Vernal Pool in November

A short hike up vista trail there is a spectacular 360 degree view of South Orange County.

 

And just beyond it lies a vernal pool, well, an empty one right now. But how interesting the patch of color in the middle of it. You can see the weeds grew only in the centermost shallow area. It has been dry for at least two years from what I can tell. But we can recall a few years back when the rains must have been generous and it teemed with life (see the video at the end).

 

For contrast, here's what it looked like earlier in March of this year.
 

I think the frogs estivate here. But I wonder if they can live for so many years without their pool to return to. I know there has been some rain, but not enough for tadpoles. I keep being hopeful that the next rain will fill it, and think of the frogs and hike up there only to find it empty still.

Well, colorful weeds were a good second best option.

 

I wonder why they are here now, and not before. I wonder if they will stay now that they are here, even if it fills with water.  

There are bunches of tiny white snail shells along the edge.

Birds flit in an out of the shrubbery along the western edge of the dry pool, perhaps waiting like us for our vernal pool to return.

Here's a video from November, 2009 when the pool was full.

Duckweed Pond in the Shade of the Oaks

A green pond in the middle of the oak woodland. How odd. We often commented that it must be Shrek's home. It is really, really green.

 

For years we thought it was just the color of the water caused by algae. Look closer, what do you think it is?

Once when one of our kids stepped into it with their rain boots on, they realized it was only a sheet of green on the surface. Some of it stuck to their boot and upon inspection, we realized it was some kind of little green plant. Now we know it is lesser duckweed. Lesser, not greater, because each leaf has only one rootlet.

The video below is what was captured in one single small scoop of the duckweed from the surface. Snails, dugesia turbellarian flatworms (see their eye spots?) - these worms are free-living, i.e., not parasitic, shrimp-like scuds, and the tiny black swimmers are, I believe, seed shrimps.