ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <title>8 August 2008 <BR> Volunteers for Nature Crayfish Crawl Brassils Creek, east of Dwyer Hill Road, Burritts Rapids, Ontario</title> <meta name="keywords" content="Eastern Ontario natural history, Crayfish, macroinvertebrates, stream survey, Ontario crayfish, Orconectes rusticus, Orconectes virilis, Rusty Crayfish, crayfish ontario, crayfish workshop, Crayfish Crawl, Volunteer for Nature, Ontario Nature, Bishops Mills Natural History Centre, Burritts Rapids, biodiversity, nature study"> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#669966" VLINK="#811F78" ALINK="42426F"> <BASEFONT SIZE=4> <TABLE BORDER=3 CELLPADDING=40> <TR VALIGN=TOP> <TD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR="#fcefd5"><P><FONT FACE="ARIAL,SWISS"> <BR><BR><BR> <FONT SIZE=+2> <CENTER><B><I><B>BRASSILS CREEK SURVEY<BR>FOR CRAYFISH</B></I> </FONT SIZE> </B><BR><BR><BR> <HR><BR><BR> <CENTER> <FONT SIZE=+3> <B><I><B>Crayfish Crawl</B></I><BR><BR> </FONT SIZE> <FONT SIZE=+2> 8 - 10 August 2008<BR><BR> </FONT SIZE> Brassils Creek, east of Dwyer Hill Road, <BR>Burrits Rapids, <BR>Ottawa-Carleton Region, <BR>Ontario <BR><BR><BR> </FONT SIZE> <IMG SRC="crayfishcrawl2sm.jpg" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=284 ALT="[young Orconectes rusticus]" <BR><BR> A crayfish identification and stream survey workshop for <BR> <FONT SIZE=+1> <A HREF="http://www.ontarionature.org/action/">Ontario Nature's "Volunteer for Nature"program</A><BR><BR><BR> </FONT SIZE> assisted by the Bishops Mills Natural History Centre<BR><BR></CENTER><BR><BR> <HR><BR><BR><BR> <P><FONT SIZE=-1>Contact Bishops Mills Natural History Centre <BR>by phone at (613)258-3107<BR> or e-mail <A HREF="mailto:bckcdb@istar.ca">bckcdb@istar.ca</A></FONT SIZE><BR> <BR><BR> <FONT FACE="ARIAL,SWISS"> <BASEFONT SIZE=4> <CENTER> <A HREF="http://www.crayfishontario.ca">crayfishontario.ca</A><BR><BR><BR> <A HREF="index.htm">Pinicola home</A><BR><BR><BR> <A HREF="bmnhc.htm">Bishops Mills<BR>Natural History<BR>Centre</A><BR><BR><BR> <A HREF="outings.htm">BMNHC outings</A><BR><BR><BR> </FONT> </CENTER> <BR> </TD> <TD> <FONT FACE="ARIAL,SWISS"> <FONT COLOR="#fcefd5"> <CELL PADDING=10> <IMG SRC="brassilsmapsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=339 ALT="[orientation]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">Following Brassils Creek on the map</I></B></H2> Having had our introduction to crayfish life history and ecology last night at Rideau River Provincial Park, the group was keen to find Brassils Creek and get into some crayfish habitat. We chose the second bridge north of Burritts Rapids, as two years ago Fred and I, with the Ottawa Stewardship Rangers, had made a big harvest of <I>Orconectes rusticus</I>, the invasive Rusty Crayfish, which is in the Rideau River and this section of Brassils Creek. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="loosestrifebeetled2sm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=468 ALT="[beetled Loosestrife]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">Purple Loosestrife suffers beetle damage</I></B></H2> The <I>Galerucella</I> beetles, introduced from Europe to suppress the invasiveness of the Purple Loosestrife (as they do in their homeland) are doing a good job here. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="padenbridgegroupsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=323 ALT="[paden bridge group]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">starting on the upstream side</I></B></H2> With nets and buckets, we began around 10:00. Crayfish enthusiasts of all ages began the work of dipping and catching, reporting everything they saw. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="padengroup2sm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=339 ALT="[crayfish catchers]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">Spreading out, making discoveries</I></B></H2> The water levels have been high all summer due to persistent rain, and the current is fairly strong, challenging the footing of the younger members of the expedition. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="beaverpoopsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=339 ALT="[beaver dropping]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">Beaver dropppings on the creek bottom</I></B></H2> About 15 cm long, it looked like a row of fine pale sawdust. We had already found Beaver workings farther downstream, a brief knee-high berm of roots and mud between two channels through the flooded Dogwood. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="rustyfightsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=378 ALT="[male Rusty Crayfish fighting]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">Rusties in male combat</I></B></H2> We wondered whether these were mating, but when we caught them, we found them both to be males, so this was definitely a battle, with the victor on top, holding the "wrists" of the loser. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="measuringsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=339 ALT="[measuring Rusty Crayfish]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">measuring Rusty Crayfish</I></B></H2> The youngest, who was shy of crayfish pincers last night in the park, soon lost her fear, proudly handling them with grace and dexterity, presenting them to be measured. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="padenroadrusties1sm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=336 ALT="[Paden Road Rusty Crayfish]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">waiting to be measured and released</I></B></H2> Crayfish coloration varies from population to population within species. We were impressed by the blue-green sheen on the heads of some of the Rusties here. