Summer Internship at Old Woman Creek

The last work day

2007-09-09T13:25:00.000-04:00

Hellooo readers! I'm here on my last day of work on my internship. I got an extension so that I may finish my projects and I have done so. "But what," you ask, "adventure have you been on of late, OSU Nature Gal?" Well, I'm glad you asked.

The first neat thing I came across (to me anyway) relates back to Dr. Krissek's talk about beaches the other day. When the mouth of Old Woman Creek opened, you got a really good look at the layers of the beach sediment. That was really cool.

Also, while I was exploring, I found a couple of beached mussles that I nabbed and sent an email out to Mark, the Mussel Guy, with a picture asking if these were anything he'd be interested in with his study. He most certainly was. Apparently two were live specimins of the Papershell and the other was a Mapleleaf shell. They'd been looking for those and hadn't found them yet. When I saw Mark and his prof later on, they said they did like I did (walk along the shore where the water had been) and found quite a few more Papershells but no Mapleleafs.

The Division of Forestry was up here the week the mouth opened and they were doing a training for some of their newer empployees around the state. One of the things I got to watch was a gentleman banding birds. He put up nets to catch the birds, then he would band and weigh them, he would show us ways to age them and tell certian species apart, and let them go. I'm very happy I don't speak bird because I think my ears would have been on fire.

It was very interesting to watch him. You need a delicate hand to get those guys out of the nets. We almost had a humming bird but she got away. We banded several cardinals, mostly hatched this year.

While out watching them, I also spotted a Green Frog and a Walking Stick. I love nature! The walking stick found it's way into an aquarium for my Insect Extravaganza (more on that later) and I looked them up and found that, contrary to what I thought, they are vegetarian and like rose and blackberry leaves.

Also, that week, was the Old Woman Creek Advisory Council meeting. I did a brief presentation there about my internship and what I've been up to. I know you all have been reading my blogilicous stories here so I don't have to tell you what I've done.

We had another canoe trip and that contained a special surprise. First, we were able to see where the water line was on the vegetaion along the shore. That was worth pointing out. I've mentioned before that there was an oak tree blocking the path at a certian point of the creek. Well, it looks like our big rain storms, plus the mouth of the creek opening up, took care of the problem for us! We were able to get by for the first time this summer and we went almost all the way to route 2. Here's a shot of the Minehonto Oak from the other side. Pretty impressive, eh? It was a lovely evening that night and a very pleasant canoe trip.

Friday was a trip to Columbus for the Ohio Avian Ecology and Conservation Confrence. This year, it was held at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. I admit it, I spent part of the day in the confrence and part of the day wandering the zoo. However, I was a good girl and kept my wanderings related to birds. I saw Flamingos, and very colorful phesants, plus some others that I don't remember what they're called now. I even saw some very specialized birds, night flyers and swimmers. I did stop to see the kitties though. They were all sleeping of course.

Okay, I think I'll leave off there. Next time, I'll tell you about the water sampling and the cool mushrooms on the other side of the preserve and Back to the Wild and my wee snapping turtles.

Till next time!

Just you wait...

2007-09-04T16:51:00.000-04:00

....you guys are in for one heckuva entry. Well, maybe I'll be nice and break it down into 2 or 3. I'm at T minus 5 days and counting till I go home.

Whew

2007-08-27T16:09:00.001-04:00

Hidy ho! I'm still around, really. I'm just...wait for it..........busy! Well, I have a pretty cool entry in the works so bear with me. Type at ya soon!

Thar she blows!

2007-08-20T17:18:00.001-04:00

Well, we finally had enough rain and Old Woman Creek broke through the barrier beach! It happened somewhere between 9AM and 1PM. I saw it was still good when I passed it this morning but the water was higher. When I came back for lunch, the water was gushing making white water out in the lake and sending brown sediment away. Here's some more pictures!

Too bad I wasn't there to watch it go. That would have boon cool!

Another week has passed...

2007-08-19T09:42:00.000-04:00

Don't you just love it when you plans go all whacky? I was advised of a commercial that could be made for my club at OSU (Environmental Education and Parks Society) and that I had a week till the deadline. (Now I'm looking at 2 days till I have to get it in the mail.) This is where my small experience with filmmaking has come in handy: Be ready for ANYTHING.

~~Plan A: Sunday, perfect weather and 10 participants.~~

~~Plan B: Sunday, rainy weather and up to 10 participants.~~

Plan C: It's Sunday morning, it's pouring, and no one has shown up. Thank goodness I've taken a TON of pictures.

I will triumph!

(and I now have a ton of cinnamon rolls to enjoy too ~evil laugh~)

Besides that, it's been a busy week. I dropped a bunch of stuff off at home and met my friends new cat. I also got to see another friends new baby. This was in conjunction with the Meatloaf concert and such so I'll not spend too much time on that. Those were just cute pictures. The main thing I wanted you to get out of that was that I dropped a bunch of stuff off at home.

When my dormmates returned from their trip home, they gave me a whole bunch of great teacher stuff the Pennsylvania DNR. They had duplicates so now I have great lessons on bears, PA songbirds, etc. That was so awsome! However, it now does not look like I took anything home.

That was also pretty much the last day they were here. After Dr. Krissek's beach survey (more on that in a moment) we had a yummy farewell lunch for them and they hit the road. I wish them both the best of luck in school and in their future careers. I think they'll do fabulously.

Now, back to Dr. Krissek, who also did a talk at Stone Lab, did an evening talk with us on Andrill. Andrill is an incredible drilling program in Antartica and, amongst other things, they are using the bedrock cores they drill to help understand where the world might be going with this whole global warming thing. Dr. Krissek has been to Antartica many times and will return again. He filled us in on Artic Slugs (Weddell Seals) and the drilling mechanism and he had lots of great pictures of the transportable station. He even went over some of the results of their reasearch and managed to make it very understandable. It was a great lecture.

