Back again

Picked up 24K baby eels today and transported them north to the Asaph labs. They will stay there for 6-8 weeks being treated royally and doubling their size. Then it's off to Pine Creek and back to harsh living. At least they didn't have to swim up from the Maryland shore (where they were on Monday) via Chesapeake Bay and the Susquehanna River. That would have taken them weeks and they would have had to run the gauntlet of predatory fish and birds. Their survival rate would have been far worse.

Why did it have to be eels?

Just to remind you about why we (The Tiadaghton Audubon Society) are providing limousine service to thousands and thousands of squiggly baby eels (glass eels), the Susquehanna River has several dams that block the passage of baby eels as they attempt to swim up river to the freshwater streams and rivers in which they grow and mature. (The dams don't block down stream movements of the adults because they are capable of traveling over land on a little bit of dew or a heavy rain...if they don't get churned to bits in some electricity producing hydro whirling thingy.)

Eels in the small tributaries are vital to the health of freshwater mussels. The baby mussels cling to the eels' gills as they move upstream and thus disburse more widely in the rivers and streams. Mussels can filter up to one gallon of water and hour as they feed thus cleaning the streams and making them excellent habitat for trout.

So, we help the eels so they can help the mussels which in turn help the trout.

Little Wigglers In Abundance

It's that time of year again. Glass eels are amassing on the Maryland coastline. Thousands and thousands of them are being netted and bagged by the US Fish and Wildlife folks in preparation of being shipped northward and inland to be transplanted into rivers.

Tomorrow I make the first run of the year down to Thompsontown to meet up with one of the USF&W agents and picking up a few tens of thousands of baby eels to transport over to the labs at Asaph as part of the project to get eels into Pine Creek.
(Maybe I should get one of those window decals that says "Baby On Board x 50K")

Last year we (members of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society) helped move about 100K eels northward and into different stretches of Pine Creek. Others helped restock Buffalo Creek near Lewisburg.

2 1/2 hours down and the same back plus time to go to and from between Asaph and the Aerie.

Eel Release in Pine Creek

Overnight we had a little more thunder and lightning but hardly any rain fell on the Aerie. There was just 0.05 inches in the rain gauge when I checked it at 3 PM.

I got off to the eel release this morning at around 8 AM and ran into a few showers (and lots and lots of trucks) as I headed out to Wellsboro and on to Asaph and the USGS Research Facility (aka The Fish Labs). What normally takes me just 35-40 minutes ended up being a 50 minute ride because of all the tankers carrying fracking fluids or water and the flatbed semis hauling heavy equipment. But, being a US Govt. run operation, the fact that I arrived a wee bit late meant that I was still early.

Eight of us were going to participate in this release of eels--besides the thousands and thousands of eels, that is.

Baby eels await release.

We had three folks from the Fish Labs who had been raising these eels from the tiny glass eel stage. Captured off the Maryland shore and shipped north via auto and truck relay in which I participated, they were only an inch to an inch and a half in length, completely colorless and had a mass of just 0.01 gram. Today, most were in the three inch range, were darkly pigmented and massed out at around 0.5 grams. Okay, the last isn't so impressive, but that's a fivefold increase in their body mass in a little over two months. You try it!

Robert Deems (USGS)

Heather Galbraith and Carrie Blakeslee (USGS)

All three were probably very happy to see these eels out in the wild. Caring for tens of thousands of the little guys can be tiresome. First, as with any aquarium, you've got to keep the water clean and cool. (Around 20 degrees C is what these eels like.) You've got to feed 'em. Then, as they get older, you've got to watch out for any that grow too big. See, they are cannibals. Big guys eat little guys. Quickly. And often. So any "big" eel has to be put in a tank with other eels that are the same size. Luckily, since these were only held for a few months, the sizing was not a real issue, but they have some eels in tanks that have grown to fifteen to eighteen inches in captivity.

Down in Maryland, the USFWS provided the eels from the ocean and started the relay to bring them north above the dams. Presnet for today's release was Steve Minkkinen (no photo) who leads the project and Julie Devers who helped to transport the eels north.

Julie Devers (USFWS)

Finally, there were three of us there from the Tiadaghton Audubon Society (TAS). Only Bob Ross donned waders and put eels in the water. I stayed behind the camera and Phil Krajewski, who was responsible for obtaining grant money to fund this particular project, observed.

Robert Deems (USGS) and Bob Ross (TAS and formerly of the USGS)

Casual observation showed that the women did most of the releasing. With Robert D. doing much of the rest. Bob R. handled three or four bags of eels.

Julie Devers (USFWS), Heather Galbraith (USGS), and Carrie Blakeslee (USGS)

Here's a shot of everyone except yours truly.



