female catkins, other tree flowers, leaves, stems …

April 16

… and by late month there was a green tinge as algae bloomed on the old leaves and twigs in the water.

April 26

But what about animal life in the water? What would be appearing? How much was happening as spring progressed?

My friends Andy and Cherie observing Cottonwood Pond on April 29

In the early part of April, I had been hearing choirs of Chorus frogs with their click-clacking calls. Those calls waned over time as mating was accomplished by most. I thought there would surely be  tadpoles in Cottonwood Pond, as I had found frog egg masses the previous month Later in the month, one or two Gray Tree frogs called to each other, periodically, from trees nearby.

As I approached the pond on any day in April, I heard frogs plop into the water, usually disappearing in the muddy bottom, and sometimes I would see the frogs. Bubbles drifting up from the bottom sometimes belied their hiding places.

Cricket Frog at pond's edge on April 16 - can you see it?

And closer ...

Green Frog at the edge of the water near the Cove on April 26 - can you see it?

And closer ...

A Green Frog in "little pond" on April 26 - can you find it in the first photo?

Sure enough, there were tadpoles!! I figured they were likely Chorus Frog tadpoles, due to the timing and the tiny size. At first they were tiny little black blots, sometimes nibbling on algae from a submerged twig. As time went on, their heads became longer, and later they developed tiny legs.

April 16

April 26

April 29 - tadpole with very tiny back legs

During late April, there were many tiny tadpoles near the pond surface. Sometimes they would suddenly pop up from the bottom.

Increasingly, life wiggled and scooted from the surface to the bottom.

Mosquito larvae wiggling just under the surface of "little pond" - April 3

April 16 - look closely - and isopod scoots across the muddy bottom, living off of the decaying plants, while some kind of tiny insects move around on the surface of "little pond."

While looking into the water, my friends Andy and Cherie and I spotted an odd organism I had never seen before. It was pale, sort of cream-colored, thin, and somewhat pointed at one end. It undulated through the water very gracefully, and sometimes glided like a miniature gar fish. Periodically, one end would come to the surface, and then the whole organism would go below water again.

In consulting my freshwater guides, I found it was a fresh water leech from the genus Helobdella. At least that's what I can determine so far. Some are parasites of snails, others of fish, frogs and turtles. They are jawless and do not feed on blood. Leeches move by alternately attaching the mouth sucker and tail sucker to a surface. In this case it was the water surface (below), which is what we were witnessing when it came to the surface of Cottonwood Pond. I know that sounds gross to some, but what it results in is this creature doing a sort of ballet through the water.

April 29 - Leech swimming

The activity of spring was also evident by the appearance of bees.

A bee with brightly colored pollen bags, on the Very Rotten Log - April 3

April 16 - bee caught on surface of main pond

Spiders were busy running across the woods floor or building webs over Cottonwood Pond.

Top part of photo - spider on a dry leaf - April 26

April 16 - a web spun over the main pond

Webs strung across the Root Ball Bottom - April 26

Crawdads were working on their new headquarters snuggled up to the pond's edge.

April 26

Very tiny Crawdad chimney - April 29

Raccoon tracks appeared in the mud as the creatures searched for ever more available delectables, and something had clawed at the Very Rotten Log, searching for other delectables.

April 3

Saplings and vines were leafing out in various stages of dressage.

Young Boxelder tree next to the Cottonwood Trunk - April 12

 Sugar Maple and Blue Beech saplings growing from the top edge of the Root Ball

Poison Ivy and Virginia Creeper vines cascade from the top edge of the Root Ball)

The leaves of Elderberry shrubs grew larger, filling more space in the view of the southeast side.

April 3

April 12

April 26

 New Elderberry growing through the crook of the Barkless Log - April 26

Plant life was popping up all over.

Butterweed - April 26

Plants, mostly Jewelweed, covering Mud Pile #1 below the north end of the Root Ball Bottom on April 26

Wood Nettle and Jewelweed covering Mud Pile #2 below the north end of the Root Ball Top, with a young Maple sapling nearby - April 26

Then beginnings of Monkey Flower plants rose up from the mud and water, bright green, as pale, dry stalks from last year’s plants gradually dropped outward. In itself, the group looked like flower gradually opening.

April 3

April 12

April 26

Most of the Monkey Flowers flourish in a soggy area I call the Swampy Spot. This is a waterlogged, still place at the end of Temporary Creek #1, which flows from the northeast – and is becoming not so temporary.

Water from Temporary Creek #1 and the Swampy Spot was flowing quickly and more often in April, through the space before the Cottonwood Trunk, under the Trunk, feeding into “little pond” below the Root Ball Top.

April 12

Under the Trunk - April 26

Some of the water diverted, seeping along, creating a very soggy area before the Inlet, then through the Inlet, feeding the main pond.

April 12

Just outside the main pond, where water flows through the Inlet under the Barkless Log - April 3

The main pond with the Inlet on the southeast end, water cloudy - April 12

April 26

Excess water, of which there was plenty during the latter half of April, steadily flowed out of the main pond in two directions. One was through the seep at the corner, down to the Creek.

Before the heavy rain - April 3

After rain, showing the Bark Ledge where water flows from the Seep into the Creek - April 12

The same view on April 29

The other was through the Isthmus into “little pond” on the other side of the Root Ball. Actually, it’s not easy to tell if water flows from the main pond to “little pond” this way, or vice versa.

 Seep flowing down from pond corner, and Isthmus on the upper left

 After much rain, boundaries disappear between the main pond, Isthmus and “little pond” - April 12

 As seen from “little pond” in the foreground – the Isthmus, relatively dry on April 3, and the main pond. Mud Pile #1 is on the left. April 3

Same view on April 26, with the Two-Trunk White Ash. The beginning of Temporary Creek #2 is evident to the right.

“little pond”, with the Isthmus and main pond seen on the right - April 29

Excess water also flowed out of the corner of “little pond” into Temporary Creek #2. This water flows in a tiny stream which curves around to meet up with the Creek further downstream.

April 29

April 12

(4/12 - #8369)

“little pond” near the base of the Trunk - April 12

Water seemed to be swirling and cycling around and through the area. Another way it flowed was through the Cove at the base of the Root Ball, between “little pond” and the main pond.

On April 3, there was evidence that water had pushed through the Cove from the main pond to the other side, but the orientation of dead leaves and flow lines in the mud.

The Cove opening at the base of the Trunk and Root Ball Top - April 3

The Cove as seen at the main pond, below the Root Ball Bottom - April 3

But, does it always flow in that one direction? I would have to keep looking for evidence as well as watching the spot during and after a heavy rain.

Changes in the main pond side of the Cove over time – the opening enlarging and the entrance widening:

April 5

Water was high and cloudy after much rain - April 12

April 16

April 26

There were abrupt changes through the month, as strong April showers carved channels, the canopy quickly filled with green, both slope and low, wet ground filled with green plants and early blossoms, and animal life was becoming very active.

I predicted that May would be fantastic at Cottonwood Pond.