The next day, we all piled out to the beach to be educated on the movement of sand on the beaches of Lake Erie. Dr. Krissek showed us how to do a beach survey and we got to use some cool antique surveyors tools like sticks and string (there's a "back in my day" joke in there somewhere).

We dug holes in the sand to look at the layers and came across a sand spider. We also played in the odd purple sand that apparently is made up of magnatite and garnet which have heavier masses and therefore don't get blown away by the wind leaving purple stripes.

Dr. Krissek had us pick up random rocks and he told us what the different stones were made of and where they came from. (Even the ones from Michigan.) That was really cool. It made me think that, along with all the other classes I've decided it'd be a good idea to take, a geology class may be a good one to take. That was also a really fun event (because all the other events that I've participated in have soooo borning[/sarcasm]).

The next two days were full of Project Wild training and I have no pictures of that because I forgot my camera. However, I am now trained on Project Wild too and even taught a lesson during the class. Friday was wonderful and not filled to the brim with excitement. Saturday however.....

....was East Harbor State Park's Conservation Day! That was a fun day. We set up microscopes so people could look at plankton (and many did). There were many other stations that included caterpillars, cornhole with fish shaped bean bags, paper making, Lucky the Ladybug, and much more. It was a great event and there were LOTS of people who came with their families.

We returned back to Old Woman Creek after a brief stop at the craft supply store (and to do some brief "research" on how a certain member of the local economy is doing in their task of creating bird habitat). With that, it was time for me to head back to the dorm and prep for the proverbial commercial today and to clean up for the Division of Forestry folks who are coming this week.

Other things on track for this upcoming week is the OWC Advisory council meeting where I'll be doing a presentation on my internship, finishing this commercial thing, and finishing anything else I can finish. I am intern, hear me roar!

Till next time!

3 chrysalis and counting

2007-08-12T11:34:00.000-04:00

Did anyone stay up to watch the Perseids meteor shower last night? I drove back in from Columbus and got here about 2AM. I promptly parked myself out on the lawn and watched meteors zip by for about a half hour. If you haven't checked it out yet, you still have the chance. It peaks today and tomorrow. It's worth the drive out to the country (too bright in columbus). I think I've read that between 10PM and 1AM are the best times. If you want to go crazy, haul yourself out to the Sierra Nevadas in California. You can see this the best out there. I got to enjoy it in '96 out there at 6000+ feet. It was amazing, I'd never seen so many meteors. (Here's another blog with some suggested accessories.)

Last week was one of those "hit the ground running" kinda weeks. First up was the COSEE Teachable Moment workshop. Day one was spent in the classroom for a little bit but then we all headed out to the trail for a quick tour. On the way, we found some facinating caterpillars hanging out on a Black Walnut. I'm still not really sure what they were but my expression in that picture can be explained by their bizarre camouflage tactic. That and the fact that one spit at me. (WAIT...I found them. The Walnut caterpillar. Ours were the black ones.) Once down at the overlook, we chatted about wetlands and why they're important and some of the research that's going on here.

Once back in the classroom, we discussed what our next task was going to be and we all piled into canoes and followed Allie, the researcher, on a quest for sediment cores. She is studying how iron in the sediment is helping to break down certain pollutants that water treatment plants don't seem to touch (like some pharmaceuticals). Watching her, I wondered how many times she's fallen in the water collecting these things. We got three cores and headed back to the wet lab to learn how to process these things.

We preped the extraction tubes, transfered the cores, got the pore water syringes attached, and started testing for things like pH and iron content. It was very complicated and it took most of the day but that's what it's like in real life.

It turned out to be a good thing we did all that the first day because day two was WET. It poured till noon. We reviewed what happened the day before and started doing some lessona that revolved around Lake Erie. COSEE Great Lakes is a great resource for teachers and other educators.

That was the "big" event for me this past week. I also got my Luna Moth situated. I found it outside one morning and it was one it's way out. I helped it along and have now pinned it so that I can mount it. I'm calling it my first taxidermy. I need to find a frame for it now.

The Lotus are very much in bloom now. They are also growing in quite thick. The mouth of the creek is still closed but with the rain it's a lot higher. I'll get a picture of that tonight.

Our "children," the monarch caterpillars, are growing up. We have three in chrysalis and one is making it's chrysalis today. I'm worrying about the other two that are smaller because the milkweed plants are getting a little unedible and they need new ones but I don't want to disturb the others.

I was going to head back to Columbus Thursday but a friend kidnapped me and took me to the Meatloaf concert. All I'll say is that it was good times and involved the front row. (Woo!) I then returned to Columbus for real and did the wedding reception thing. Remember, internships do allow down time! Go have some fun!

While home, I managed to win some Cedar Point tickets so it looks like I just may be going there before I leave Huron. :D

I hope life is good where you are too!

Short and sweet

2007-08-04T13:26:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday! This internship is flying by! I can't believe that I only have 4 weeks left. Where did my summer go? Do I have to leave?

Well, I've been a busy girl still. Getting more lesson plans done and I am now combining ideas for our foyer display windows. I've been using the Ohio Coastal Atlas for ideas. There's some great maps and information in there if you can get your hands on one. (Someone's bring some home for raffle prizes at the next Environmental Education and Parks Society grill out.....hinthint.) I spent some time yesterday measuring the foyer area and making a scale model pattern so we can see what some of this stuff will look like. I think it'll look fabulous.

I also finished (finally) taking pictures of places around Old Woman Creek watershed. I feel like I picked the hottest day to do it too. I'll post a few pictures of that once I get them off my camera. (You'll also get to see my first "taxidermy." ) It was a busy day yesterday!

