Water

For most visitors, the open water of the three largest pits - Dickerson's Pit, Todd's Pit and Deep Water - is probably the main feature of Milton Country Park.  

Todd's Pit - 15 September 2015

The balcony of the Visitor Centre looks directly over Todd's Pit.

Despite its prominence, I have paid relatively little attention to water in this blog, mainly because there have been far more, and more significant, changes in the appearence on land compared to the changes in appearence of the open water and wetlands.  I want to take the opportunity in this post to look at the pits and other wetlands in the park at the end of summer.

Sandwiched between Dickerson's Pit and Todd's Pit is Hall's Pond, the fourth and much smaller area of open water.  

Hall's Pond - 15 September 2015

By the end of summer, Hall's Pond is full of water weed, including floating duckweed through which ducks, coots and swans leave winding trails of clear water.  As the photograph above shows, it also supports plenty of floating logs.  

Wetlands - 3 September 2015

Another large area is the Wetlands at the north east corner of the park.  By September, most of this area cannot be seen from the path because of the growth of the surrounding vegetation.  At the end of winter, a substantial area of clear water was visible from the south west corner of the Wetlands, but as this photograph shows, by September, the growth of reeds and water weeds has  reduced  this to a small area.  Even this small area can only be viewed through a screen of branches and leaves of the overhanging trees.

Tomkin's Mead - 15 September 2015

The other area of wetland in the park is Tomkin's Mead.  This has little clear water at any time.  By the time this photograph was taken, even after heavy rain, the stream through the Mead was reduced to a muddy trickle.

A Temporary Lake

 

By Hall's Pond - 17 July 2015

Overnight heavy rain had left this large puddle to reflect the trees to the east of Hall's Pond.

Intriguing Inlets

Some of the most visually interesting features of the pits are the inlets along their shores.

Todd's Pit - 30 June 2015

One of my favourites is this inlet off the north western corner of Todd's Pit.  I find the dark water with the criss cross of branches surrounded by varied and lush vegetation appealing.  In this picture it is difficult to tell what is real and what is reflection - the large dark diagonal branch is a reflection of the branch above.

There are far more small inlets off Dickerson's Pit particularly on its eastern shore.

Dickerson's Pit - 13 September 2015

However, this pond like inlet is off the western edge of the pit.

Dickerson's Pit - 12 June 2015

Many of the inlets like this on the eastern bank offer a view past willows and reeds across the pit to the opposite shore.  

Next: Intimate Landscapes