Past Workdays
An article originally published in February 2017, it describes Ted Knott's work in Haldimand County's Rogers Creek.
Past Blogs
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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. |
Workday Report - Feb 7 & Feb 10, 2015 - Emerson CreekTEN DAYS OF TENSION, TRAUMA & TRIUMPH!Here is the latest in the story of Mill Creek, Emerson tributary and the dauntless volunteers who hang on every syllable of the experts when it comes to disappointment or success.
When Larry Halyk and Warren Yerex, friends of us, each other and our recovering watershed, arrived on January 30th, they shared our enthusiasm for the potential of the Emerson Creek “Nursery” channel. All this was tempered by the concern we all held for the amount of “Upwelling, oxygenated spring water” we seemed to witness. Suggestions were made about how this water could best be used to produce excellent spawning sites. There was, however, the ongoing concern about whether this water was, as at the Mill Creek source, Anoxic, or lacking in dissolved oxygen. Testing is needed. No oxygen. No survival!!
When Jack Imhof and Beth Anne Fischer arrived (along with 9 of us volunteers) on February 7th, we showed them the biggest two springs first and hoped for the best. “Not to be”, said Beth Anne: “Little or no dissolved oxygen in both springs”. Devastating news, but not the end of the world, says Jack. “Many of the most productive brook trout streams and rivers have anoxic spring sources”. Really? We asked. Yes, and in fact, the total dissolved oxygen content and all the other positive elements had both Jack and Beth Anne enthusiastic about the next steps for us in Emerson Creek. Could it be that all is not lost?
Their advice is to allow all the streamside springs to cascade into the stream, and in the process aerate the adjacent waters. The main flows proved to be well above the necessary levels for the hatching and healthy growth of baby brookies. As Larry had advised earlier, he selected prime areas where spawning will occur successfully and what we should do to enhance the conditions to optimize both hatching and fry survival. We went from agony to ecstasy in a matter of a few minutes, while Jack expressed high optimism for our project.
Jack then advised that he would convene a meeting with MNR officials for Tuesday, February 10th to propose a double edged program: The planting of adult, track able fish this coming fall AND the stocking of wild (not hatchery) fry this coming spring. After discussion of all the pros and cons, the group agreed with this plan.
What a wonderful feeling to have come this far: Eight years and 2,400 volunteer hours $40,000 in donations have brought us to this “Alpha Test” of our watershed. The professionals are taking the calculated risk that the work we have all done has created a viable brook trout habitat. It will now be up to the little “fishies” to prove we are correct…and successful.
It is a testament to all the 120+ volunteers who have given of their time and energy to reach this stage. We share your relief and in the optimism for the results we will achieve in the year 2015. It is already a great year, in my book! I hope you will agree.
Workday Report - Emerson Creek - April 14, 2015
Yes, dear friends, our crew discovered some new truths about brook trout spawning habitat this week. Larry Halyk of MNR, Stewardship renown and all round great guy gave us a lesson on how turning things upside down can really pay off.
When brook trout spawn, they don’t really know or care whether the oxygenated seeping through their recently-laid eggs is coming up or down. All they want is for their precious deposit to survive and produce babies! This came as a revelation to us river “grunts”, but we believe in Larry and his experience in these matters, so….How do we do this upside –down stuff?
In order to tackle the problem of anoxic springs feeding into a nicely tumbling oxygenated trout nursery stream, we create, not “rocky ramps”, but “vortex weirs” which forces a portion of the current DOWN through the spawning gravel which is placed UPSTREAM of the weir. This may be hard to follow, but our upcoming video of the process will show the process. (It may need to be on DVD, since the process and explanations took a lot of Larry’s time.) In summary, it debunks the premise of upwelling oxygen-rich spring sources as an absolute necessity.
What a learning experience!! We will keep it in our archives, as we did many years ago when Larry conducted an Electro-fishing session on Bronte Creek. (It is still in use as a training video by several interested groups) This process bodes well for expanded use here on the Mill Creek, Cayuga watershed, where similar opportunities exist for expanding our spawning potential.