Today is a busy one as well. The Friends of Old Woman Creek are having their first annual Lotus Float. That starts at 4PM. It sounds like it'll be a great event.

In other news, there are Naked Ladies on the beach. (Go ahead, click it. You know I wouldn't put anything that naughty on this blog.) You can see them in the above picture that I nabbed from the all knowing internet.

Okay, I'm off to be productive!

Hoooooo doggy!

2007-07-28T09:26:00.000-04:00

I've been a busy girl! How are you?

Well, as I promised I'll tell you about the training I got to go to for groundtruthing. One morning, we (Frank, Dr. Dave, Dick, and myself) to Ye Ol' Findlay, Ohio. It was, shall we say, early. After a brief stop at a coffee establishment, we arrived at the Division of Wildlife, Region 2 offices. I saw some familiar faces and some familiar decor. We were all there to learn how to groundtruth a wetland survey done by Ducks Unlimited with the help of several other organizations besides D.O.W. that I cannot remember now.

This is an update of the National Wetlands Inventory for Ohio. (Lookie! Wetland plants!) The last time this was done here was in the mid-80's. On the national level, things were done by aerial photos. Here, in Ohio, it was done using sattelite data. Well, now the information has been taken again because Ducks Unlimited started a mallard survey and found the maps were very outdated. Time to do all of this again.

The majority of the budget was spent on color and color-infrared photos. (Aerial photos mind you.) Now, it's up to people like us to double check a percentage of the inventoried wetlands (no less than 1/10 acre) for accuracy. Right now they only have imagery for the northern half of Ohio and Erie County is one of the counties that will be checked soon. (Eventually, all counties will have been checked.) We are including farm and backyard ponds in this survey which I believe is a new thing.

To do this, we are going to use GPS units to help us find the wetlands indicated on the maps we'll be provided. We go, we look, we mark the map with our determination of what kind of wetland it is (forested, emergent, unconsolidated bottom, etc.) and make any notes or comments we feel will help the inventory folks get a more accurate description.

Why is this so cool for me? Well, not only can I help with this here in Erie County but when it comes time to do Franklin, I can do it there too. This equals more experience for resumes! (Score!) I'm hoping this will start before I leave in a few weeks. I'd like to get a chance at helping with this. At least I'm trained already.

So what other resume builders have I accomplished? Well, we just had our Project Wild Aquatic and Science and Civics training this week. Teachers from all over (including one chap from Dublin!) came together to be trained to use these two books. It was a fun two days. We played with sand and "seined for fish" (or beans in this case) and looked at plankton under a scope. Door prizes were given out and I got a set of fish life histories and a book called A Guide to Ohio Streams, and, of course, we all got the Proj. W.A. and Sci.&Civ. books.

So, those were the biggies of late. I've also been able to visit my relative's in Akron and see one of my cousin's 4 metroparks (he's the head guy at those parks but I can't remember which 4 they were, sorry). The park we saw was very pretty and had remnants of Ohio and Erie Canal locks. There is also an old general store that has been restored that has displays and some souveniers.

We also visited Stan Hywet Hall. The guy responsible for Goodyear tires lived there. Stan Hywet Hall is a way cool place. Beautiful gardens and right now they're having a treehouse exhibit and they have butterflies in the greenhouse. Mom and I stayed in the Quaker Square Crowne Plaza hotel where we slept in a silo. (I am very upset at Univ. of Akron because they bought the historical hotel and landmark and are planning on turning it into a dorm. What a waste of a beautiful building and a waste of an opportunity. I feel they should turn it into a Univeristy owned hotel and confrence center since it is one of only two large hotels in Akron right now. Think of the money they could make!? ~steps off her soapbox)

I've been canoeing twice this week and the last group was just today from the Firelands Chapter of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. They've managed to save 1500 acres of land so far just this year!

So there's my week and a half. Next up is my ficilitation of a meeting about window displays and COSEE's Teachable Moment class.

Sketching and Butterflies

2007-07-20T12:18:00.000-04:00

Greetings and Salutations from Huron! It's been lovely weather here with some "for real" rain. The grass and plants are loving it. We have a new stash of Fish Ohio bracelets and a bunch of new tatoos for the kids. Not just birds this time but fish too! Including a big fish that is easily 4-5 inches long. The prairie continues to bloom and be full of Black Eye Susans. The Queen Anne's Lace is showing now and we have monarch eggs on the milkweed.

Backtracking though, let me tell you about Hoffman Forest Reserve and the Second Saturday sketch class. Hoffman Reserve is a very quiet place as it seems that not many people know about it. It has successional forest on it and there's also a great meadow trail that I got to see. I didn't go too far along it though, I didn't want to get lost. I'm planning on going back as soon as I can.

The Second Saturday sketch class is a group who goes out to varios places like Hoffman Reserve and the OWC barrier beach and spend time drawing. At the end of the classes (you must pre-register because it's very popular) there is going to be an art show of everyone's best work. Saturday, we went to where part of Old Woman Creek travels through Hoffman Reserve (pdf) and the class parked themselves in lawn chairs around the creek and sketched away. (If you ever come to this, bring your own supplies as there's limited number of general supplies for the class.) I, in the mean time, reverted to little-kid-mode and explored.

Besides all the awsome plants I saw a lot of great creatures including many adorable toads which I can only assume were American Toads. Here's a great closeup.

There were also quite a few Damsel Flies. They were constantly flying around and posing. And speaking of posing, there was a Red Spotted Purple that was hanging around drinking up the moisture in the mud.

It posed and posed and posed. It was quite the little camera hog. The other surprise for my camera was the Silver Spotted Skipper that chose to hold still for a moment. I wandered up the trail a bit and found a Great Blue Heron hiding out.