Approximately 50,000 eels went free today. As many went out into Buffalo Creek south of Lewisburg yesterday. hopefully they will live long and prosper in these headwaters of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay Watershed. And with their success, may they also prove to be hospitable hosts for the larvae of mussels who will in turn keep the water clean for trout and smallmouth bass.

No Woods, Just the Lawn Today

Happy Summer!

We had 1.35 inches of rain from yesterday at 4 PM until sometime just before 6 AM this morning. Needless to say everything outside was drenched this morning. And, with temperatures forecast for the low 80s and the humidity between 75 and 80%--although it did drop all the way to 65% as the temps went up, I opted to give the ATV and chainsaw a rest. (My knees and back thanked me as well.)

Instead, I spent a (small) part of the day just lounging around and checking the internet. Not a hell of a lot there to keep me glued to the lap top.

Weatherman said we might get more T-storms late this afternoon and through the night so when the sky cleared a bit, I went out this afternoon to cut the grass. I could tell it needed cutting because the plantain seed heads and clover flowers were abundant. The former stuck some five or six inches into the air and the latter dotted the lawn with their creamy white goodness. My knees protested but they were overruled by the long range forecast. (In a word: "wet") didn't take me long to get the lawn done but once more, I was soaked to the skin--or maybe that should be "from the skin" as it came out of me and not the sky.

Deer flies were a bit of a problem but the successful biters must have had snorkling gear or been able to hold their breath for a really long time. Luckily, the allergy shots I once got (Worth. Every. Penny!) mean that I'm not as sensitive to their bite as I was as a kid. Now it just hurts when they bite and as the blood seeps out of the wound. Moments later there is no swelling or itching.

******

Tomorrow I'll be participating in the eel release along Pine Creek in the western part of the county. Those thousands and thousands of eels caught off the Maryland shore and fostered by the Asaph USGS Fish Labs will be set free to forage on their own. It will be interesting to see where they are turned loose. Four sites are to receive a portion of Pine Creek's allotment. More will go down to Buffalo Creek south of Lewisburg near Bucknell University.

Terry has a group of her lady friends coming over around 10 for a sit-and-stitch. They will be here fore several hours so even if the eel thing doesn't take that long (we meet at the labs at 8:45 AM--I will find something to do away from the house until at least 2 PM. That's why I've got a backpack with fishing ear and my camera sitting by the door. Plus, there's a set of binoculars and my bird books in the truck. I'm good to go!

Now all we need is some cooperation from the Big Guy upstairs. Little or no rain would be nice. Widely scattered showers are okay--as long as they're over yonder from wherever we will be. Since we'll be moving around, it doesn't mean You can't hit a spot earlier or come back later to hit a spot we will/have visited. Okay?

Aerie Report, April 14, 2011

Not much happening around here.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a rainy cool day in central PA. Temperatures stayed above the 40 degree mark over Tuesday night, however, so we avoided the little snow showers that were predicted.

I made another run south to pick up baby eels for transplant into Pine Creek. Three hundred miles in the drizzly rainy weather. Not quite as nice a ride as a couple of weeks ago. The folks in Fish & Wildlife are pleased to have the members of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society doing a goodly portion of the schleping for them. I carried empty coolers south and brought something between 20 and 30 thousand eels north. Sometime in June, after they have grown some, they will be released into the creek with the hope that they will serve as hosts for baby mussels. The mussels hitch a ride to new areas to colonize and clean the creek waters. The goal is to move over 100 thousand eels around the dams in the Susquehanna River and into the upper waters of Pine Creek this summer.

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Now that things have thawed out some, I noticed that my truck cap was leaking a little water. Today I tried to remedy that by putting a layer of foam tape between the cap and the truck bed. The installer had put some there but it didn't seem to be doing the job. Perhaps that was because his installation was rattled by the rough roads in Alaska and the Yukon (not to mention those around the Aerie and Bolt Hole). The front end of the truck bed is not that wide on top and the weather stripping may have slipped off the edge. We'll see in the next week or so if the stuff I put on has made any difference. The forecast calls for lots of opportunity for testing! An inch of rain is on tap for Saturday and showers are forecast for a dozen of the next 15 days.

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Today, however, was a beautiful spring day. Plenty of sunshine on hand and temperatures in the upper 60s. You can almost watch the grass in the lawn, pastures and hay fields getting greener by the minute. The birds are feeling spring in the air too. A robin has begun building a nest on one of the corner logs on the garage end of the Aerie and a wren has a neat little nest in one of the three houses I have out. (I didn't check the others yet.) The robin isn't serious about building yet. Just a few strands of grass and pieces from the frayed tarp are plastered to the top of the log under the eave. Normally, once he starts, it doesn't take him long to get things done. Perhaps he's waiting to get the okay from some female before he goes too far. I can hear the wren singing from the brush occasionally, but haven't caught a clear view of anything but a little brown bird with an uplifted tail flitting about.

