Clear Water

SCraig · Feb 25, 2013

I know it's meaningless to most people but to those of us who live in the southeast it's really nice to see clear water for a little while. In middle Tennessee, occasionally in winter the algae will die off, the clay will settle out, and for a few days isolated bodies of water will clear up. Such was the case at Radnor Lake on Sunday morning.

This Northern Shoveler was taking advantage of it to.

In a few months, by July at the latest, this same lake will have a half-inch thick layer of scum over the top of it that will last until next winter when it eventually sinks to the bottom of the lake. Here's a shot of this exact same portion of the lake taken in October of last year:

That isn't ground around that log, it's slime on top of the water. We may learn to accept it but we never learn to like it.

HughGuessWho · Feb 25, 2013

Nice captures. Dont they call that slime, something like "duck butter"?

dxqcanada · Feb 25, 2013

Ah, you should come up to the Canadian Shield ... got some nice crystal clear lakes up here.

SCraig · Feb 25, 2013

HughGuessWho said:
Nice captures. Dont they call that slime, something like "duck butter"?

I've never heard that term but it wouldn't surprise me. It fits quite well.

dxqcanada said:
Ah, you should come up to the Canadian Shield ... got some nice crystal clear lakes up here.

Yeah, so I've heard. I've never been that far north but I have been to Hawaii. The first evening I was there we were on the island of Hilo and I walked way out on a lava flow that spread out into the Pacific. It was fissured and fingered, as you'd expect hot lava to look like after hitting cool water. I kicked a shell into water that was so clear I could count the grains of sand on the bottom, and watched that shell flutter to the floor for a good 5 minutes. That little fissure had to be 50' deep but it was as clear as a glass of drinking water.

deeky · Feb 25, 2013

HughGuessWho said:
Nice captures. Dont they call that slime, something like "duck butter"?

The duck butter I've heard of actually refers to the preening oil that comes from the preen gland just ahead of their tails. I think the green stuff is duckweed or something.

Nice shots. I love woodies.

coastalconn · Feb 25, 2013

Great Shot! It isn't so easy to find clean water anymore...

SCraig · Feb 26, 2013

deeky said:
HughGuessWho said:

Nice captures. Dont they call that slime, something like "duck butter"?

Click to expand...

The duck butter I've heard of actually refers to the preening oil that comes from the preen gland just ahead of their tails. I think the green stuff is duckweed or something.

Nice shots. I love woodies.

It's primarily algae. Small inland lakes like this get very warm in the summer and there is very little current flow to disturb the formation of algae so it just builds and builds. It's very common around here and people spend a lot of effort trying to control it. It's so thick that light trash, such as pollen, leaves, small limbs, etc., will literally float on top of it without falling through.

I love Wood Ducks as well, and that's probably my best shot of some. Admittedly it isn't that great but I've never managed to get remotely close to any of them.

SCraig · Feb 26, 2013

coastalconn said:
Great Shot! It isn't so easy to find clean water anymore...

It certainly isn't around here, that's why I liked that shot. Most of our waterways are mud red because of the red clay in most of our soil. There are a few lakes that are relatively clear, but NOTHING like other parts of the country.

sm4him · Feb 26, 2013

Clear water?!?! What is THAT??
I've never seen clear water around here, unless it was a man-made lake or something.

I wouldn't stick a single toe in most of the lakes around here, and of course, the Tennessee and Holston rivers...well, I love all the wildlife, but man those are some nasty ugly bodies of water!

Love that first photo; very nice!

squirrels · Feb 26, 2013

SCraig said:
Yeah, so I've heard. I've never been that far north but I have been to Hawaii. The first evening I was there we were on the island of Hilo and I walked way out on a lava flow that spread out into the Pacific. It was fissured and fingered, as you'd expect hot lava to look like after hitting cool water. I kicked a shell into water that was so clear I could count the grains of sand on the bottom, and watched that shell flutter to the floor for a good 5 minutes. That little fissure had to be 50' deep but it was as clear as a glass of drinking water.

This post is like poetry for my morning coffee! :lol:

SCraig · Feb 26, 2013

sm4him said:
Clear water?!?! What is THAT??
I've never seen clear water around here, unless it was a man-made lake or something.

I wouldn't stick a single toe in most of the lakes around here, and of course, the Tennessee and Holston rivers...well, I love all the wildlife, but man those are some nasty ugly bodies of water!

Love that first photo; very nice!

Agreed! We seldom get truly clear water around here. Center Hill Lake is really nice in late winter but it's the only clear one I know around Nashville.

There is a paved road that splits Radnor Lake into two parts, and the one the photo was taken in is usually the dirtier of the two. I think I just hit it at the right time on the right day to see a small area of clear water. Most likely there is a spring feeding the lake near that spot and dumped some clean water in for a little bit.