I've done other things too this week but I'll save them for another entry and when I remember to download my next set of pictures. You'll get to see more taxidermy. Hey, we are Division of Wildlife after all.

Backing up a little further, I got to go kyacking out on the estuary again. A couple of times actually. The lotus are starting to bloom and by the time we go out again next week, it'll look spectacular. I also saw quite a bit of Swamp Milkweed. The main, noticeable difference between it and the Common Milkweed is the pink color. It's much brighter than the Common Milkweed. The Swamp Rose was also making a show.

I also attending the Wing Watch 2008 planning meeting at the Ottawa County Vistors Bureau. (Here's a map, by the way. It's a great place to stop and get info about the Lake Erie coast and Islands.) This was a crucial meeting because there were some who were burned out and a bit frustrated after this past year. However, they talked it out and everyone is rearing to go for 2008.

That's it for now. I'll be back with tidbits about the Division of Wildlife's groundtruthing training and other little jewels. While I'm gone, think og what you're missing by not coming to visit.....

Just a note...

2007-07-12T09:37:00.001-04:00

...for some upcoming events.

The Columbus chapter of the National Audubon Society, a group dedicated to
understanding and preserving the world's birds, will hold several upcoming
nature walks at the Whittier Peninsula. Walks meet at the boat ramp in the Lower
Scioto Park and begin at 6:30 a.m.
Wednesday, July 4
Saturday, July 21
Wednesday, August 1
Saturday, August 18

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Registration is open for the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshop. It will be taking place in Ashley, Ohio at Recreation Unlimited 9/28-9/30. More information and registration forms can be found here: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/workshops/outdoorw.htm

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Bob Giehl, a Master Gardener in Mount Vernon and California, is leading a tour of the
Ohio governor’s residence Heritage Garden and other Columbus-area places of
gardening interest on Tuesday, July 31. Participants will travel by motor coach, which will leave the Knox County License Bureau parking lot, 671 N. Sandusky St., at 7:30 a.m. that morning. There is a fee for the tour; participants are asked to register in advance and bring a lawn chair, snacks and camera. For more information, call Giehl at 397-7406. The Heritage Garden Web site is at www.governorsresidence.ohio.gov.

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Aug. 4 and 26 -- Muzzleloader shoots at Centerburg Conservation Club.
Cost: men $9, women and children 16-18 $4, under 16 and novice shooters are
free. For more information, call 740-625-4003.

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July 14 -- NBAA Central Division Bass tournament, 6:15 a.m. at O'Shaughnessy
Lake, Home Road ramp.

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July 14 -- Boater-education course at Reynoldsburg Gander Mountain, 9 a.m.
Cost is $5. For more information, call 614-856-0066.

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July 14 and Aug. 11 -- Free seminar on cooking in the outdoors at
Reynoldsburg Gander Mountain, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call
614-856-0066.

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July 14 and 28, Aug. 11 and 25 -- Catfish tournaments at A.W. Marion State
Park in Circleville. For more information, call 740-474-9201.

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July 21 -- Division of Watercraft boating-education course at the Alum Creek
office, 3305 S. Old State Rd., Delaware, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $5. For more
information or to register, call 740-548-5490.

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July 28 -- Division of Watercraft boating education course at the Buckeye Lake
office, 12408 Lancaster St., Millersport, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $5. For more
information or to register, call 740-548-5490.

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Aug. 4-5 -- Sweet Sixteen Celebration, an all-around clays competition limited to
16-gauge shotguns, at Black Wing Shooting Center, 3722 Marysville Rd.,
Delaware. For more information, call 740-363-7555.

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Registration has officially opened for the fourth Great Ohio River Paddle Aug. 18
and Aug. 19. Paddlers have two trip options: A weekend paddle or a one-day paddle. The event begins in Ripley, and ends in New Richmond. Proceeds from the Great Ohio River Paddle will benefit the programs of Ohio River Foundation, including its Rain Garden Initiative and River Explorer Program that educates more than 1,000 school children annually about the ecology and importance of rivers and streams in the Ohio River watershed. To paddle in, or be a sponsor of, the Great Ohio River Paddle, or for more information, call 377-1408, or visit www.ohioriverfdn.org.

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Children can fish free on selected Lake Erie fishing charters in the Port Clinton
area from Aug. 13 to 17 as part of a program sponsored by the Lake Erie Charter
Boat Association. During "Kids Fish Free" week, adults booking a charter through the association hotline at (800) 287-1020 can bring one youth, age 17 or under, at no charge for each paying adult. Charter reservations must be made by Aug. 7 to participate in this special promotion. The "Kids Fish Free" charter trips will depart from the Port Clinton area. Anglers may pursue walleye, smallmouth bass, yellow perch or a combination of those species.

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July is National Blueberry Month. You know what to do....

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The Ohio Ornithological Society will hold a two-day warbler symposium at
Lakeside and Marblehead on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 8-9. Birder and author
extraordinaire Jon Dunn, avian night call expert Bill Evans, Ohio field guide
author and speaker Kenn Kaufman, ornithologist Elliot Tramer and tour guide
company founder Victor Emanuel will be featured. Field trips will explore some of
the premier birding sites on the Lake Erie coast. For registration, lodging and
meal information, go to the group's Web site, www.ohiobirds .org. Or go to cosponsor
Black Swamp Bird Observatory's Web site, www.bsbobird.org. Or call
Black Swamp at 419-898-4070.

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The Master Recycler Program is an eight-week program that meets for one evening a week and for two Saturday field trips. The program will be offered again starting in September 2007. A wide variety of topics including solid waste, waste reduction, recycling, hazardous waste, natural gardening, home composting, and vermicomposting will be taught by instructors from this region. Cost for the program is $50 for Clermont County residents and $60 for participants outside the County.
The MRC Program is funded through the Adams-Clermont Solid Waste District and
EPA's Ohio Environmental Education Fund. To register for the fall 2007 Master Recycler Composter Program or to receive additional information contact Ploucha at or 753-9222.

