Monitoring station/kayak dock gets vandalized!

Yes, two of the four galvanized steel posts used to secure the dock to the riverbed have been ripped out and tossed into the river, along with three of the four post covers. I’m disgusted and angry.

These acts of vandalism strike at our entire community, not just the BRAT. Shopping carts are being tossed into the river, making it unsafe for recreation and unpleasant for visitors; bottles are being tossed and broken into areas where our children play; our playgrounds are being damaged and spray-painted. These are not childish pranks, they are strikes against our town and against every volunteer effort put forth by scores of civic-minded folks in this community.

The obvious energy and determination that these vandals have, coupled with the apparent free time on their hands, would be welcomed with open arms by any number of volunteer organizations in Springfield. I challenge the perpetrators to engage in making a positive difference in their community.

I think the best thing that can happen is that the townspeople start watching out for vandalism, taking a stand against it, and not tolerating or making excuses for it.

My plan at this point is to get ahold of an extremely rugged, 80-pound post driver and pound the daylights out of the posts, forcing them past the hard-pan clay that kept us from driving them deep enough the first time.

Bugs Speak Out!

Yes, it’s true…river bugs do have a voice. Sort of. Some species prefer very clean, highly-oxygenated water, and other species couldn’t care less where they live. Some are very tolerant of high temperatures or levels of certain pollutants, others turn up their noses and move to cleaner neighborhoods.

So, depending on who you find living under the rocks in a particular stream or river, you can tell a lot about the cleanliness of your water.

Sunday morning, an intrepid group of BRATs gathered at the new kayak dock at Riverside Middle School to see who calls the Black River “home.” Mo, my 10-year-old daughter, and I set up a canopy in case of rain and began wading in the water with our nets. While I dug in the soft sand from the end of the kayak dock, Moira waded out to her hips to see what was lurking between the large rocks. Science teacher Tifin arrived soon after, and began scouring the smaller rocks on the edges of the river; many creatures were visible on the rocks to the careful eye, but they sped away when our hands got too close.

Lots of baby fish (fry) swarmed in the shallows, but the species was not determined. Crayfish were also spotted, but proved too quick and elusive for Mo to capture any. Joe and Joyce arrived to help lug equipment and identify and count the insect larvae; Kelsey and Eric came by to try and find more critters from the end of the dock. Within an hour, our buckets and pans were full of water and squiggling things, and we trekked up the hill to the picnic tables.

As we got started, Jayne and her terrific kids, Megan and Tyler, arrived and grabbed nets and pans to try their hands at bug-huntin’.

While there were some fairly tolerant snails and midge larvae hanging out between the rocks, there was a wide variety of mayflies available for comment; mayflies tend to be very picky about their living conditions and won’t tolerate unpleasantness in their water. Not that I blame them!

Joe and Joyce were on hand to haul some equipment and to sort and count bugs in a tray; they noted a damselfly hanging around with the mayflies!

A pleasant day was had by all, including a young family who stopped by on their way to the playground; their daughter, all of 3 or 4 years old, had a very hard time saying goodbye to the bugs.

At final count, we noted the following:

1 damselfly
3 water mites
1 midge larva
13 caddisflies
2 aquatic sowbugs
1 water penny (there were likely many more on the rocks, but we didn’t scrub as well as we could have)
6 gilled snails
4 minnows
and a whopping 110 mayflies!

With better collecting techniques, I believe we will find an even wider assortment of creatures every time we go out.

Thank you to each and every volunteer for making this a successful Bug Hunt and a grand adventure!

Boat Dock To Do Double-Duty

A new floating, modular boat dock is waiting to be installed at the Riverside Middle School on Saturday, May 15th. If you can spare a little time, I would love some help putting it in place! Here is the video link to get a sense of what is involved: http://tinyurl.com/pbugyd I have all the parts, I think, so we should be good to go.

The dock will be used as a kayak launch and also as a monitoring station from which we can dip our nets for aquatic insects as well as crayfish.

The dock is thanks to a grant from the Norcross Wildlife Foundation (http://www.norcrossws.org), and the eductaional WaterWorx program (bug hunts, crayfish safari, and water monitoring) are thanks largely to a grant from the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund (http://grassrootsfund.org).

Gettin’ Wild at Herrick’s Cove! 5/3/09

Come to the Herrick’s Cove Wildlife Festival on May 3rd, check out the critters, enjoy the serene Connecticut River, and stop by the BRAT booth! We’ll be hunting bugs and decorating puzzle pieces for the Vermont Arts Council “Art Fits Vermont” project.

Talk to me, let me know what’s on your mind; learn about upcoming events (a short hike, a paddle trip, water quality monitoring, RiverSweep and more!); join our mailing list.

Also, enter your name for a free drawing to win a nature journal!

See you at the cove,
Kelly

Gettin’ social

It’s official, you can now follow the BRAT on Twitter and check out more about li’l ole me personally on Facebook, if you are of a mind!

Twitter: @BlackRiverBRAT
Facebook: look me up by name or by Black River Action Team at www.facebook.com.