Going, going...

Decreasing Water, Increasing Mud at the Wetland, September 3, 2021

Although it's held on longer than it has in recent years, the wetland is on its way out. Or more accurately, it's headed into its dry months. As we've seen, so much of the wetland life will still be present, only in other forms. Plants will reappear from seeds or rhizomes. Some of the creatures that call the wetland home will survive the dry and the cold underground, while others such as the fairy shrimp, spreadwing damselflies and meadowhawk dragonflies will start over with a new generation from eggs that survive the dry and cold. Turtles, frogs and snakes as well as most of the other dragonfly species will recolonize from elsewhere when there is water here again. The wetland doesn't really go away -- it just exists in a different form. And then... just add water.

Meanwhile, the ever increasing expanses of mud between what was the shoreline and where the water is now provides opportunity to check tracks for who else is visiting. In addition to the solitary sandpipers probing the mud and shallow water for food on their way to South America (one was there for breakfast this morning before sunrise), I've also recently seen a raccoon stopping in for a midnight snack. He seemed undisturbed by my presence and just adjusted the areas he was exploring according to where I wasn't. I was unable to get a photo of him, but he, or friends of his, left their tracks in the soft mud (photo below). As the water continues to disappear, those creatures unfortunate enough to still be living in the water become increasingly easy prey for the likes of the raccoons and sandpipers.

Raccoon Tracks at the Wetland, hind foot on the left, front foot on the right


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