For the past seven seasons, these logs have been maintained as public ones in a now defunct Internet web site’s collection of logs from around the country, and the commitment to participate has been enough of a flame to my feet to keep me at it. Now, without that public commitment…well, we shall see.
We’ve been blessed with ample rain this Summer, and water levels are good in the marsh. In fact, the mudhole looked downright sweet when we passed through picking eggs in mid July:
So it was perhaps more of a surprise than it should have been that rising water temperatures brought as much of the floating humus we call “black dirt” to the surface as I found on my next first August visit:
That black dirt will have to be ground and reground until the decomposition gases are released and it settles below the surface, making a show of open water for the coming teal season.
And, as expected, the floating marsh continued its encroachment, which is particularly evident around the blind’s “island,” where cattails had all but closed the previously wide boat trail passing behind it:
The island of flotant helps conceal the blind, it won’t hold the dog’s weight and is the devil for him work his way through, so we began the process of knocking it back to what’s needed for concealment and opening swimming water or slush the dog can more easily traverse:
Didn’t grab an “after” shot, but after shredding the cats to the water with a weed eater, the ongoing process of doing the same with their subsurface root system with a prop was given a good lick. (Should a reader wonder about using poison, I find it much easier to finely shred live cattails and cut grass than dead, which become leathery tough and more apt to wrap than cut.)
Other “bad news” from the marsh includes the fact that our access to it is yet again impaired by a landowner’s failure to live up to his lease agreement and maintain the access road, which is again under water. That, and my Go-devil’s carburetor is boogered and down for cleaning.
The “good” news is that I saw a teal – and thoroughly enjoyed my morning of being in the marsh doing something ducky.
