May Madness
Early May, 2017
May 2
May 4
May 5
And then it came … the
real deluge.
There was an abundance of
rain in April (see previous post: “April Acceleration”,) but that
was not much compared to early May. Granted, the affects were greater
as the immense pounding of May was added to the results of April.
Normally I see the affects
of heavy rainfall after the fact. I have rarely witnessed the action
at Cottonwood Pond, in the midst of such a rain. Earlier this year, I
did get to see water trickling down the Seep for the first time. But,
usually I just see the newly created windings, holes and channels.
I visited Cottonwood Pond
on May 3, a cold, overcast day sandwiched between two deluges.
Everything I saw was evidence of what happened the day before:
- The outer banks of the Creek were well carved.
- Temporary Creek #1, near the Swampy Spot, was full and wide. Of course, so was the Swampy Spot.
- There was a mushy path from the Swampy Spot, going under the Trunk toward “little pond” (also, there was plenty of water on the Root Ball Top side of the Cove.)
- “little pond” was so swollen that its waters extended up to the Isthmus and also seeped toward Temporary Creek #2, to the north.
- The Isthmus was very muddy. There was no water in it, but the path was clear – evidence that water had been rushing through between “little pond” and the main pond.
- There was a watery flow path from the Swampy Spot to the main pond's Inlet, and water had collected outside of the Inlet. This flow path was more pronounced.
- Because water had been pouring into the main pond via the Inlet on the southeast side (excess from the Swampy Spot) and also from the Isthmus (excess, again, from the Swampy Spot, but via “little pond”,) it was well filled. But, the main pond water was clear. Enough time had lapsed since the rain that sediment had precipitated from the water, settling on leaves and sticks on the bottom.
- That time lapse had also allowed the center of the Root Ball Bottom to become dry, though the perimeter was still wet.
- There were strong changes in the Seep (overflow from the west corner of the main pond.) There were two distinct routes from the pond, indicating that one Seep route was no longer enough for the overflowing pond. Those two routes converged halfway to the Creek. The Bark Ledge, where Seep water dips down into the Creek, had become more exposed, and it appeared that water had even been flowing under it, rather than just over the top. The whole Seep route had been heavily carved, the water working a few holes into the paths (possibly widening old Crawdad holes.)
Some other observations:
- The lower limb in the upper section of the Barkless Log (on the ground, on the southeast side of Cottonwood Pond) had developed a rotten area (affect from plenty of exposure to water) full of dark, crumbly decomposed wood turning to soil. Animals had gouged out the area (searching for insects, worms, etc.,) speeding the process.
- There were numerous very fresh Crawdad chimneys. I wondered if that meant the rains had stopped long enough during the night for those nocturnal creatures to rebuild.. There had been enough time for suspended sediment to settle, after all.
- Plants that were recently seedlings (Jewelweed, Honewort, Wood Nettle, etc.) had quickly gained height. Other, earlier plants were going to seed and fading, while others had swollen flower buds or new blooms.
The next day, the truly
torrential rains hit.
The tempestuous Creek
water was pushing and pounding the banks, breaking over into other
channels, and rushing forward with more force than I had ever seen
there before.
May 4 - Creek upstream of Cottonwood Pond
May 4 - Creek (foreground) and Swampy Spot/Temporary Creek #1 (background)
May 4 - Creek flowing under the Barkless Log near Cottonwood Pond
May 4
Pouring water hungry for
more space was filling every low area.
May 4 - Creek (foreground) and Cottonwood Pond - Isthmus visible at left of Root Ball
May 4 - another view of Creek (foreground) and Swampy Spot (background)
The Seep was no longer a
seep but a wider torrent of brown water on its way to join the
rushing Creek.
May 4 - Cottonwood Pond (upper,) Seep area (middle) and Creek (lower)
May 4 - flooded Seep area, and end channel pouring into Creek (under the Very Rotten Log)
And there it was at the
end – a mad waterfall pushing its way over and under the Bark
Ledge, pounding into the Creek.
May 4 - end of Seep rushing into Creek
This was a first for me –
well beyond the trickle I'd seen there before.
I made a video of the
Cottonwood Pond area and creek, from the upper slope:
How will all the snails,
frogs, tadpoles and other creatures be affected by the deep, rushing
water and the ultimate settling of so much sediment?
What, I wondered, would be
the results of such a pounding on Cottonwood Pond and its environs?
I made a full visit the
next day, May 5 (a cool, windy day,) to thoroughly survey the area.
As one would expect after
such a storm, more debris had accumulated, forced down from the
canopy ...
May 5 - petal of Tulip Poplar blossom
Branch of White Ash, new White Oak leaf
In the main pond
Leaves and catkins from trees above the Seep
In the main pond water - debris and reflections
… and there were new
channels, new flow paths, created.
A tour ...
May 5 - Pool formed in Creek near Cottonwood Pond
A new channel (lower) created out of the main Creek (above) ...
... and rejoining the main Creek further downstream
Looking toward the Swampy Spot, with the flow path in between
The Swampy Spot, with flow path to Inlet above
Flow path toward the Inlet and main pond (from the Swampy Spot)
Flow path from Swampy Spot where it goes into the Inlet to the main pond
Top end of Very Rotten Log in the main pond, near Inlet - a section now broken off
The Swampy Spot
Temporary Creek #1, flowing into the Swampy Spot
Main pond (right,) Isthmus (between Root Ball and Two-Trunk White Ash,) "little pond" (left, before Trunk) and excess water flowing into Temporary Creek #2 (foreground)
Main pond (foreground) and "little pond" (back) with the Isthmus in between
Water overflowing from "little pond" corner to Temporary Creek #2
West corner of main pond, and the start (now multiple) of the Seep
Middle of a Seep flow between main pond and Creek
End of Seep (with Bark Ledge) going into Creek, near Very Rotten Log (with Silas)
Hole developing in Seep (bottom) and water flowing under Bark Ledge (top) just before Creek
The Bark Ledge over the Seep, water flowing into Creek (below)
Fungi was awakened and
plant life was even more lush.
Oyster mushrooms on top of Cottonwood Trunk
Colony of Solomon's Seal on slope near Cottonwood Pond
Colony of Mayapples on slope just above Cottonwood Pond
Mystery plant near Cottonwood Pond
The lush plant life on the Mud Pile under the Root Ball
Underside of an Oak leaf fallen on "little pond"
Sporophytes growing from moss on the Young White Ash, just above the water of the main pond
On the muddy creek flood plain near Cottonwood Pond, I earlier found a large, reddish rosette. This is what it became as of May 5. So far, it looked like one of the tall, wild Lettuces.
Despite the onslaught, I
found some animal activity.
Raccoon prints in the mud
Woodpeckers had still been working on the rotten wood of an exposed Cottonwood root in the Root Ball Top
Rotten section of lower Barkless Log limb - animals had been gouging and sifting through for food
Chorus Frog!
Changes at Cottonwood Pond - as the farther end of the Very Rotten Log spends more time in the water, it rots away - the action of water entering the pond pushes the broken section farther from the original log, into the deeper part of the pond.
"little pond" and the Cottonwood Trunk and Root Ball - the Root Ball loses more soil as it and the Trunk supports more plant life, including various tree saplings
As the month of May wore
on, the rains lessened and then dropped off to a lengthy dry period.
The main pond swindled down to a muddy bowl with a large puddle in
the middle. The Creek continued to flow, though slowly and quietly.
Plant life grew taller and thicker, muffling the once well-used flow
paths.
We were on the brink of
Summer.
