The Rest of Summer
July 15 and August 20,
2016
July 15
August 20
Summertime is always such
a full time. The gardens are in full swing with one kind of harvest
or another, and putting up that harvest – canning, freezing,
dehydrating, fermenting, etc. Then there is the extra maintenance to
do outside while grasses and weeds dare us to keep up with them.
Richard had shoulder surgery in mid-July, putting his participation
on hold and condensing summer life for both of us. Since I don't
tolerate heat well at all, my outdoor work was limited to mornings
and evenings. Trips into the woods, even as close as Cottonwood Pond,
were almost as rare as diamonds in a Knox County melon field.
July 15
Summer is also a very rich
time for the woods, of course, including Cottonwood Pond. Rains come
and go, rushing waters sculpting new directions. Caterpillars are
busy chewing through leaves in time to fully grow, pupate, and set
forth into the world with new wings.
Young mammals are growing up,
learning to hunt for themselves. Flowers are blooming, faces up,
calling for the help of bees, butterflies, wasps, ants, beetles,
flies – whatever will spread their pollen.
Wasp inside a roll of fallen Sycamore bark
Aquatic insect on top of Cottonwood Pond
In the bottoms of ponds
and streams, predatory naiads cling flatly to rocks and silt, frogs
burrow into mud and pop up to the surface for air, and microscopic
beings go about their utterly important business, unseen by most.
Birds raise nestlings to fledglings and collect massive amounts of
bugs and caterpillars to feed themselves and their young. Salamanders
slide under leaf litter and skinks lurk under logs.
Fruit grows fat and juicy.
On the slope, a Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) fruit ripens
Honewort (Cryptotaenia canadensis) seed is still green in July
Seed ball from a Sycamore tree fallen onto the Creek mud in July
This is a time to be out
there watching, listening, looking minutely at small things and
largely at the landscape, taking it all in. I hate to miss it, but too often I do.
I had great intentions. On
July 15, I collected water and mud samples from Cottonwood Pond, but
never had the concentrated stretch of time I needed to examine them
under scopes. I didn't even get back down there again until over a
month later, on August 20.
But, enough of my summer
bemoaning. There was still so much to see on two summer days. There
were still some significant changes from one month to the next. So,
let's explore those.
Some things were pretty
much the same in both months. Heavy rains preceded each visit, though
more on one day than another. The sounds of cicadas and crickets
surrounded me through the hot, muggy, mosquito-dotted air.
August 20 - old Crawdad holes near the Inlet. On both days, there were many old and new holes and chimneys.
Spider webs and strands
were stretched everywhere, glistening in the summer sun.
See if you can spot the orb web here
On August
20, one particularly magnificent strand was stretched from a dry
grass seed head at the edge of the pond all the way across the water
to its opposite connection on the Root Ball.
Well-fed spiders hung in
the middle of fantastic webs, so still.
On both days, I heard a
frog or two squeak and plop into the pond water, disappearing into
the silty bottom. On July 15, one frog came up for air, then popped
back under when it detected my presence. It's just as well that they
were so cautious, as there were always plenty of Raccoon prints along
the edge.
I also saw a Green Frog inside the Cove.
It's dark in the Cove! Look near the top for the Green Frog. Its eyes are shining.
A white Smartweed on July 15
On August 20
The white, nubby blossoms
of a smartweed (species of Polygonum to be determined) graced the
pond edge, as well as slender stalks of Virginian Knotweed (Polygonum
virginianum), with their tiny white, four-pointed blossoms dotting
the stems. In July they were mostly in bud, but were fully opened in
August.
Orange Jewelweed
(Impatiens capensis) was in bloom, though sparsely, with some green
seed pods forming. The force of water entering the pond combined with
the very tall growth of the succulent stems caused some clumps to
fall onto the pond (mainly onto Mud Pile #2.) Some had become
waterlogged and died, while others rejuvenated and bloomed again.