Happy post July 4th!

2007-07-11T13:12:00.000-04:00

Greetings! I'm sure you're thinking, "It's been a week! You had best have something interesting to write about, young lady!" Well, convieniently, I do. While last week was slower I still got quite a bit done.

Accomplishment #1: I took pictures of half of OWC watershed and GIS'd their locations. It was a lovely 2.5 hour trip around the area. I saw quaint little areas like this quaint little ditch, alluring locales, and this groovy little spot in Berlin Heights. A lot of the places I took pictures of I couldn't actually get down to because of slope and vegetation but that last site in Berlin Hts. I was able to get to.

It's totally hidden and it's a great secret. Frank told me the gorge is a glacial remnant of the Canadian Shield. There were a lot of great flowers down there and dragonflies zooming about. It was all very picturesque. Most of my sites got 2-3 pictures, this one got about 10. This pretty little spot, though, apparently has issues with raw sewage and trash. How sad.

Accomplishment #2: My next adventure happend on July 4th. I decided that it'd be a great day to go to Sheldon's Marsh. I arrived and began to walk the paved path. Apparently, this was the site of one of the first paved roads in Ohio and it took you to Cedar Point. I guess the paved road itself was just as much an attraction as the amusement park. When Dr. Sheldon purchased it in the 50's, people thought he was crazy and called the area Sheldon's Folly. It was just a mucky wetland afterall.

It's a good thing he did because now it's a phenomenal place to go brid watching. You can also visit Shelly the Sheldon's Marsh squirrel, the amazing headless swallow, and even an occasional water snake.

As I continued on, I got to the beach. My first stop was the NASA pumping station. (If you look at page 5 of that PDF, there's great pictures of the erosion between 1968 and 2001.) I enjoyed several of the signs that they had on the fence.

I wandered down the beach and spent about an hour and a half poking at the various rocks and carcasses that littered the beaches. There's been enough erosion that you'll find areas where the peat is washing up on shore. Piles of black stuff everywhere. I got some pictures of some random things I thought were neat. Towards the end, I acknowledged that I was on a reeeeealy long beach and headed back. On the way, I took more pictures (of course).

Semi-Accomplishment #3: The rest of the week was spent working on lesson plans and scratching my eyes out over Ohio educational standards. (I'm accepting defeat at this point and will ask for help.) I also plotted my course for the other half of Old Woman Creek watershed pictures. Then, I fled to spend a lovely weekend with friends. (You don't get to hear about that, that's for another blog.)

This week so far has had me in a kayack twice now. I almost did a face plant into the creek yesterday. It was great. I got to learn a little of the physical science of the preserve from Joe Ortiz as he lead his class from Kent State. Dr. Doug Kane came by with his class from Stone Lab. We also had the Stream Ecology for Teachers class from Stone Lab too. We even had educators from Soil and Water Conservation groups. (It was a slightly busy day for us yesterday.) I'll get to go back on the water again Thursday for the public canoe trip.

Other interny type news:
-I get to teach a session from Project Wild at a training in August.
-I get to coordinate the conceptual design for two of the display windows here.
-I'm going to start making themes for the weekends. This weekend: microhabitats!

Before I go, I forgot to give you the update on the mouth of OWC. It closed about 2 weeks ago after making a sharp swing to the west thanks to wave action and the movement of sand. Here's a pic:

Picture Day!

2007-07-02T09:14:00.000-04:00

Before I start, I want to post a link to an organization I found while perusing the internet looking up information: the Outdoor Writers of Ohio. I had no idea that this existed. Not only do they support conservation and outdoor communicators but it also has record fish listings, including bowfishing. Pretty cool as fas as I'm concerned.

Anyway, as not much has happened in the past few days (except that the eaglets have fleged!) here's some of the pictures I've taken recently that you've not seen yet.

This is Phoebe pointing things out to the DOW folks.

The fragrant water lilies are blooming. The lotus will too in a few weeks.

A friendly neighborhood turtle posed just long enough for a picture before diving in.

Coastal Training guru Heather.

This is the observation deck on the trail.

Hypothesis

2007-06-30T09:31:00.000-04:00

I propose some potential research: Deer Flies actually get a high off of DEET. That is why it doesn't work on them.

Someone needs to research that.

Casual rare

2007-06-29T09:12:00.001-04:00

That picture over there is an American Avocet. I saw one on the beach last evening. Very cool since according to Aves.net it is uncommon to see them as they migrate through in the spring time. I identified it with the help of my intern-mates, Lindsay and John, who are doing a bird study here. They went out and got some video of it. It's usually seen on the east coast or in the western third of the US.

I also got to look at some water fleas today under the microscope. Some of you are probably thinking, "Wow. Water fleas. That's reeeeeeaaaalllly exciting." I, however, have not gotten to see too many under the scope and was wondering what all the swimming grains of sand were out by the beach. That's one of the great things about doing this intern stuff, you get to learn so much more than what's in your job description.

So what have I been doing the past few days. Well, the Division of Wildlife Information and Education department from the various districts came up for a meeting. I got to meet them and sit in on their meeting. I found out that there will be meetings coming up to help correlate Project Learning Tree, Wet, and Wild, and also Healthy Water and Healthy People, to the Social Studies standards. I may not be able to actively help, but I might attend a future session just to see how the process works.

I learned that the Environmental Education Council of Ohio is having a confrfence in April and that Becoming an Outdoor Woman is having a workshop at the end of September. I'll go to that if I can manage. (Here's the organization's main site if you're interested.) I got a groovy pin for the Passport to Fishing. Dad and I would have totally been involved in this if it were around when I was a kid. I can still go through this if I want to now and I have every intention on joining the ODNR folks who put this on.

