Fickle February

Fickle February

February 20 and 23, 2017

February 20

February 23

Who would ever have guessed it was February in Indiana?

Spring came unusually early, with very unseasonably warm temperatures and some spring-like rains. Homeowners and gardeners felt the urge to spring-clean and put in early plantings. Some plants were peeking up already from the ground and the old leaf layer.

At Cottonwood Pond, there was an increase in the size and variety of new plants over a three day period.

Harbinger-of-Spring - February 20

Harbinger-of-Spring - February 23

Very tiny Spring Beauty on February 20

Spring Beauty - February 23

Sweet Cicely on February 20

February 23 - Sweet Cicely growing on mud in front of the Cove below the Root Ball Bottom

February 23 - a plant of the Madder family growing on one of the Mud Piles below the Root Ball Bottom

Elderberry - February 23

February 23 - tiny new Honewort plants below the Root Ball Top

February 23 - Monkeyflower plants coming up in the Swampy Spot

Mosses were bright green, lush, and taking advantage of the warm, wet conditions by sprouting sporophytes.

February 20

February 20

February 20 - with sporophytes

February 20 - sporophytes

February 23

February 23 - on a log near "little pond"

The morning of February 20 started out very foggy, like an April morning. Spiders had been active, too. Water droplets clung to their sheet webs on the forest floor, belying their presence.

Little bugs were venturing out in the warm sun …

February 20 - Pill bug crawling across moss

… and so were snakes.

February 20 - Garter Snake

Throughout most of February, raccoons were very active.

February 23 - Raccoon trail heading to Creek

February 23 - a print from a Raccoon that had been investigating a Crawdad hole at the edge of the Creek

Animals were out searching for food …

February 23

… and the deer had been out and about.

February 23 - deer tracks in mud next to the Creek

Worms were burrowing in and out of the mud.

Swampy Spot - February 20

Along the Creek - February 23

Crawdads were barely beginning to build new chimneys in the mud.

February 23

Hawks were screaming, Woodpeckers were pounding and calling …

Pileated Woodpecker holes in Wild Cherry tree - February 23

February 23

Listen to the hawk and woodpecker:

https://youtu.be/OhQa8kyWM74

… and many birds seemed excited with constant spring songs.

And, the frogs!

Chorus Frogs called from Cottonwood Pond and other damp places in the woods. At first I didn't hear many, and they would fall quiet as I approached even a few yards from where they were. Through the month the number and loudness increased and, in their frenzy of attracting mates, I was able to approach more closely before they would be aware of my presence.

Despite the numbers of Chorus Frogs I could hear, I was never able to see even one. They are tiny, and their muddy-colored, bumpy bodies blend in well to early spring surroundings.

The Creek was running merrily, as they say, perhaps even “babbling” a bit.

February 20

Even Temporary Creek #2 had been full enough to branch off and meet further down with the main Creek to the west, and Temporary Creek #1 had been running toward the Swampy Spot and Cottonwood Pond, from the southeast.

February 23

February 23 - looking at Temporary Creek #1 upstream from the Swampy Spot

The Very Rotten Log was getting so rotten that it was crumbling under my boots. It would likely not be long before it would be breaking and falling completely apart.

February 23 - the Very Rotten Log where it spans the Creek on the way to Cottonwood Pond

Far end of Very Rotten Log, at edge of Cottonwood Pond, near the Inlet

The early warmth was causing thin films of algae to form on mud, and on the dead leaf layer under the pond water, lending an early greenish cast.

February 23 - A green film of algae growing on the Mud Piles below the Root Ball Bottom

February 20 - pond, Mud Piles, Cove, Root Ball

February 20

February 20 - Sycamore leaf

There was enough water to extend beyond the Inlet and under the Trunk base.

February 20 - the pond, withe the Inlet at the far end

February 20 - looking down over Inlet and Barkless Log

February 23 - base of the Cottonwood Trunk, with water of "little pond"

February 20 - "little pond" extending under the Trunk at its base

Water had recently gone over the Isthmus as well as through the Seep to the Creek.

February 20 - pond corner and Isthmus from the south (with Claus)

February 23 - flow line of Seep through leaf layer, where it ends at the Creek (overflow from Cottonwood Pond)

February 20 - the Isthmus from the north - looking toward pond

What more would February bring, during the six days left of it, and what would March usher in to the area? Would we be having normal weather sometime? How will the frogs, plants, water, and everything else at Cottonwood Pond be affected?

February 20

Listen to the Chorus Frogs:

https://youtu.be/cQEfpksSdZg

February 20 - semi-dry mushroom on Cottonwood Trunk