A flock of 13 female turkeys appeared where the feeders are Tuesday morning. They scratched a little before heading off into the woods. For a birds with feathers done up in little more than shades of brown and gray they can be remarkably striking. This evening, Terry and I saw a similar sized flock walked single file up through the woods about 30 yards from the deck. Perhaps they were heading to the top of the hill and the stand of large hemlocks that serves as a roosting site. That or they will turn a bit west and go to roost in the Norway spruce stand on the other side of the field at the back of the property.

The chickadees, juncos and mourning doves haven't given up on coming to the yard in search of seeds even though I haven't put the feeders out the since Sunday. It's possible the redpolls finally got the message and headed north. I haven't seen one since Tuesday.

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Down in the valley you can see some of the deciduous trees--mostly poplars--have begun to sprout leaves. At the Aerie, only the swelling of the buds gives the promise of green soon to appear. A few of the red maples are also showing color in their buds and should be bursting into flower in a few days. I'm still waiting for the shad bushes to open their white flowers. They usually do so before any real leaves open in the other trees as if to make sure you can clearly see them.

I haven't spotted any wildflowers in the woods yet, but the crocuses we planted are all up and seem to have spread a little. The three or four bulbs we put in each spot now appear to be nine or ten strong. A few other plants (probably daffs) have sent their greenery above ground but flowers are a week or more away. The miniature tulips and the rest won't make an appearance until May--if the squirrels, chipmunks and other critters let them.

******

Okay, tomorrow will be another nice day (knock on wood!)--perhaps the last before the rains start again. I'll probably get out early in the morning to wage war with the burgeoning thistle population before they spiny little buggers get too large. A little Round Up should do the trick as long as the rains don't come until late at night. Then, I'll accompany Terry over to Troy. There's a boot store over there that sells Danner Boots. I need a good pair with a steel toe for cutting firewood and such. (Nothing ruins your day like dropping a section of tree on your toe!) Rick, my arborist son out in Portland, OR like the Danner product and recommended them to me. This model looks promising. A bit pricey and not made in the USA but the reviews are positive and the company has an excellent reputation.

Taxi!

I went for a ride today. A 300 mile ride.

There was a need for someone to travel south to Thompsontown to meet up with a person (Julie) traveling north from Baltimore. The object of this movement was the transportation of some 30,000 tiny little glass eels from the shores of Maryland to the fish labs at Asaph. There they will be kept to grow larger and--hopefully--more robust before being released into Pine Creek in late June.

I've mentioned before how the Tiadaghton Audubon Society (TAS) has linked up with the USGS Fish Labs in Asaph for the purpose of trying to get a healthy population of eels and thence mussels (which use the eels as hosts for their larvae) to the stretches of Pine Creek that run through Tioga County. The mussels would, in turn, help keep the creek water clean for trout species to thrive. (See previous posts here and here.)

Glass eels are very small, baby eels looking to make their way back into the streams along the eastern seaboard. They travel up those streams and pack on the grams before returning to the Atlantic to meet with and mate with other eels somewhere in the great Atlantic gyre. Dams along many rivers make the upstream trip problematic. The little guys (and gals--one assumes another eel can tell the difference) cant get over the dams and shun the easy solutions such as fish ladders. Hence, the taxi service.

In the past, members of the TAS have helped transport larger eels caught below the dams on the Susquehanna River. These were outfitted with a radio tag injected beneath the skin and set free in Pine Creek. But the capture of large quantities of these larger specimens (12-18 inches in length) is now always possible. Glass eels, on the other hand, are extremely numerous along the Atlantic shore at this time of the year. Tiny little things measuring approximately an inch or inch and a half in length and about as thick as a 7 mm pencil lead, they are, with the exception of their digestive tube, nearly colorless, hence the name glass eels.

The ones I was helping to move upstream were swimming off the sand at Ocean City, Maryland on Monday. Scooped from the surf, they spent the night in oxygenated bags of water set inside coolers--in Baltimore. From there, Julie (USGS staff member) transported them north and handed them over to me. I, in turn, brought them to the labs in Asaph. From Ocean City, MD, to Asaph, PA is approximately 370 miles. And they made the trip in just about 36 hours. Not bad for a little worm-like creature just an inch or so in length. (We could save time and gas money, however, if the little buggers would just evolve and grow a thumb so they could hitch hike on their own.)

Not only should they be thankful for the ride, but many of them would have fallen prey to stripped bass, sea trout, blue fish, and quite a few birds as well. Not that they'll find it much easier Once released into Pine Creek. At least they will get a comfortable place to rest and grow (I was told they will probably double in size) for the next three months without having to run the gauntlet to get to the upper reaches of Pine Creek.