Our day was eventful in other ways as well: Our intrepid ex-DFO experts, Scott Millard and Vic Cairns investigated the insect life while waiting for Larry to arrive. They found extensive populations of various types of “baby trout food”, such as isopods, mayfly nymphs, and other species of benthic life (can you spell black flies?) to provide a vital food web for our impending brook trout plantings. All is good.
The day’s activities attracted, not only 5 TUTKC and 7 Habitat Haldimand workers, but a total of four local land owners visited, keen to see the progress we were making. One of which was 150+ year ascendant who owns countless acreage around the site. Brian Vanderberg, (who caught “specs” at Taquanyah 50 years ago) offered to provide heavy equipment needed to transport more large rock to our site in the future, since our field rocks are upwards of 60 lbs. How many Kgs is that?
We followed Larry’s guidance in completing our first spawning bed and recorded his advice on how to create four other sites, some similar and others easier. We have lots of work to do within a tight time frame, since we understand that the wild trout fry could be transferred in mid to late May.
As usual, the feeling of real accomplishment was enjoyed by all 13 of us, including Larry He too, senses the value of what we are doing and the ground-breaking steps we are taking.
Vortex Spawn Site
Vortex Weir Done
We did learn to have our gravel delivered “unmixed”, since each size is used at different times in the installation. A big part of our team had the tedious, yet critical job of sorting gravel by size as required. Their diligence paid off, since we were never short of whatever size was needed as we worked through the process. Moral: NO job is unimportant to the success of a project! Our diggers and dumpers can say “Thank you, crew!” for the timely supply of the right materials.
We had not realized the need for large “Keystone” boulders, so our local wonder boy, Wade took off searching for such materials and returned with our first 60 lb. + rock cradled in his arms “Call the chiropractor” we shouted, but he and several others went rock hunting and provided the necessary aggregate. We will need more, but at least the transport part has been prearranged.
We cannot close without expressing our sincere appreciation to Larry Halyk. He gave us the guidance and his physical supervision to create something remarkable indeed and we all were delighted to see just how it worked. Each of us has learned a wonderful lesson in resourcefulness that will pay off in the future. Larry, you have created another group of admirers! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
When Larry Halyk and Warren Yerex, friends of us, each other and our recovering watershed, arrived on January 30th, they shared our enthusiasm for the potential of the Emerson Creek “Nursery” channel. All this was tempered by the concern we all held for the amount of “Upwelling, oxygenated spring water” we seemed to witness. Suggestions were made about how this water could best be used to produce excellent spawning sites. There was, however, the ongoing concern about whether this water was, as at the Mill Creek source, Anoxic, or lacking in dissolved oxygen. Testing is needed. No oxygen. No survival!!
When Jack Imhof and Beth Anne Fischer arrived (along with 9 of us volunteers) on February 7th, we showed them the biggest two springs first and hoped for the best. “Not to be”, said Beth Anne: “Little or no dissolved oxygen in both springs”. Devastating news, but not the end of the world, says Jack. “Many of the most productive brook trout streams and rivers have anoxic spring sources”. Really? We asked. Yes, and in fact, the total dissolved oxygen content and all the other positive elements had both Jack and Beth Anne enthusiastic about the next steps for us in Emerson Creek. Could it be that all is not lost?
Their advice is to allow all the streamside springs to cascade into the stream, and in the process aerate the adjacent waters. The main flows proved to be well above the necessary levels for the hatching and healthy growth of baby brookies. As Larry had advised earlier, he selected prime areas where spawning will occur successfully and what we should do to enhance the conditions to optimize both hatching and fry survival. We went from agony to ecstasy in a matter of a few minutes, while Jack expressed high optimism for our project.
Jack then advised that he would convene a meeting with MNR officials for Tuesday, February 10th to propose a double edged program: The planting of adult, track able fish this coming fall AND the stocking of wild (not hatchery) fry this coming spring. After discussion of all the pros and cons, the group agreed with this plan.
