Hole in the Ice

    It’s really amazing, how new discoveries pop up in everyday living.  I have had my pond for probably 20 years now, and have been pretty observant of it throughout the years and seasons.  A couple of days ago, as Joan and I were walking along the trail that borders the pond, I noticed a hole in the ice.  It was out in the middle of the pond.  I immediately recognized this as strange occurrence, one that I had never seen before.

    Yesterday, I walked out to the hole to take a closer look.  I wasn’t too worried about falling through the ice, because I knew the ice must be at least 6 inches (15 cm) thick.  Once I got to the hole it looked like the ice was more like 8 inches (20 cm) thick,  but there was an actual hole all the way through the ice to the pond water below, because I saw two very tiny fish,  about as thick as a pencil lead, dart away when I got close.

    I can only assume that there is a spring under my pond that is pumping out warmish water.  That water rises to the top, slowly causing the ice to melt through.  This is something I had never seen on the pond before, and I don’t know if it is just a new development because of a change in subsurface hydrology, or if there was just something different about this year’s weather, that made it noticeable.  What ever the reason, I think it is an extremely interesting development.   

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