For those of you in the Columbus, OH and surrounding area, there's going to be an osprey banding at Alum Creek on July 3rd.

That's just a sampling of what went on. Everyone there was very nice and very passionate about community education. We watched a live broadcast on diversity in regards to public recruitment. Not everyone may have liked it but it got them talking. I learned a little more about the ins and outs of doing things on a state level. (Loving the FoodGate jokes. OSU faculty and staff will appreciate that one.)

Through looking up this link stuff, I found the site for Discover a Watershed, which I may be able to use for my independant project. Speaking of which....I've not told you guys about my independant project!

Topic is watersheds. With the start up of the Firelands Coastal Tributaries Watershed Action Plan, and with much brain-picking at Old Woman Creek, I have determined a need for Watershed education. Most people don't realize that they live in a watershed, even if they can't see any water from where they are. They also don't realize that there are things that they do (or don't do) that affect the cleanliness of that watershed and that it may affect things like drinking water.

My goal for this summer is, firstly, to make a map of Old Woman Creek watershed. I will also be driving around to the various tributaries of this watershed and take pictures so that folks know what places, like say Cranberry Creek, look like. I'll have these pictures in their appropriate locations all over the map. The map will also have some basic questions answered like "What is a watershed?" and "Do I live in a watershed?" This map can be placed in libraries and other public locations for folks to look at. My plan is to make it colorful and very easy to read.

To go along with the map, which can be used in classrooms, it to have lesson plans. I'd like to have at least 4 that are easily adapable to different age groups and have the grade correlations listed so there's no questions about that. I'm already grabbing one lesson from Project Wet.

I want something that can apply to not only Old Woman Creek's watershed educational goals, but something that can be used by the education committee for the Firelands Coastal Tributaries Coordinator. If I can get things set for OWD, I'm going to do a map for Pipe Creek as well. I'll keep you updated on how things are going and if anything changes.

Speaking of Breann, the OWC watershed coordinator, I got to go canoeing with her and a group from the US EPA. We even had our Region 5 director there. It was a nice trip. I got to hear some different things than I usually hear about Old Woman Creek. More along the scientific and community conservation/outreach side. They're back in the confrence room now doing confrence room stuff.

I'm beat though. I got a canoe to myself, which was cool, but the wind was blowing me allll over the place. At one point, I spent some time paddling myself backwards because I couldn't turn around. Only got stuck twice on submerged logs. I skipped Curves this morning but I definately got my workout for the day. I lagged behind the group a bit but I took advantage of some of the off course blowing to check out some of the lotus.

So, yeah, this entry is a little light on my pictures but I'm too tired to grab my thumb drive. I'll make up for it next time. Till then.....

Reading Material

2007-06-28T15:50:00.000-04:00

A meme to illustrate some of the things one can read while on an internship.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4-7 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest (unless it's too troublesome to reach and is really heavy. Then go back to step 1).

"In Michgan pools Daphnia ephemeralis appeared in early season and was later replaced with D. pulex, with some overlap.

Although fairy shrimp and clam shrimp occur in the same vernal pools, the fairy shrimp tend to hatch earlier and to complete their develpment before the peak in clam shrimp populations. Mature clam shrimp remain in vernal pools after fairy shrimp have disappeard and appear to be less sensitive to predation. Cladocerans such as D. pulex also remain in pools well into the summer, declining only as the pool dies.

In most vernal pools where fairy shrimp have been studied, only a single species has been reported, but there are records of pools containing two, three, or four species. Co-occuring species of Eubranchipus include E. neglectus and E. bundyi in Ohio and Michigan; E. neglectus and E. holmani in Ohio; E. vernalis and E. holmani on Long Island, New York; E. serratus and E. neglectus in Illinois; E. serratus and E. bumdyi in Illinois; and E. vernalis and E. intricatus in Massachusetts. Usually one species is dominant and the other is present in relatively low numbers, commonly reflecting the broader distribution patterns."

Colburn, Elizabeth A. Vernal Pools: Natural History and Conservation. The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company. Blacksburg, VA, 2004.

2007-06-24T08:03:00.000-04:00

Hello! It's been a few days and a few things have been going on. I was able to help out with a high school class that came in to do some sampling and look at things under microscopes. Here's a picture of me explaining the spine that catfish have on their dorsal fin. These guys were fun. Of course you had a boys teasing the girls about gross stuff and dissecting fish. It brought back memories.

On Friday, Phoebe and I went to Crane Creek and the Sportsman's Migratory Bird Center. We were there to plan out an Project Wild Aquatic and Civics and Science workshop for teachers in July. (I get to attend that, yay!) It sounds like it'll be a great workshop. I also love how the Project Wild/Wet/Learning Tree/etc. has really fun lessons in them and they tell you exactly which educational standards they work with.

I've been wanting to take training sessions on these programs for a few years now because I do not understand these standards at all. I'm just beinging to scratch the surface now. I'm hoping I can compile for myself as time goes on what all the standards are and if and how they inter-relate. Maybe it'll help my confusion and frustration with them and make me a better informal educator.

After the meeting, Phoebe walked me around the Migratory Bird Center. They have an awsome collection of taxidermy birds. I love the musical bird keyboard. You press a key and the picture of the bird will light up and you can listen to is call. As you can tell by the name of the place, they have a thing for birds and it is a phenominal place to go birdwatching. I may have to take a trip out there just to walk the trails. They have some great sounding programs there too thanks to the Friends of Magee Marsh. I had visited Magee Marsh last summer but we never made it far back enough to see the center. We were obsessed with plants though so it was all good.

