The
vernal pool is draining again, now that the midday temperature is warm enough
to melt the small spillway that crosses the access road. Just a few days ago,
this little stream was frozen through, stopping the outward flow of the pool
uphill. Now, though there is a skin of ice on the surface, the flow of water is
visible just beneath, interrupted only so with small pockets of air or bits of
last autumn’s detritus made loose by the slowly receding pond.
Come
late spring, this flow will cease altogether, isolating the wetland and its
budding fecundity. The water is mostly clear now, though soon it will be laden
with a myriad of life from algal growth, phytoplankton, zooplankton and the
awakening hordes of amphibians and invertebrates which revive this marvelous
ecosystem.
It will
be from here that our hylas will begin to call, signaling the awakening of life
and the beginning of another vernal cycle.
No comments:
Post a Comment