Eel Report

It was a good time at the USGS Northern Appalachian Experimental Labs in Asaph yesterday. Two lab employees (Vinca and Jeff) who are directing the transplant/research of the eels-mussel project were on hand to direct/assist as members of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society (TAS)--and a couple of guests from California--implanted computerized tags (PIT tags) beneath the skin of fifty young eels. Each eel's weight and length were measured (my job) and recorded along with their PIT tag numbers.

Gary and I thought we might have only three folks there to assist Vinca and Jeff. We ended up with eight (five TAS members, two California guests of members, and a high school senior (James) working in the labs for the summer). Add Vinca and Jeff and we had a heck of a crew to gang up on the poor eels.

The eels had been collected from the Susquehanna River down in Maryland below the dams that currently make their migration upstream next to impossible. Each measured between 18 and 29 cm in length and had a weight of approximately 1 gram for each cm. They were being held in the labs vast array of holding tanks. Gary would scoop a couple of eels from the holding tank and place them in a cooler of water containing an anesthetic solution. One of the California guests (Mike?) would monitor the eels and when they seemed docile enough he would pluck on from the water and try to get a firm grip on it. Jeff would take a special needle designed to puncture the skin and, with a plunger-like inner structure, implant a PIT tag beneath the eel's skin. A scanner would record the number of the PIT tag (James' job) which the recorder (Diane of TAS). Once the tag was in place I would place the eel on the scale and take its weight and then try to stretch it out straight to get its length before placing it in a recovery tank. We processed 52 eels in all with two of the little devils getting pricked by the needle but having their muscles spit the PIT tag back out.

The entire procedure took us close to two hours. Things might have gone faster but we kept bumping into one another in the small confines of the aisle/doorway in which we worked. I left Phil (TAS President) to assist his daughter (Vinca) in transporting a separate batch of eels to Pine Creek fro release.

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I mentioned yesterday that the eels serve as a symbiotic host to the larvae of mussels living in the creek/river. There were some mussels recently collected from the Susquehanna down in southern PA in a large aquarium that had everyone pretty excited. The tank, approximately 2' x 5' had a dozen or so mussels scattered evenly across its graveled bottom on Wednesday. By yesterday, most of the mussels had moved to an area about 18" square nearer the inflow from the filter where O2 levels were higher. As interesting as the migration of adult mussels might be, even more exciting was the display of fish lures by five or six of the larger female mussels.

The mussels were wedged into the gravel so their open edges would stick up high into the water. From those edges protruded soft tissues that looked for all the world like small, one-inch long, minnows with fins waving in the current. Each little "fish" even had what appeared to be a dark eye-spot to complete the illusion. The idea, apparently, is to lure a larger fish (or eel) into range of the mussel, the larvae of which will hitch a ride in the gills of the more mobile creature. The mimicry of a small fish was excellent and, if you didn't have the entire mussel visible to you, you could easily be fooled into thinking it was indeed a fish. They sort of reminded me of the long fins and tail of some koi or a Siamese fighting fish.

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Future tagging and release of eels into Pine Creek is planned. And, as soon as Vinca and Jeff choose an antenna/sensor design they want to work with, we'll be on the creek attempting to locate the eels that have been tagged and released.

Eeling (sort of) for clean water

Friday I'm going over to the fish labs at Asaph on Route 6 to assist in a project partially funded by the Tiadaghton Audubon Society. It involves transplanting ells from down south into Pine Creek. The eels serve as hosts to the young of a p[articular mussel living in Pine Creek. That mussel's population is diminishing because the eels can't get upstream after they've been out in the Atlantic due to dam constructions barring their path. By physically transporting eels from below the dams to stretches of Pine Creek near known mussel beds, it's hoped that the mussel larvae will be able to 1) survive 2) hitch a ride to a new location where they can begin new mussel beds.

The reason for all this manipulation?

From the Tiadaghton Audubon Society web site:

Mussels (Elliptio complanata) are very effective, natural water filters, and one mussel can filter a gallon of water in an hour. Needless to say, the health of the ecosystem of an entire watershed could very well depend on a large and healthy population of these mussels. In our case, a clean Susquehanna watershed would lead to the proliferation of numerous macro invertebrates, which in turn would lead to an increase in the number of animals feeding off of this source of food, including native fish and various species of birds -- the Louisiana Waterthrush, for example.

Beside transporting eels from the fish labs to Pine Creek, the Tiadaghton Audubon Society has obtained a grant that will pay for tiny electronic devices that will be implanted in some of the eels to monitor their movements. Members of Tiadaghton Audubon Society will also man the sensors for some of the monitoring process.

Handling eels is not one of my favorite things. Slimy buggers, but if it improves the water quality of Pine Creek--an good trout water--then I say let me at 'em!