Cayuga Toxic Spring Cured by Oxygen

Workday Report - April 19, 2014 - Mill Creek, Cayuga

WISH WE HAD A TRACTOR!

That’s what we thought as we looked at the huge load of Christmas trees piled up at the side of Rodney Fox’s barn on River Road, Cayuga. Our son, Brian had picked up the load from Kent Rundle at the Mountsberg Quarry near his home. Now we had to consider dragging them about a mile down the rail trail to the Indiana Blue spring site, where they would be an integral part of the project to scour the sediment below the spring at our trout-spawning channel. It would be a time consuming job for our eight determined volunteers.

As we gathered at 9AM Saturday the 19th to sign in the insurance/photo permission forms, who should drop by in his BIG shiny tractor, but the new owner of part of Rodney’s farm, Greg Deckers. He had a 1,000 lb roll of hay in the bucket, as he asked us what we were doing. After we had given him a short rundown about what we have accomplished, he asked: "What can I do to help?" How about moving those Christmas trees down to the "crick" was our bucolic reply, to which he said "Done". That was it job done.

With a major time consuming problem solved in a few seconds, we had again experienced the Haldimand County phenomenon; everyone we meet is anxious to contribute in any way they can. The support we get is simply amazing and more than we could expect.

As for amazing, our relatively new Chapter member Ken Long, had his first look at the project and repeated "Amazing".  Enthusiasm turns into energy and Ken was as involved as our most experienced crew members. As a result, we completed the fascine/christmas tree combo installation so quickly we had time and materials to spare. Erin Fraser suggested we tackle an erosion problem on the main stream. This too was quickly done, providing bank stabilization.

Still with energy to burn, we placed the balance of the trees into the upper spring flow, to be staked in place later. We now have planned to plant shade-providing "Swamp oaks" on the south banks of his flow to reduce the algae formations caused by phosphorus and sunlight. We are putting this algae factory out of commission, we hope.

We all left at noon with a sense of satisfaction, knowing we had made another step towards a self-sustaining brook trout population in this badly inured stream.  We hope you will take the time to explore this outstanding stream undertaking. You will meet some remarkable new friends.

Bill Christmas

Workday Report - April 12, 2014 - Mill Creek, Cayuga

The Frog's Serenade

A few weeks ago, we had to postpone our first spring workday at this site because the site was too dangerous to access. Snowdrifts on the mile-long walk and 2” of ice on the steep access trail made it unsafe. Mother Nature held us at bay.

This past Saturday, we enjoyed a beautiful spring day. What a contrast! The frogs in the meadow let us know that all was well again. It is time for action. We did not disappoint!

The frogs cheered us on as we entered the osier thicket stream-side to cut and prepare the shoots while still dormant (recommended). They would be bundled into “Fascines” to be installed next weekend as erosion control devices; narrowing the flow and scouring sediment.

Our 7 ½ volunteers (Kalen McCormack is only 5 years old) were joined by land owner Erik Aldridge, who arrived cross country on his ATV, quickly went to work . They cut and bundled fascines to the accompaniment of our amorous frogs. It was a great day to be out and the work went quickly, with a dozen 6 ft bundles stashed and ready by noon. Cradles were dismantled and stowed for anchoring the bundles next week.

Our new team members upon seeing this huge spring source were amazed by the beauty and the potential for quick enhancement as a spawning site. It defies description, so you will see it soon on a short video clip on our website. They saw how the downstream flow had already formed a meandering path showing the clean gravel we placed last winter. To any nature lover it is an omen of things to come: Spawning trout.

With less than 3 hours, we were done and we all enjoyed the walk along the rail trail, happy we had taken another vital step for the trout.

In summary, we have followed the steps to reduce algae growth. Planting mature ”Swamp Oaks” to provide shade will be done later this spring. Next week we will take delivery of 30 unsold Xmas trees for deflectors through this section to scour the entire section and remove clay sediment. Is this stuff satisfying? You bet! It is much better than sleeping in on a Saturday morning and you can make a big difference.

Join us next time, if you can. We promise you safety, food & water and a feeling of deep satisfaction with good friends. Saturday mornings never felt so good.

Bill Christmas

Workday Report - Nov.2, 2013 - Mill Creek

Site:  Mill Creek, Cayuga - Blue Spring Area

“Wanna be in a TV Ad?”

What an attention getter!  We already had a crew restlessly waiting to see when our recently purchased pea gravel was going to be delivered to the site above Blue Spring at the Rail Trail. This sprung eager volunteers into action: not for the video, but to finally put the finishing touches onto the work we had done to aerate the anoxic spring flow this summer.

We were one step closer to getting a resident brook trout population in this gem of a stream, after six YEARS!

The other issue we needed to address was how to get this dynamic message to the public. That opportunity came when TU in Calgary issued notice of a CONTEST for a two minute Public Service Announcement.  Hmmm, first prize a cool $1,000 also got our attention.

With perfect timing, the executive approved purchase of a suitable camcorder for our workday, so we could capture this exciting event! The prize will be ours, we thought! All we needed was for photogenic spokesperson, but who?  Not I said piggy #1, all on down the line. Piggy #1 (Me) was proposed, but Piggy #1 had a better idea. Lets get ma couple of our young, personable Mill Creek VOLUNTEERS to do the honours? Who else but volunteers Andrea Court and Ian Howe!! Yup.



Brilliant! Except for Mother Nature. She decided to rain on our parade. Undaunted, we went ahead: fearless camera operator, soaking wet, along with onscreen types, we shot 10 short scenes to create our required Story Board as the work proceeded.  Head cameraman was chided for avoiding the heavy (not so heavy) lifting, but he managed a couple of shovels of gravel between takes. His film audio was lousy.

In the end, we made a big dent in the 5 tons or so of gravel before the mandated noon quitting time. There is some dispute how much is yet to do, but it has provided ideal spawning grounds for any brook trout that should find themselves “In the mood”. Nonetheless, we 10 peons scuffed our way a mile or so to the cars and skedaddled, JUST as the clouds really opened up.

Dodged another bullet folks. We just have the knack for it! See you again soon and thanks for coming out and making a difference!

Lets see…silt fence, Xmas tree deflectors, fallen trees, Hmm: the list goes on, but we have already overcome the biggest obstacles.  Enjoy some pictures and movies.

Bill Xmas