Stream Team 1-8-11

Stream Team
1-8-11

A beautiful winter’s day with temperatures in the 40’s and sunshine. This was my first adventure with the Master Naturalist Stream Team. We all met at Bluff Top, which is overlooking the Illinois Bayou far below.

We rode down to the bayou in two large ATV’s, big enough to haul 7 of us, plus equipment. It was a steep ride down with rock ledges and steep drop- offs. We set up the table and other equipment. Larry and I put on waders and boots. We had our new nets that were on the end of long poles. We chose fast moving water areas to find some bugs. We stirred up the rocks and such upstream, to where we held the nets so stuff would flow through. The dogs tried to help in this regard. Larry seemed to be getting all the little bugs, my net kept coming up empty. Then I spied a rather large rock in a little water shoot. I held the net down and started moving this large rock with my feet and finally my hand. I was determined. I looked into the net and wow, didn’t know what I had, but they were sure mean looking. What I had caught were Hellgrammites (Dobsonfly larva). We also captured: Mayfly; Stonefly; Damselfly Nymphs; Crayfish; clams; and, several small fishes. We also used a large net and scooped some backwater areas, down in the leaves lying on the muddy bottom.

Larry and I figured we caught about as much as we would, so I got out of the waders. I found the girls next to the bayou checking water conditions. They checked the air and water temp, oxygen levels, turbidity, pH, nitrates, orthophosphates, alkalinity, hardness and checked for dissolved solids. Whew, got that? I noticed Larry was back out in the water, trying to find that elusive bug that we didn’t find. I think it was a Water Penny he was looking for. Then we all kind of huddled around the table and identified and cataloged the bugs. We tried to figure out what a type of snail we had using magnifiers. That was fun.

We packed up, dumped all the specimens back into the bayou. We then had another bumpy, enjoyable scenic ride back up to Bluff Top. We all stood around the cliff overlooking the valley. Great day, Great fellowship.