Saturday, I tagged along on a Trees on Trails walk through Old Woman Creek. Zach Rinkes, of Erie OSU Extension (sorry, before I thought he was Huron), lead the walk and told us all about trees and how to identify them. He told the crowd about the hairs on the ends of oak leaves and MADBuc (Maple, Ash, Dogwood, and Buckeye) as having opposite leaves. He gave us a rundown of the Emerald Ash Borer problem and told us about Extension's guide to Ash alternatives (warning: big PDF file). He also told us about other invasives. Overall it was a great walk-n-talk. Good job, Zach! I'm totally going to buy your book now.

So, yeah, it was actually a busy week. I have also pinned down wht I'm going to do for my independent "major" project. I'll fill you in on that later. I also got a heads up on another internship opportunity up here. (Have I mentioned yet that internships are a great way to get to know people and network and find out other opportunities?) I'm heading home tonight to get some more books and folders because I'm not organized enough. I've talked enough now though.

Here's some random pictures: more of me working, pretty flowers in the prairie, another milkweed, more mayflies, the Great Blue Heron.

They're baaaaaack

2007-06-20T12:53:00.000-04:00

Yes, the Mayflies have arrived. They were all over the street at about 2AM this morning I was told. It was good timing too because I had just finished some info sheets that are a part of my "minor" projects for the summer. I had made one on Hexagenia. It is now laminated and put in the display case outside. I will be putting one down at the display area by the beach tonight.

Speaking of the beach, there's been some pretty cool changes in the last 2 days. We had a nice storm yesterday. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the post storm mouth but here's a pic from Monday night. I could have walked through this without getting my knees wet. It was only about 3 feet across and about a foot deep.

The next morning, it was still about 3 feet across but it was about 2-2.5 feet deep. The water was running faster as the storm moved in upstream.

Then it stormed pretty nicely for a while in the afternoon. After it cleared up I went down to the beach, sans camera, to check things out and watch the storm drift east. The mouth of the creek was now about 8 feet across and gushing. The creek's current was easily pushing out about 20 yards into the lake. You could see the churning water and the brown sediment-filled water was going even further. I couldn't see the bottom any more but considering how it was moving sand earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if it had gotten to about 5 ft deep again. All that change in just a few hours!

So, anyway, in other intern-y type stuff, I got to sit in on a staff meeting and listen to how things get organized. We talked about a new brochure to have here on site about OWC. We discussed things like content and potential layout. Today, some of us sat and refined what we talked about yesterday. I think we did pretty well. The other summer intern, Laura, is working on this. I'm happy to be able to provide feedback on things and see how this stuff comes into being.

Today, I also worked with Phoebe to set up for a class she's doing today. It's a group of kids K-5. Tomorrow, she's getting a group of High Schoolers and I'm going to be active in helping with that. They're going to be sampling and looking at things under microscopes. Friday, I get to go to Crane Creek. I'm looking forward to seeing what that park is like. Magee Marsh is there. It's a great place to go see the migratory birds.

Sooo, I must now go be productive. I'll have more Mayfly pics later. Cheers!

Designing a Greener Building

2007-06-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

I'm back on a nice quiet Saturday morning to tell you about another cool feature of Old Woman Creek NERR & SNP: the vistor center.

When you walk up to the door, look down. The paving stones are shaped like interlocking frogs. They’re like the symmetry pictures by M.C. Escher. When you go in the first set of doors, to the left is a room where you can find sorts of good dirt like program schedules, trail maps, and fishing regs. (You only get to catch 30 yellow perch per day this year on Lake Erie!)

On the right is a window display of a cut-away wetland. You can see above and below the water. The display continues on the other side of the next set of doors. Look closely and see if you can spot the insects. I am a little short so it was kinda hard for some of them. (Hint! Hint!)

When you go into the main area, there are all sorts of displays about estuaries and the history of the area and NERR There’s a window where you can look out at bird feeders and a small pond. This is another place to keep your eyes peeled because there are a couple of Eastern Fox Snakes that hang out there. If you go back toward the classroom area, there's another window to look out of. Both windows have binoculars and bird guides. I saw some birds that either were female goldfinches or Prothonotary Warblers. I couldn't see if they had any white on their wings. They were gone by the time I grabbed the binoculars.

This place is pretty cool. It’s a green building. Not as in it’s painted green but as in it’s good for the environment. There is geothermal heating and cooling, recycled steel nails, recycled wallpaper made of phonebooks (look close and you'll see the print), and part of the parking lot is this neat plastic grid called Grasspave2. You can read about what else they did here. You can download the PDF here.

Out front, there's a weather station that NOAA uses to help track national weather. I just found out this morning that, even though we've not had any rain, there was 4 inches of dew recorded. I didn't know that you could record dew! There is a TV in one of the labs that shows what information is being recieved like temperature and radar. It seems that the temp is stuck but I know thy're working on it.

Speaking of labs, we are a research facility and there's at least 4 labs in the back that I'm sure most visitors don't realize are there. There's a wet lab, hot lab, microscope lab, etc. The folks at Crane Creek will often bring their otters and other research material here to work on in the wet lab.

In the back, by the classroom, there's a phenominal little library. I'm reading a book right now about Dr. Edwin Mosely from Bowling Green State Normal College (now B.G. State University) written by Dr. Ronald L. Stuckey (of Ohio State/Stone Lab fame!) and Relda E. Niederhofer (of Firelands, BGSU). You can also find all sorts of guides to mammals, insects, birds, plants, geology, and more. There's lots of ecology books and limnology books. Anything that a researcher could need is in there including copies of all the research papers that have been done here.

This is a groovy little spot on the Lake Erie coast. You should come visit.

Triumphant music here

2007-06-15T14:47:00.000-04:00

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!

