The Joy of Matted Down Millet

What could possibly be exciting about this image? Note the subtle greens under the water and
the duck feather in the lower left corner, and I'll explain . . . 

Well, you might have to be a bit of a wetland freak to truly be excited by this photo. (I'll admit, I'm guilty as charged.) But when Roy passed this image along -- and several others just like it -- this week, I know we were both thrilled at what we are seeing.

I spent some of last evening adding some content under the "2016" tab above. The West Marsh Dike Rehabilitation story (scroll down just a bit on that page) provides some helpful additional context to today's photo. But essentially, because

(1) we were able to draw water off a 40-acre area that has historically been called the "Rest Pond" (because no hunting was allowed in it to provide refuge for ducks), and because
(2) we were able to rebuild a large earthen dike directly adjacent to the pond to better influence what grows in it, we were able to
(3) seed and nurture a bumper "crop" of Japanese millet within these 40 acres.

All of this happened last summer, but the millet "strategy" wasn't just beneficial for a single season. Even though this plant is not native and is an annual (only grows for a single season), it has some remarkably useful attributes that persist. I will get into more detail as I continue the 2016 summary, but essentially, this grass-like plant converted what was a shallow pond of "chocolate milk" (muddy water) into a 2016 waterfowl buffet. The millet offered great cover. It grew in dense stands to 8' tall. But the seed-heavy terminal ends of the lush growth sagged temptingly into 2-3' of water, creating convenient openings for glutinous dining.

While the ducks gorged on millet seed in late summer through fall, they executed on two critical goals: (1) they spilled enough millet to provide a chance for decent self-seeding of some millet for 2017, and (2) they deposited all the seeds of all the other desirable plant species we want introduced into the Rest Pond as contents passed through the ducks' digestive tracks. (That's right, seeds do get carried by ducks -- and very effectively, I might add.)

So the feather in the photo above is symbolic of our unsuspecting restoration partners -- in this case, ducks. And the green represents this spring's first harbingers of new and diverse life in what will be a really fun restoration story to continue to witness. Isn't nature grand?