Think Like A Duck

To say we've had some rain really doesn't describe the last week.  Over 6 inches of rain in five days - more than three of those inches in one day.  Along with all the rain, we've also had some mighty big wind gusts.

At the Patch today, much of the trail was a little canal of water with swampy ground on either side. Glad I was wearing waterproof shoes.  

Near the creek, things must have gotten really exciting.  Water from a branch of the creek had overwhelmed a culvert and run right over the top of the trail, neatly combing all the grass in the direction of the water flow.  On the main creek, several alders in the flooded area fell and the underbrush was flattened.

In the flood plain

Amazingly, only one tree fell across the trail:

We also lost a snag that collapsed across the creek:

It was interesting to see how the area responded to all that water.  In a way, I wish we would have been out there at the height of the flood. Somewhere safe.

Also interesting was the flock of about 30 mourning doves spread through what was left of the underbrush until we scared them up into the trees.  I haven't seen that many mourning doves in this area for a long time.