On the Lake again

2007-06-13T09:46:00.000-04:00

I have arrived! My trip up was uneventful and filled with pleasant scenery. I met my supervisor, Frank Lopez, Reserve Manager, and got a quick lowdown on what was up here. I then moved into my marvelous dorm. It's quite posh.

I spent my first two, full days "off" as the visitor center is closed on Monday and Tuesday so I used those days to get familiar with the area. Huron is a lovely little place full of homes and friendly people. I have yet to visit the Boat Basin and the Huron Pier because I coudln't figure out how to get there. I rectified that on Tuesday when I met some of the previously mentioned friendly people who told me how to get there and where to fish and swim. They also mentioned that on Saturday nights, the Huron Boat Basin has a thing where people can come out and socialize. I am definately planning on checking that out. I've since found out that the Boat Basin and the Pier are great fishing spots.

Monday, however, I drove all the way to Sandusky (a whole whopping 10 minute drive) and found the Meijers grocery, all the restaurants, and Cedar Point. I knew on some level it was close but gosh golly geepers!

I went to the Sandusky harbour and looked around at all the cute closed-on-Monday shops. I have one wee picture because my batteries died on me. I'll get that and my barrier beach pictures up soon for you. After leaving there, I somehow ended up on Vermillion. I'll figure it out eventually right?

My dorm mates are John and Lindsey, both students of the university at California, Pennsylvania. They're here studying wildlife use of Phragmities after it's sprayed with herbicide. (That about all that will take it out once it's established.) They track birds and muskrats and also the growth rate of other plants. I'm thinking I might ask to go out with them some morning or evening just to see what they do.

Sooo, today is Wednesday, my first day in at "the office" and my first full blown orientation. I have lots of stuff to read about management plans and Old Woman Creek ecology profiles. In just a bit, I'll meet Heather, the education guru on site. I'll spend this week getting to know the Reserve grounds and on Thursday I get to go on my first canoe/kayack trip around the estuary. My camera will of course be with me.

Way cool ecological event of the week so far: Midges! (The non-biting ones.) We stood outside the dorms for a bit last night watching them whirl above the trees. It was quite cool because it looked like the tree tops had columns of smoke coming from them. I tried to get a good picture but it just wasn't happening. I'll try again tonight.

Until next time!

Here she goes again!

2007-06-09T21:29:00.000-04:00

Wow. In about 12.5 hours I'll be hitting the road for my first internship! Lemme tell you, I am NERVOUS.

So, first of all, let me tell you where I'm interning. My location is going to be in Huron, Ohio (right on Lake Erie again!) at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve and State Nature Preserve. There's a long name to put on a resume, eh? I'm going to get to work with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, the National Estaurine Research Reserve System (NERRS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is a pretty special place as it's currently the US's only NERRS station on a fresh water lake.

What I'll be doing there falls under "Environmental Education." Pretty convienient since my major is Environmental Ed and Communication and all. Right now, I know that I'll be helping with visitor stuff, educational classes, and field work. I know that I have to put together an independent project of some sort. I'll give you more dirt on that when I find out more specifics. Right now, I'm just totally pumped to be back on Lake Erie. This time, I get to be here ALL SUMMER!

So like I said, I'm totally nervous. It's still sinking in that this is actually happening. I really am so lucky to have gotten this internship in so many ways. Let's just say that I'm second string on this and I'll explain why.

Internship can be defined as any official or formal program to provide practical experience for beginners in an occupation or profession: an internship for management trainees. (Thanks Dictionary.com) It is suggested that a student who is looking for a summer internship start looking during winter quarter. Once you get to spring quarter, pickings get a little slim. As you get to mid-spring quarter, you're scraping the bottom of the intership barrel.

This particular internship was posted during winter quarter (if I recall correctly) and I passed on it. I had so many reasons why I just couldn't leave Columbus for an internship this summer. Most of it was finacial excuses since I'm a "non-traditional student" and have a bit more debt than the average 20-22 yr old. Well, I say most of it, but that's not even true. I didn't think I could do it. There you go. I said it. I didn't think I knew enough to even attempt this position. That's why I didn't apply the first time.

I spent most of winter quarter and most of spring quarter churning my brain about what I should do this summer. Try to find something in town, or in Delaware, OH which is a short drive, or just work at my current job? The whole time I was telling myself that I didn't have enough classwork or skills to do any of this stuff. I also had some misconceptions about what internships were. I thought most of them weren't paid at all and, if they were, not very well. (See above financial concerns.) Thanks to some Q&A with Trish and Renee in the career office and that got cleared up.

One day, about mid spring quarter, I saw the Old Woman Creek post again. It seems that they still needed someone. My heart skipped for about a week as I went through the same "do I know enough" concerns and finally, thank God, I forced myself to apply. And, obviously, the rest is history in the making! I'm even getting a pretty good paycheck with it!

Why did I tell you about this drama? Well, I'm sure I'm not the only student that goes into internships with a lot of trepedation. Maybe I can be worse than others but it's OK to be nervous. It's alright to think you may not know enough. That's part of the reason internships are there. These guys know we are beginners and they're willing to work with us and help us learn more and realize what we do and do not want to do with our careers. Maybe you go into an Entemology internship and you find that you HATE insects. You thought you liked them but now you realize that you don't. However, in the process, you find that you really dig on the birds that eat the insects. That is part what internships help you find out.

Yeah, I'm still nervous. I'm still hoping I can do these guys proud. I'm very much looking forward to this experience because I know I'll get to work with a lot of professionals and I'll learn a lot too. I can't wait to get up there and start taking pictures. (Let's hope this camera doesn't get eaten by Lake Erie.) I'll post more about what happens as time goes on so check back and I'll do my best to have something cool to read about.