Took care of a snagged branch

On about May 10th, winds helped knock down a rotten branch of an ash tree up on one of the paths.



I was a bit leery about doing too much close-in work in the area, since there is a lot of poison ivy growing in the area, but it needed to be taken care of, so today I pulled it down, chopped it up, and pulled it out of the way. Now all we have to do is wait for the rest of the ash tree to fall. :P

Grrr... Canada geese

I saw two Canada geese sitting on the little spit of (erosional) sand next to the row boats, and - "loving" the geese like I do - I was about to shoo them off the sand when I saw a little head poking up behind the roosting goose: there were at least two little goslings.



Okay, you geese, I'll let you stay for now. Just don't come up on the lawn and leave your massive white droppings everywhere.

Algae Sampling

Field season has begun. Today, I had some students picking up equipment and some others taking a phytoplankton sample.

A Dusting of Snow

The below-freezing temperatures left a dusting of snow last night. Hopefully, this will be the last.

Damnable Garlic Mustard

It's sprouting up, and although it seems like I pulled out a bunch last year, it still surprises me how prevalent these plants are.

Heavy Rains Lead to Swollen Creek

These spring rains seem to have been heavier than the last years. Certainly, they're carrying away a lot of sediment from the creek.



As these rains get heavier, the structural stability of the pathway that runs along the creek will become increasingly compromised. Each time I see the sediment-stained waters flowing down from the culvert at the property line, I think, "If only the weirs were maintained or rebuilt. At least they would act as check-dams and not let all the sediment flow into Third Sister Lake..."

Cleared a Large Pine that Had Fallen

Way back during the ice storm, a whole bunch of trees fell in the forest, including one large pine, whose upper half split from its trunk, crashing onto the walking path. Today, I took an axe to the problem:


And finally, there was a cleared path.


I also threw the chopped branches over the detour path that visitors decided to make to get around the fallen pine. Even though it's only been about one month, the amount of foot traffic along that "detour" was really starting to cause soil compaction. (This is a reason why visitors need to stay on the paths.)