Federation Blog

 

After a year of coping with the effects of three major rain storms, we were thrilled to end 2011 with the otter-ly fantastic news of a return of one of the River’s top predators. Even more exciting than sharing the news, was the response we got from our members! Coming with four reports, Gingerville Creek takes the lead in sightings followed closely by Beards Creek with three. Other sightings were reported in Duvall, near the mouth of the River past Cherrytree Cove, Glebe Bay, Harness Creek, Granville Creek, Flat Creek, and Boyd’s Cove. Below are excerpts from the many stories we received:

-Perhaps the most memorable experience came from a member that was fortunate enough to see an entire family of otters! “I have kayaked on the South River for 6 years and have seen river otters each and every one of those years...in fact, 4 years ago my friend and I were in the headwaters of Beard's Creek and not only did a large male otter swim across the front of our kayaks with a smaller (I assume the female) behind him and they were both hissing at us and not long afterwards, three small younguns swam between our kayaks, it seemed that they were either swimming extraordinarily close behind each other or swimming sort of piggyback and kept looking up at us and chirping...they were close enough that I could have reached down and picked one up. It was one of those special moments that I will never forget.”

– Sandy, Beards Creek -A longtime South River resident and avid fisherman finally got an up-close look at an otter just recently! “I have seen them numerous times over the last few years, but always from a distance. Every morning I run my dog to the river and back. Three days ago, I was down on the neighborhood pier, and out of the skim ice popped this guys head. It is the first time I have seen them up close, and they are a really unique and cool thing to see on our river.” – Nick, Davidsonville

-“I thought it was a seal the way it was swimming and playing until I got a closer look. I couldn't believe my eyes. Hope to see them again!” – Carol, Granville Creek - “It has been spotted a couple of times in the past few weeks as well as last year. We think it may "hide" at my waters edge. It seems to disappear into the underground tunnels.” – Theresa, Harness Creek

-It’s great to know they have been in some areas for so long! “We've had them in Boyd's Cove for years - didn't know it was a big deal!” – Marj, Boyds Cove

-Looks like the otters even appreciate the beauty of Quiet Waters Park! “I have seen otters in Loden Pond, near the South River Overlook at Quiet Waters Park, and in the pond between the Ice Rink and Lighthizer Gazebo” – Michael, Harness Creek

-He may not have seen an otter, but beaver sightings are just as great! While kayaking in Gingerville Creek, one member “discovered a beaver dam in the marsh at the head of the creek. It created a small, tranquil pond filled with ducks.” – Dwight, Gingerville Creek

The South River Federation would like to thank each and every person that took the time to report their sightings. If you see an otter or beaver, please do let us know! We did receive a concern over protecting koi ponds so that issue as well as more information about otters will be addressed in Part 3 of the series. But for now, we hope you enjoyed the stories from our watershed!

Photo Credits: Nick Serio, John Koontz, John Summers, and Erik Michelsen

This morning (Oct 7, 2011) I took my first flight in a small aircraft in 32 years. I rode with my collegue and board member Lynn Buehl over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Bay Bridge Aiport and the whole drive I was fraught with excitment and trepedation. I always have been nervous about heights and have always been a nervous flyer. Lynn and I meet our pilot that flew down from New Jersey to take us on our adventure over the South River Watershed. Pilot Mr. Mike McNamara is one of many volunteer pilots for a non-profit group called LightHawk. This is a great organization set-up to provide flights to other non-profits or academics for research and advocay. I submitted a proposal to search for SAV, clean-water plumes, and 5 legacy landfills. As I first got in the plane, my thought was "oh my goodness, I am not going to make it". But, as we tore down the runway toward the Chesapeake Bay and delicately lifted off into the air and over the Bay Bridge- I became totally filled with excitement and started taking pictures. Being in a small plane over the Chesapeake Bay and the South River is indescribably amazing. I was horrified at the amounts of debris still in the Bay. Then, as we approach the South River- both Lynn and I became very distressed at how our beatiful South River looked. Sediment plumes and oil plumes everywhere- brown water all over. Then as week approached South River Farm Park, where Pam Wood of the Capitol and I kayaked looking for our Submerged Aquatic Vegetation- the planes wings tipped and there is was. Our SAV survived Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee!! What a blessing that our grasses survived such storms!! I am showing 300 pictures, and although I am not a professional photographer, I hope you enjoy them.----Diana, South Riverkeeper

From the mouth of the South River all the way to Bacon Ridge Branch, over 40 South River Federation volunteers participated in the 7^th Annual South River Snapshot.  Volunteers spread out across the entire South River watershed on the morning of Saturday, April 9^th and conducted water quality tests to assess the River’s health.   Although the data represents just a “snapshot” in time, collecting the data from over 40 sites around the River simultaneously, and doing it at about the same time each year, gives a good general barometer of the relative health of our streams and creeks.  While most of the sites had safe or normal bacteria levels, a few sites did have high levels.  You can see the bacteria results on Diana’s blog. 
Patch.com wrote a nice article on the Snapshot!  Click here to read it.

The Enterococci data is now ready from this last Saturday's South River Federation's 7th Annual Snapshot.

On Friday the short rain event was only 0.38 inches of rain, but even with that small amount there were some spikes of bacteria in our watershed.  For a single sampling event the criteria is 104 cfu/100ml (colony forming units/100milliliters).  Therefore in the map above, anything in orange or red is higher than the State of Maryland's limit.

Thanks to our great volunteers I am now going back through the past 7 years of data and preparing a 'trend" analysis to find why our hot spot are HOT.  One stations is HIL 1, this is located in the Hillsmere community and is consistently high every year- now that we have the data to prove that there is a problem (thanks to our volunteers)- We can see what we can do to fix the issues.---Diana

Starting next week  Rt 2 and Muddy Creek Rd will begin more of its widening process.  I have been in close contact with Inspections and Permits on this process and will be watching for any sediment violations into Glebe Creek.  For those of us that live on the Mayo Peninsula this will be incovienent, so schedule your time accordingly.
Please be away of flaggers and short time closures- Between the hours of 9am and 3pm there may be possible lane closures.  This next week the utility companies are moving the lines away from the road.
---Diana

This week's bottom dissolved oxygen measurements indicate the expanding hypoxic zone from mid-river up to the Rt 50 bridge.  Many of the tidal creek are also experiencing hypoxic conditions (2.0 mg/l or lower).  This is due to the excessive nutrients causing the algae blooms, which then cause the low dissolved oxygen.  Blue Crabs need above 3mg/l of dissolved oxygen to live, therefore at the moment the South River is not that hospitable for the blue crab. ---Diana

Driving up Muddy Creek Road this morning, stopped, waiting for the light at 214 to turn green, I noticed a healthy stand of trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) in bloom.  Its bright orange flowers are showy are hard to miss, but looking a little more closely, I saw two hummingbirds (I think they were ruby-throated (Archilochus colubris)) flitting in and out of the blossoms, sipping their nectar.

It's rare enough to see one hummingbird, but to see two together is quite a treat.  If you've got trumpet vine growing up a nearby trellis or tree, keep your eyes peeled and you may spy one of these little marvels yourself.

 

 

The South River Federation's Riverkeeper Tidal Water Quality montoring is in mid-season currently.  Some of you may have see us out there sampling the water quality.  I have been ask many questions about when and where we sample.  I have provided a GIS map of our current tidal stations.  I have 7 main stem stations, then 14 stations in each of the tidal creeks.