What a wonderful feeling to have come this far: Eight years and 2,400 volunteer hours $40,000 in donations have brought us to this “Alpha Test” of our watershed. The professionals are taking the calculated risk that the work we have all done has created a viable brook trout habitat. It will now be up to the little “fishies” to prove we are correct…and successful.
It is a testament to all the 120+ volunteers who have given of their time and energy to reach this stage. We share your relief and in the optimism for the results we will achieve in the year 2015. It is already a great year, in my book! I hope you will agree.
Workday Report - Emerson Creek - April 14, 2015
Yes, dear friends, our crew discovered some new truths about brook trout spawning habitat this week. Larry Halyk of MNR, Stewardship renown and all round great guy gave us a lesson on how turning things upside down can really pay off.
When brook trout spawn, they don’t really know or care whether the oxygenated seeping through their recently-laid eggs is coming up or down. All they want is for their precious deposit to survive and produce babies! This came as a revelation to us river “grunts”, but we believe in Larry and his experience in these matters, so….How do we do this upside –down stuff?
In order to tackle the problem of anoxic springs feeding into a nicely tumbling oxygenated trout nursery stream, we create, not “rocky ramps”, but “vortex weirs” which forces a portion of the current DOWN through the spawning gravel which is placed UPSTREAM of the weir. This may be hard to follow, but our upcoming video of the process will show the process. (It may need to be on DVD, since the process and explanations took a lot of Larry’s time.) In summary, it debunks the premise of upwelling oxygen-rich spring sources as an absolute necessity.
What a learning experience!! We will keep it in our archives, as we did many years ago when Larry conducted an Electro-fishing session on Bronte Creek. (It is still in use as a training video by several interested groups) This process bodes well for expanded use here on the Mill Creek, Cayuga watershed, where similar opportunities exist for expanding our spawning potential.
Our day was eventful in other ways as well: Our intrepid ex-DFO experts, Scott Millard and Vic Cairns investigated the insect life while waiting for Larry to arrive. They found extensive populations of various types of “baby trout food”, such as isopods, mayfly nymphs, and other species of benthic life (can you spell black flies?) to provide a vital food web for our impending brook trout plantings. All is good.
The day’s activities attracted, not only 5 TUTKC and 7 Habitat Haldimand workers, but a total of four local land owners visited, keen to see the progress we were making. One of which was 150+ year ascendant who owns countless acreage around the site. Brian Vanderberg, (who caught “specs” at Taquanyah 50 years ago) offered to provide heavy equipment needed to transport more large rock to our site in the future, since our field rocks are upwards of 60 lbs. How many Kgs is that?
We followed Larry’s guidance in completing our first spawning bed and recorded his advice on how to create four other sites, some similar and others easier. We have lots of work to do within a tight time frame, since we understand that the wild trout fry could be transferred in mid to late May.
As usual, the feeling of real accomplishment was enjoyed by all 13 of us, including Larry He too, senses the value of what we are doing and the ground-breaking steps we are taking.
Vortex Spawn Site
Vortex Weir Done
We did learn to have our gravel delivered “unmixed”, since each size is used at different times in the installation. A big part of our team had the tedious, yet critical job of sorting gravel by size as required. Their diligence paid off, since we were never short of whatever size was needed as we worked through the process. Moral: NO job is unimportant to the success of a project! Our diggers and dumpers can say “Thank you, crew!” for the timely supply of the right materials.
We had not realized the need for large “Keystone” boulders, so our local wonder boy, Wade took off searching for such materials and returned with our first 60 lb. + rock cradled in his arms “Call the chiropractor” we shouted, but he and several others went rock hunting and provided the necessary aggregate. We will need more, but at least the transport part has been prearranged.
We cannot close without expressing our sincere appreciation to Larry Halyk. He gave us the guidance and his physical supervision to create something remarkable indeed and we all were delighted to see just how it worked. Each of us has learned a wonderful lesson in resourcefulness that will pay off in the future. Larry, you have created another group of admirers! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
