Six weeks ago, Blue Jay Barrens was experiencing a record
flood event. The rain creating that
flood was the last significant rainfall for this area and the pond has shrunk
to almost nothing.
Ground water levels are still plenty high, so some water is
entering the pond from the intermittent spring.
This is not nearly enough to replace what is lost through leakage and
evaporation.
Leafless dogwood branches clearly show the level of high
water. During the flood, Wood Frogs laid
clusters of eggs in the now exposed branches.
The pond is low enough that the rush stubble left to receive
salamander eggs is now sticking above the water. Fortunately, the eggs have long since hatched
and are not in danger of being left airborne.
If the water level falls a couple more inches it will be shallow enough
for the Raccoons to wade through the middle hunting for food. That usually means the end of most tadpoles
and other small pond creatures.
This year’s crop of rushes is already up and going. These plants actually do their best when the
water is shallow.
The Whitetail Deer are obviously spending a lot of time
around the pond. The winter herds are
breaking apart and I’m seeing the deer individually or in small groups. It won’t be long before the tracks of fawns
begin showing up with the others.
As the water level drops, crawfish deepen their burrows to
keep in contact with the water. The
excavated material forms small mounds on the exposed pond bottom. The pond leaks because the soil does not contain
enough clay to stop the water from seeping through. The water wouldn’t drop so rapidly if there
weren’t so many crawfish burrows giving unobstructed channels through which the
water can quickly escape.
Amphibian larvae must hurry through their metamorphosis and
become land dwelling creatures before their watery home disappears. External gills make it easy to separate
salamander tadpoles from those of frogs.
In order to survive, this guy must develop legs and lose the gills
before the pond goes dry.
Wood Frog tadpoles have done well so far. If we get some rain to boost the water level,
these tadpoles should have time to make the change to little frogs. Unfortunately, the long range forecast
doesn’t look favorable for precipitation.
April is just not living up to its reputation of being a month of
showers.
Well this surely isn't the first year you've experienced this. Have the other winters been wetter ? In good years what is the summertime condition of the pond ?
ReplyDeleteThere appears to be quite a bit of algal growth in that pond and I highly doubt you are a user of chemicals which would create a nutrient rich situation. I remember Plant Health Care (PHC) had a good pond inoculant in which beneficial bacteria would clear up and disgest many of the nutrient which allow algal to prosper.
Over here in Sweden a company called Watreco has a water device that circulates water through concentrated high pressure vortex and creates a loosely bonded water molecules and more oxygen into the mix. Nothing but physics and it works great.
Nice story again Steve.
Very interesting. It's amazing how the water creatures can manage to return after a drought. The tadpoles bring back memories of childhood. :) Very nice post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kevin. The pond usually goes dry around the first of July. The algae is fueled by the decomposing plant stalks from last year. Warm weather got he algae growing much earlier than normal. That, combined with the low water level, is why things look so algae dominated now.
ReplyDeleteHi Lois. There are a lot of snails and other water creatures that just settle down in the mud and wait for the rain. It doesn't take them long to become active again once the water returns.