An April Sampling

An April Sampling

April 12 and 13, 2018

April 12

The light green dusting of springtime was starting to show in our woodland with some sweeps of green here and there on the forest floor, clearly visible through trees that were bare or barely beginning to leaf.

Woodland and Creek, looking southeast

Looking down the slope to Cottonwood Pond and the Creek

A Mayapple-covered slope behind Cottonwood Pond, facing south

It was a very warm, wet, windy day. The wet had happened previously, as heavy rains had created heavy flow.

Riffles and pools in the Creek

Looking upstream beyond the Barkless Log

Where the Creek disappears down a hole (before reappearing a little further downstream)

Just downstream of the Barkless Log -

 the "island" being sculpted by diverted water during heavy flow

The Creek and some new pathways being created - this is also the section where water sometimes diverts from the Creek toward the Inlet of Cottonwood Pond

Lines at the Creek edge mark previous water levels

A water-worn path from the Creek toward the Inlet, debris from the rush piled alongside a log

The Inlet, where water enters Cottonwood Pond from two directions (the newest direction coming from the Creek during overflow)

The pond side of the Inlet

A full Temporary Creek #1 - water flows into the Swampy Spot, then in two directions toward the Inlet (main pond) and "little pond"

The Seep (middle, coming from the pond corner) flowing into the Creek

View of the Seep flowing toward and into the Creek

The main pond, and overflow paths that drain to the Seep and Creek

The Isthmus, between the main pond (top) and "little pond"

The Isthmus - a dry spot between the main pond and "little pond" at the north edge of the Cottonwood Root Ball - water had recently flowed over this, leaving silt on the leaf layer

Circles in the pond mud from recently raindrops

The Swampy Spot lived up to its name as I felt my boots sink in when I walked across.

Since the weather had calmed, water in Cottonwood Pond was very still. The rush of silt into the pond and Creek had settled to the bottom.

And since that time, worms had been crawling about on the silt layer of the pond and Creek.

Top: tiny worm holes in the mud

There were numerous tiny nodules scattered across the pond bottom. I was not able to determine what they were. Tiny new snails? Detritus settled on the bottom? Tiny beetles?

A many-segmented Isopod (probably an Aquatic Sowbug) scooted across the silty bottom, hiding under an old leaf when it sensed my presence.

Within the top layer of the water, many mosquito larvae wiggled from surface to shortly below, and back again.

I heard no Chorus Frogs calling on that day. I did find a twig, just inside the water's edge, with a gelatinous mass attached. A closer look revealed very tiny tadpoles (as well as another Sowbug.) I assumed I had not heard the Chorus Frogs because their mating season had ended, for the most part.

The soft mud revealed larger animal activity:

Bird tracks at the edge of the Creek

?

And, most significantly – deer tracks at Cottonwood Pond!

Deer track in the mud of the Isthmus

Deer tracks in the mud of the start of Temporary Creek #2, near the Isthmus

I had wondered for a long time if the deer (often seen in the upper area of the woodland and crossing the Creek further northwest) ever came down to Cottonwood Pond, but I'd never seen any definitive deer tracks. It only made sense to me that they would visit this bowl of water in the bottom land, unless the barking of our dogs uphill (in the yard) deterred them.

On this day, I had proof that they did come.

And, one goal of mine is to set up a “trail cam” at Cottonwood Pond to see deer, or anything else, that shows up there.

The progress of Spring was bringing more plants to leaf and bloom.

Waterleaf plants on the slope above Cottonwood Pond

Mayapples opening

Prairie Trilliums in bud

Spring Beauty

Cut-leaved Toothwort

Honewort

Jewelweed with two sets of true leaves

Fragile Ferns

It would be a good time of year to do some sampling.

April 13

The morning was sunny, windy, very warm … and oh, so soggy!

The Creek was the color of milky tea as it transported so much silt after heavy rains. Water-settling areas were overflowing.

Bottom land and Creek, to the southeast

Creek , and flow up to Inlet

Isthmus (top), main pond, Seep from main pond down to Creek

And it seemed to me that, within twenty-four hours, things were a bit more green.

On the slope, among Waterleaf plants - a bit larger than the day before

The slope going down to Cottonwood Pond

A new cluster of Blue Violet leaves on the Mud Pile

So, it was back to Cottonwood Pond in the afternoon to see what these conditions had yielded. By then there was less wind, but the atmosphere was cool and cloudy.

On the way down the slope I met up with a Garter Snake, very still and watchful of this human.

The water had receded considerably since morning and had also almost completely cleared of suspended silt.

The Creek near Cottonwood Pond (the "island" forming in the foreground)

The main pond, much receded by afternoon

The bones of old root pieces, fallen from the Cottonwood Root Ball

It was a better time to do some sampling.

With my magnifier loupe, I was better able to see the tiny tadpoles in the gelatinous blob (found the day before.)

They were likely tadpoles of Chorus Frogs. They still had yolk sacs. I was sorry they had become separated from the mass and hoped it wasn't too early for them.

I also pulled up a dead midge. There were a number of dead midges on the pond surface. Had they died after laying eggs on the water?

Another little creature I pulled up was a dead ant. This was definitely a terrestrial animal that had been swept into the pond when water washed through the nearby leaf litter.

Later, I examined it under the stereoscope and drew it.

When I pulled some water from the pond, I had also found a tiny black speck, less than 1/16 inches. Under my loupe, I saw it had many segments, six legs, and a pair of antennae, so I knew it was an insect. Sometimes it curled its abdomen upward.

I determined it to be a Water Springtail (Podura aquatica), from the Class Collembola. A rather cute little being, it curls up and uses a device under its body to spring forward so fast that the motion seems invisible.

Here is a video of one. At the end, it springs so fast that, even with the action slowed, it seems to be there, then not there: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQnmWdJ5BA

Looking at water samples under the stereoscope, I saw red filaments and blue-green filaments (all algae) and a curious creature that I needed to see under higher magnification, but was not able to find again.

In a muddy water sample I found lots of irregular blobs, quivering and moving around quickly, almost in a chain reaction. After awhile they pulled together in two large masses (one mass around a brown filament) and quieted. Were these beings that dart around, disturbing gelatinous blobs of detritus? Or were they something like amoeba? Again, I needed greater magnification.

Looking at more samples at higher magnification (on slides), this is what I saw and drew:

Mysteries.

Or, I was just really rusty in identifying aquatic microorganisms - though I did consult my pond and wetland books.

Well, it was the first sampling of 2018.

Hopefully, I would find time to do more throughout 2018.