Triumphant music here

I got my act together and now have pictures I can put up for you! They'll be scattered about the entry so click on any links you come across. :D

So, a few things have happened since I posted last. On Wednesday, I got to meet Breann, the Old Woman Creek Watershed Coordinator. That's her picture over there. She's just been assigned the position so she's working from the ground up on making a management plan. Once she gets that done, I guess she'll go to work on Pipe Creek.

This leads me to what I got to do yesterday afternoon which was attend the education committee meeting for the Fireland Coastal Tributaries Watershed. Breann was there, along with Phoebe, the Education Specialist at Old Woman Creek, and there were reps from a local school, Erie SWCD, and more. The tasks for that meeting were to make some goals for outreach, see what kind of educational resources the committee members had available to them, and plot some ideas for the newsletter. It was really neat listening to them because they are litterally starting from scratch. Granted, education is a small portion of a watershed action plan, but it's an important part. I'll get to see how this forms over the next few months and I even got to throw a few ideas out there.

That night, I got to go on a public canoe trip into the estuary. We started out in "my" backyard. There were quite a few people and Frank tells me that these fill up quickly. It was a beautiful night to be doing this. The estuary was very calm. We paused at the start and Frank told us about estuaries. As we went along a looked at the growing lotus I saw some Great Egrets hanging out. There was a Great Blue Heron as well but he was sneaky and kept flying away before I could get a picture of him.

Frank pointed out the differences in depth as we cruised along. At one point, we were sliding along the mud to get into deeper water. He took us over toward where the eagles nest and we moved on upstream past the train bridge and up to where the Minehonto Oak was blocking us from going any further. He told us the story of how Old Woman Creek got it's name and "dismissed class."

It was really a lovely evening. We got everyone back on land (a little challenging due to the wind once we got on the lake side of the Rte.6 bridge) and cleaned up. Breann, who came with us on the trip, asked if I'd like to come and help plant some "plugs" at Pipe Creek and I, of course, said yes.

I met her and a few others, including Celine of Erie SWCD, bright and early this morning at the creek in Sandusky. She had brought two types of sedges and some Blue Vervain. She also showed me how they planted some Sandbar Willow. Apparently you can cut two foot sections of this tree, with one end at an angle, and soak it overnight. Then, you hammer it into the ground, like a stake, and let it grow. They'll root to their little hearts content and grow. The one's they did are sprouting away. Very neat! Anyway, while planting, we cleared away some of the overgorwn grass and other undesired plants. This was the first time I've done any restoration-type work like this.

Other things that I've learned over the last day or two: a brief history of the Firelands. I got to see a Passenger Pigeon. I learned that they used to use arsenic when they stuffed critters. Allegedly, the Youngstown mob used to dump their bodies in OWC. Never ask Dave to spell anything. Curves is a great place to find out about local events and then some. People like to give me things to read.

With that, it's time for me to go! Peace out!