Yesterday was the first day of spring, and a lovely day in all physical respects – clear, calm, 59 degrees. I put aside my electronically induced angst, and spent some time at Beatty Creek – just an hour or so, but long enough to observe a number of interesting things. Also long enough to remember that life is good.
Cutthroat Trout
No picture for this one, unfortunately. The little guy went under cover almost the minute I spotted him. But I am reasonably sure it was, indeed, a cutthroat – bronze back, pale sides, and a torpedo shaped body. It was too far away and moving too fast to see if it had speckling.
Rough Skinned Newt
I’ve never seen one of these near fast running water, but there are numerous boggy areas near the creek, so maybe this one was moving from one place to the other. It was about three inches long – a youngster.
Flatheaded Mayfly
A good sized one, probably .5 inches long (+/- 12 mm for metric folks). Measurement of this kind of critter is of the body only – tail and antenna extra. These environmentally sensitive beasties can be found both under and on top of rocks in good, clean water. There’s a fair amount of algae buildup on all the stream rocks at this point, even ‘though the flow is relatively swift; hence this guy was hanging out on the underside of the rock. Wish I knew more about that rock! Look at all those interesting speck. The brown material is almost certainly iron oxide, but beyond that, I haven't a clue.
Black Fly Larvae
A
Shown as they appear (A) when you first glance at them clinging to a rock in fast moving water; (B) in a close-up, still under water; and (C) out of the water. There are 165 species distributed throughout North America. Which species this may be, I have no idea. Most types thrive where there’s an abundance of organic material in the water - they are filter feeders, for the most part. A count of this kind of critter in a representative segment of the creek might provide a fair index as to the level of organic pollution the stream is enduring right now; but I have no idea how to collect that kind of data, much less parse it. These are larvae of the biting type of black fly, by the way. I'm glad they don't reproduce around here like they do further north.
English Ivy
English ivy is abundant at many places along the middle to lower sections of Beatty Creek, but this is the first stand I’ve noticed along the Cougar Ridge Reach. It is one of the most aggressive of the common invaders of this kind of semi-shade to full-shade environment; it is also one of the most difficult to eradicate.
Giant Hogweed
I’m pretty sure this is hogweed, a true monster of a plant. Aggressively invasive, hard to eradicate, and one of the most dangerous plants to humans in the environment, this stuff has to go. I’ll measure and re-photograph the site in a few days. I’ll also look for any others nearby, then contact the state and let them know the locations and dimensions of the patch(s). I’ll pull the ivy (as well as a nearby patch of archangel I spotted on the way out).
On my way out I stopped to admire a fern garden...lots of good stuff that belongs here.
A walk in the woods, and a little time by the creek; alone, but not lonely…pretty good medicine for a time of considerable turmoil.