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="padenvirilissm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=384 ALT="[female Orconectes virilis]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">first Orconectes virilis found here</I></B></H2> Orconectes virilis is the native species all along Brassils Creek, but they have been displaced by <I>Orconectes rusticus</> here. Why they are limited to this stretch is still a mystery, but we suspect that the natives are better than the Rusties at surviving summer drought in shallower sections of the creek. Looks like <I>O. virilis</> is nicely patterned here. The one I painted in the Crayfish Identification Guide is plain and unpatterned. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="floodroadupstreamsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=255 ALT="[Flood Road upstream]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">upstream at the Flood Road bridge</I></B></H2> After lunch we moved along Dwyer Hill Road to the next bridge accessible by road, just a little piece east on Flood Road. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="floodtablecrayfishsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=278 ALT="[Orconectes virilis]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">large female O. virilis from the deep</I></B></H2> Fred and Cody discovered a large hole in the bed of the creek, off to one side of the main current, covered with a blanket of sunburned Coontail, mixed with a fine strap-leaved Pondweed. Cody stepped off the edge into it and was nearly submerged. Fred put his big aluminum frame dipnet underneath the vegetation and came up with this impressive female crayfish and a few large snails, <I>Helisoma trivolvis</I>. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="floodrddamsel3sm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=323 ALT="[Damselfly]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">male Damselfly</I></B></H2> While everyone else weilded nets, I hunted by camera, and captured the image of a shy Damselfly. I had no success in approaching them, but as I stood still in the channel that flows past the west side of the island, one came and alighted right beside me. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="underbridgefloodroadsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=305 ALT="[Flood Road bridge]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">under the Flood Road bridge</I></B></H2> On the top of the east end of the bridge, attached to the chain-link gabion filled with crushed rock, we found the freshly shed skin of a large Garter Snake, whose owner was still resting, coiled among the rocks. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="floodroaddownstrsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=296 ALT="[downstream from Flood Road bridge]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">downstream survey</I></B></H2> <IMG SRC="floodroadmacroinvertssm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=299 ALT="[pail of macroinvertebrates]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">a healthy diversity of macroinvertebrates </I></B></H2> We found flat, gill-sided Stonefly nymphs, indicators of a clean, healthy stream. There were big-headed Dragonfly nymphs too, and Caddis flies, with and without their protective casings of sticks and stones. A diversity of tiny fish were not identified. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="craneflylarva2sm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=330 ALT="[Cranefly larva]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">wonderful Cranefly larva</I></B></H2> A strange legless larva with a many-tubed tail end will grow up to be a delicate, long-legged Crane Fly. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="leechwithyoung2sm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=385 ALT="[Leech with young?]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">leech with its offspring?</I></B></H2> We found a flat, ribbon-like leech with a single row of small yellow spots along the centre of its dark brown back, and a vivid orange underside. Another, larger leech was rounder in profile, and was being climbed all over by a much smaller leech with white dots. Fred says that some leeches carry their young about with them. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="lisaboots1sm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=549 ALT="[emptying boots]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">our intrepid leader empties her boots</I></B></H2> Time to drive to the next bridge. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="brassilsdwyerupstreamsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=339 ALT="[Brassils Creek at Dwyer Hill Rd]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">Brassils Creek at Dwyer Hill Road</I></B></H2> Looking upstream into the wetland. The bottom was determined to be mucky and about chest deep on our bold assistant Cody. A few Green Frogs were seen on the south side as we sat on the flat cement ledge of the bridge. Two of them sat facing each other, on lily pads half a metre apart. We at first thought that they may be Mink Frogs. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="brassilsdwyerditchsm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=598 ALT="[ditch at Dwyer Hill Rd]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">finding crayfish in the ditch</I></B></H2> This is where <I>Orconectes virilis</I> were found. The ditch is shallow enough to sweep the bottom with nets. <BR><BR><BR> <IMG SRC="bullfrogbrassilsdwyersm.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=317 ALT="[Bull Frog]" ALIGN=TOP> <H2><B><I><FONT COLOR="#fcefd5">Bull Frog with an attitude</I></B></H2> This individual swam briskly across to observe us, changing his vantage point several times in a brusque, officious manner, totally fearless! After I took my photo, it finally took up a position directly below our dangling legs, and looked up as Dierdre looked down at it with her camera. </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY> </HTML>