Refilling the Woods

Good rain arrived 4 - 6 am this morning with thunder and lightning. Mesonet says NE Norman had 1.82 inches. My backyard gauge in central eastern Norman had 2.4 inches. I went to the SW Gate at 1 pm to see what the storm had done.

The Woods canopy has changed from lingering autumn remnant leaves hanging on, to bare clean canopies. Few trees with green leaves (Bumelia) stand out like a torch. Everything else is bare branches reaching toward a blue winter sky.

I was curious how much of the Woods would be flooded, and walked east up the Main SW Trail until I met the advancing front of water near the Carpenter blue stake in the sedge. I marked the spot and returned there an hour later (2:15) to find that the water had advanced west about two meters up the trail. Water was flowing 'upstream' at Beaver Dam.

Walking north and east I came to Island Crossing and found the new pallet bridge partly submerged with a shallow flow all across the 'island'. The flow in the West Wash had diminished since the morning, but there was a lot of muddy brown water moving down to the lower Woods. I walked south along the western levee towards the Elm Bridge. There was a good volume with rapids at the junction with the Eastern Wash. A break through the western levee, south of the morel patch, allowed a part of the flow to move out and flood the wider Woods through a network of braided channels, cut in previous floods. The lower south east quarter was well flooded through the forest of green ash and big cottonwoods. Much of the south central Woods also. Maybe 15-20% of the total 66 acres of the Woods was under shallow moving water. The trees and the soil will have a deep drink before deeper winter cold arrives.

Interesting creatures these past few days. One snapper turtle foraging in the East Pond, barred owl most days flying from its perch, armadillos foraging though the wet, freshly-fallen leaves, large metallic blue-black Meloid blister beetle today exploring slowly across the forest floor. Libellulid skimmer dragonfly couples dipping and ovipositing around the newly re-filled Northwest Pond. Two white-tailed deer moving northeast up to the upper terrace.

This was the good full fall rain the Woods needed before winter.