A tablespoon of Wetland

This is what a tablespoon of springtime wetland water looks like. A month or two ago it was clear. Now microscopic creatures have begun the cycle of life and nearly every speck in the picture will become an insect, snail, or other creature with aquatic beginnings. Most of the specs are midges---tiny insects that begin life in water. Some are the beginnings of this May's mayflies. There's also a very tiny snail to the left of center.

Most of these creatures will be the bottom of the food chain and will feed frogs, dragonflies, and birds. This is the beginning of life's cycle for the year---in a tablespoon of pond water in the wetland.