August 9, 2024
The heat has broken and we are feeling grateful that it is comfortable outside once more. We spent the beginning of this week installing our new duck tubes. Built with a similar design to those recommended by Delta, these tubes of mesh and hay are placed in the middle of ponds to provide breeding and nesting habitat for waterfowl. We have installed them at three of our park locations so if you visit Westmoreland River Nature Park, Linden Hill Pond Park, or Webster’s Pond, you might see one of them!
We also put a brush mat in on the East Branch of the Westmoreland River. These are made out of spruce branches from fallen trees nearby and serve to catch sediment and support bends, or meanders, in the stream. We stake the branches in place and tie them down with biodegradable jute so that they will naturalize as soon as possible. These are a great way to naturally reduce sediment in the stream.
The middle of the week was spent doing all sorts of small tasks. We checked the amphibian boards, finding an American Toad, did some park maintenance, and planted milkweed plugs. We also took some drone footage of various locations in the Augustine Cove and Cape Traverse watersheds to better understand coastal erosion and stream blockages in these areas.
One of the big wins this week was helping a landowner with the removal of Japanese Knotweed. If you are unfamiliar with this plant, it is a very aggressive invasive species that is incredibly good at colonizing areas. It will outcompete native species and take over ecosystems. In order to ensure that the Knotweed will not return, we tarped the area and will leave the tarp in place for several years.
This week in the salt marsh, we conducted another terrestrial vegetation survey, noting plant abundance and species richness. We also excavated some plants to be studied by Fletcher at UPEI. They will measure the wet weight and then dry out the plants before weighing them again to get an understanding of the water concentration in the marsh grass as well as the plant biomass.
Through the busyness of this week, we are still preparing for this year’s Swim for the South Shore on August 24. If you haven’t yet registered, there really is no time like the present. Sign up with your kayak buddy at the link below! We can’t wait to see you there.
https://raceroster.com/events/2024/91974/swim-for-the-south-shore-2024
Love, SSWA
