The rest of the week

So most of the last week was spent on the USFWS fish antenna arrays…I am beginning to dislike these arrays. They are causing us no end of trouble. for instance, at lower Stanley Brook the number one array was forced off its foundations and restraining post after our month long rain in June. it was knocked off by a huge tree stump that was washed down the swollen brook. not good. so we have been out now four time to try an repair this thing but can’t seem to get all the parts together at the same time to make it work. One of the things that is sort of holding us up is getting the correct size anchors and drill bits to drill out the granite to sink the anchors into…never thought it could be so difficult.

We also continued with a vernal pool survey…what a fun time…you basically wade around a vernal pool and sweep net for tadpoles and salamanders and count egg masses.  Here is Maddie out showing us how it is done.

We also completed some stream crossing surveys that started two weeks ago.

I got to be the recorder for these streams…I had to draw a picture and write down all the data yelled at me and it came fast and furious…this particular stream is in the middle of a golf course so we got a lot of strange stares

Finally last week ended with two days of GIS, I believe that i have finally finished all the vernal pool maps that Bruce wanted and i am about done with the beaver map, probably not we have a few more things that could be changed but it is a vast improvement over what we started with. Since i finished the vernal pools maps I started the next set of maps, Eagle nesting sites. This will be a long project, I am creating an overview map of the jurisdictional boundaries of ANP and displaying the nest located with in the boundaries. once this map is created I will then create detailed maps of all the nest sites showing current (2009) and historical nest sites. Primarily this will be sites located on islands. This will help the boat pilots, private landowners and us to quickly develop plans to access these sites quickly and efficiently to increase productivity while on the water. It also works for explanations to land owners to show them where we need to go so that we can gain permission more in a speedy fashion.

 

So that was the remainder of last week…I did end the week with a high note…I got to go camping on Isle au Haut this past weekend with some really good friends from the park. It was a glorious weekend, except for the packout…I will explain later…I am trying to stay awake and finish this for posting to night. I will get to the Isle au Haut trip tomorrow…Hopefully.

Miss you all…and so we go!