July 15 - Jewelweed plants surviving after dropping into the pond
July 15 - some Jewelweed plants did not survive a drop into the pond
August 20 - revived Jewelweed blooming again
Wood Nettle (Laportea
canadensis) was in bloom, too, its filmy mass of “insignificant”
blooms above the leaves, more fully in August.
July 15
Wood Nettle blooming on August 20
Grasses had gone to seed,
many of the seed heads dry and brown.
August 20
Since heavy rains had
preceded each visit, the Creek was full and flowing. Flattened plants
and designs in the mud told of that water's path during full rush.
The Creek was hardly visible through dense vegetation, primarily
Jewelweed.
July 15
August 20
August 20
On both days, water in the
pond had inched toward the north corner, but no water was over the
muddy Isthmus.
July 15 - north corner of pond, toward Isthmus
July 15 - north corner of pond, Isthmus beyond
August 20
The whole area was soggy
on both days, but much more so on August 20 when mud squished under
my boots, water brimming with each step.
Moss growing thickly on the Young White Ash at pond's edge, due to much moisture
What was so different
about the two visits, besides August being soggier?
July 15 was very hot and
steamy, but August 20 was not so much, and was breezier.
In August, for the first
time, I found some Blue Mistflower (Eupatorium coelestinum) in bloom
near the outside of the Inlet. Maybe it had bloomed there in other
summers and I missed it, but maybe not. It is a long bloomer.
What of the Square-Stemmed
Monkeyflowers (Mimulus ringens)? Did I miss their bloom time? I had
seen them in bloom not long before at Ouabache Trails Park.
On August 20, I found the
patch … dead and brown.
What happened? It was
green on July 15.
I missed the blooming altogether! Why were they
dead? Had they been waterlogged by so much heavy rain spilling into
the Swampy Spot? Or was it just time for them to be “gone by”?
Since my books say that this plant blooms July through September,
maybe they were killed early by flooding. How much flooding can
water-loving Monkeyflower plants take? I will have to wait until next
spring and summer to see what happens.
Where there were green
fruits of Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) in July, fruits were
completely gone by August 20. I had missed their ripening to deep
purple, but the birds had feasted.
Elderberry on July 15
Elderberry on August 20
Another difference from
July to August was the abundance, on July 15, of fungi in the area.
There were many different kinds flourishing in the dampness.
Near the pond edge
Tiny mushrooms around a hole on the Root Ball Bottom
Among Jewelweed plants near the pond edge
An odd fungus growing on a root on the Root Ball Bottom
Mushrooms under the Barkless Log, over the Inlet
The pond was more full in
August, in some ways.
July 15
July 15
August 20
August 20
August 20
Oddly enough, it was lower at the north corner
then. There was water all the way through the Inlet in July, on both sides of the Barkless Log, but in August there was only
mud under the log.
July 15
July 15
August 20
August 20 - outside the Inlet
August 20 - outside the Inlet, including Crawdad holes in the mud
August 20 - looking down on the Barkless Log (over the Inlet) - pond on right side
The pond water was more silted in July, due to
more recent turbulence.
And – the biggest change
of all from July 15 to August 20 …
… so much more dirt had
dropped from the Root Ball onto Mud Pile #1 and Mud Pile #2, and on
top of the Berm (the raised strip of ground in front of the Cove)
that it had created Mud Pile #3!
Mud Pile #3 formed in the middle - no more Berm!
In July, there was just
the Berm, with water in front of it (Pond edge) and behind it (in the
Cove.)
July 15 - light seen through a clear Cove, and water on both sides of the Berm in front of the Cove.
What will happen next?
Will Mud Pile #1, #2, and
#3 become one great Mud Pile stretched all across the way, between
the Pond and the Root Ball? Will I no longer be able to see into the
Cove?
We'll see, maybe next
time.
August 20
Canopy over Cottonwood Pond on August 20
July 15
