pond ecology changes during winter, with shorter plants succumbing to rising water and colder (note the ice) temperatures...catttail stalks still stand though, and already red-winged blackbirds were darting among them

cattails go by the same name in the US, where they are also referred to as reeds...in Britain they are called bulrushes, in New Zealand the word is raupo, and best of all in Australia they are named cumbungi