I walked the preserve yesterday from about 10:45am to noon, and it’s very dry. I visited NOAA’s drought page to see what it says about how Tarrant County is doing. The five classifications go from “exceptional drought” to “abnormally dry,” and their data show us to be at least “abnormally dry” and maybe in “moderate drought,” depending on the part of the county.
It just has not been raining. For the past 30 days, the county is at either zero percent or maybe 25% of normal rainfall. And of course it has been abnormally warm, even if it feels good compared to August. The map shows Tarrant County’s high temperatures to be somewhere around 4 to 6 degrees warmer than normal over the last 30 days. Weather Underground shows that it last rained on September 24, with Fort Worth getting two-tenths of an inch.
When I walked to the south pond, the water was very low. It was sunny and about 67 degrees nearby, feeling warm in the sun even if slightly cool in the breeze. A dragonfly sailed over the pond, but no turtles were out and no birds were calling. A group of mosquitofish cruised the surface of the water near the fishing dock. While this place is always full of life, it did not feel like the usual vibrant, busy ecosystem.
As I walked back, on my way to the bluff, I stopped to photograph yellow flowers of broomweed and the beautiful false foxglove. As I was saying, it’s always full of life, and here were some signs of it.
But a quick check-in with the middle pond showed that it continued to be dry. That pond drains to the south pond when there is any overflow, and it seems to be fed by seeps and any drainage from the “big” pond. But without rainfall, all that comes to a stop. Now it is overgrown with ragweed and other plants doing what they do to reclaim the land when the soil is bare. A few pioneer plants get started and then a succession of new kinds of plants help bring the place to a mature, healthy condition (or, in this case, the pond may simply refill).
I walked on up to the bluff. At 11:30am it had warmed to 69 degrees. The little bluestem was beginning to be a bit sandy-colored, working toward those lovely winter rusty tones. The oak leaves were a slightly dusty green; it is still early in autumn and few leaves have turned colors. I heard a few blue jays on the walk up the trail, and then the Merlin app detected an American robin and white-throated sparrow as well.
What will the coming months bring? The average rainfall from November through February seems to be about 2.5 inches per month in the DFW area, but with a more unpredictable climate, we’ll have to wait and see. The preserve is still a beautiful place, even when it gets a little dry and shriveled. Imagine how wonderful it will be when rain comes!