Back to the Washed Woods

This Saturday morning I went for an early foray to the NE Gate. The morning was mild low 70's and humid after the intense one inch rain Friday morning in the hours between midnight and sunrise. The Woods have been washed again with flood water rushing across much of the area and sweeping away leaf litter, small twigs, branches, medium size logs and some topsoil.  Big change in ecology of soil development, decomposition & litter organisms. It had been hot and fairly dry for the previous few weeks and East Pond stood at 2.17 feet. NW Pond was at 2.2. There was a small run of water stretching upstream from the beaver dam.. maybe 50 m. and Island Crossing a 30 cm wide stream not moving.
At the NW Pond I searched for turtles but found none. I did see a beautiful view of a pileated woodpecker and listened to wren scolding, kingfisher calling, geese flying overhead and a variety of other bird calls.
Walnuts are beginning to drop a few of their green, full-sized nuts and few premature yellow leaves are coming down from elm, catalpa and cottonwood. (99.9% of canopy still full green.) Pecans are aborting(?) and dropping a few under-sized nuts. The Hibiscus by the NW pond has many full big white flowers in bloom on the several shrubs on the southeast and western sides. Rough-leaved dogwood and Viburnum both have large green berries almost full grown.
Cicadas are calling and I found one dead on  the NE trail by the Wash. The spiders are changing now with many more of the Gasteracantha thorn-back orbweb weavers. Mosquitoes are super abundant. Interesting to see where they gather.. which small patches of sunlight or shade attract them. Found five Nicrophorus burying beetles in Pipeline trail trap.
Commelinia dayflower blooming and Euonymus and common small white flowers up a 75 cm tall thin stalk (sp?)
I returned with the saw and cleared elm top in big blowdown plus several other vines etc. blocking trails... also two more mimosa - cut and treated with roundup.  One white-tailed buck snorted and ran west down from the Tree Loop.