There is a vernal pool beyond the field, over in the woods.
Where the morning sun filters through young maple trees, and old oaks have laid their leaves for a bed.
From the depths of this tiny, fragile world, thousands of lives will emerge.
It is a quiet place now.
The snow cover has just lifted, the silver ice melts—dimples of soft rain fill the basin to its rim.
The black water is clear and still.
Vernal pools, woodland ponds that hold water for only several months and have no fish, are important habitat for hundreds of species.
Because of destruction of woodlands and drainage of many areas, they are rapidly disappearing.
The Ohio Vernal Pool Partnership, OVPP, was founded in 2005 by The Nature Conservancy and The Ohio Environmental Council.
The monitoring program is intended to “encourage community-based conservation of vernal pools in Ohio through education, partnerships, science, and (re)discovery of our natural world.”
Over the next weeks, I will watch the lives that are transformed here.
Call it silly, but I can't wait!
Because of destruction of woodlands and drainage of many areas, they are rapidly disappearing.
The Ohio Vernal Pool Partnership, OVPP, was founded in 2005 by The Nature Conservancy and The Ohio Environmental Council.
The monitoring program is intended to “encourage community-based conservation of vernal pools in Ohio through education, partnerships, science, and (re)discovery of our natural world.”
Over the next weeks, I will watch the lives that are transformed here.
Call it silly, but I can't wait!
%20copy.jpg)
15 comments:
I should think I would be equally as excited if I had the opportunity you have!
I hope you post some of what you see, hear, feel and ..ok, smell.
I'd like to visit again. YOur blog is beautiful and serene.
I came by way of weeping sore's blog.
Beautiful posting. This one makes me miss the house where we used to live. It was in the woods with no other houses around, and living there was as tranquil as your writing.
We are still clad in ice with more snow promised for today.
So intricate the patterns of the leaves
Why is it that spring seems to come so slowly? I see buds and catkins on the trees, dark green leaves of trailing arbutus peek above the melting snow, the mosses are vibrant with green life, yet I long for that burst of new — I am looking forward to your visits to the vernal pool
And it's not silly! I'd be with you if I could. You'll find a multitude of life forms there, Nina, and have so much fun writing about them. I can't wait, either.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you capture imerging from and around this water.. I've not come across this word 'Vernal' but I can imagine whats it's about.. I'll drop by the link and read up a bit more on this.
Such a lovely post-captures the beauty and power and promise of the spring.
Not silly at all. A friend and I did a frog study one spring/summer and enjoyed it immensely. I am not usually out in the country during evening hours so I was surprised and delighted while driving to several ponds we were monitoring. It was amazing how lively those little water spots (vernal pools) were. They are easy to find during spring.
Looking forward to seeing what you capture emerging!
Lovely photos and an interesting note on vernal pools. I don't think it's silly at all.
It's most understandable that you'd be excited about the arrival of so much new life. I hope you'll share it with us here through photographs and your wonderful descriptions.
I can't wait to see the new life that emerges either. How wondrous!
We lose so much of what is wonderful about our land with all the over-development. Why can't we think of the impact on all life--land belongs to all living things, not just to humans.
I can't wait for our critters to be finding the vernal pools! Only a matter of time!
The importance of water in the emergence of life.... Can hardly wait to see what you'll discover.
greeny--Thanks for stopping by. I plan to document as much as I can as part of the monitoring agreement. Stay tuned!
Sandpiper--I am fortunate to have the property we do--there is nothing more relaxing after work by walking the trails on our land.
Endment--I think there is something "magical" about new lives emerging. So clean and fresh.
Mary--grab your boots and come along!
wom--vernal relates to springtime--(as in vernal equinox) and is used in this case because these ponds are present in springtime, and often disappear at other times of the year. They're also called ephemeral pools--that may be more familiar to you.
threadspider--of those, I think I like "promise" best.
lisa--I chose this as a project because it fit perfectly with my "day job". I was fussing and whining about how I feel I miss everything by the time I'm hone in the evening. This will give me something to look forward to in those hours! Most of the observations occur at dawn or dusk.
Adele--I hope something really emerges, or I'll be waiting out in the field, camera in hand all by myself!
April--it's interesting to see how much science is asking for help in these "citizen science" projects--just up my alley! And what a better way to feel I've helped preserve such a vanishing resource.
Kate--I'm hoping...and waiting..for now.
Selma--all cute and cuddly things, I'm sure. Not!
Donna--That brings me back to what I'd like to think my "purpose" is. Showing others how much is there, before it's all gone.
Monarcch--I may be asking for help with IDs--assuming something is found.
Marvin--yes, it always starts with water, doesn't it?!
Post a Comment