Fish Stocking on Little Sewickley Creek

On April 9th 2012, the QV Creekers helped to stock over 400 trout (Rainbow and Brown) into Little Sewickley Creek.  Stocking was done at several locations throughout the watershed.  Brown trout have been known to spawn in this creek.

Amphibian Restoration Site Work!

QV Creekers continue their work to improve the breeding site of a number of amphibians at the Bell Acres Sewage Plant. 

Salamanders caught during spring migration 2012 were given a small colored elastomer injection just under the skin (near underarms) to give each salamander a distinguishing mark that will allow us to identify each salamander individually. This procedure was done by Dr. Hanna from Robert Morris University.  These elastomer markings are only visible using a black light, so they will not cause increased predation on the salamanders when they are in the wild.

This process will allow us to keep track of the individual salamanders that continue to migrate to our ponds each year. We also weigh and measure the snout vent length & total of all the salamanders caught.  This will also show us how the salamanders are doing health-wise.

This experiment will shed light on the behaviors and natural history of these animals in the wild.

Amphibian Restoration Project

The QV Creekers continue their work to restore the amphibian breeding site in Bell Acres, PA.  On March 13th 2012, the Qv Creekers met with Dr Catie Hanna of Robert Morris Univesity to help mark salamanders caught during migration 2012.  Dr Hanna gave  each salamander  a small colored elastomer injection just under the skin (near underarms) to give each salamander a distinguishing mark that will allow us to identify each salamander individually.  These elastomer markings are only visible using a black light, so they will not cause increased predation on the salamanders when they are in the wild.

This process will allow us to keep track of the individual salamanders that continue to migrate to our ponds each year. We also weigh and measure the snout vent length & total of all the salamanders caught.  This will also show us how the salamanders are doing health-wise.  This experiment will shed light on the behaviors and natural history of these animals in the wild.

"Once a Creeker, Always a Creeker"

Big Thank you to former QV Creeker Nick Popovich!  He has been volunteering his time to help collect creek measurements and water samples for QV Creekers, even though he is taking a load of college courses!  

AQUAPONICS!

Eric with his aquaponics system

Eric gave the group a tour of how the aquaponics system works. Students were able to eat some of the plants growing in the system which included wheatgrass and lettuce.

Sophmore QV Creeker (Eric B) gives an overview of the aquaponics system he built in his basement for his sophmore project. Eric learned about aquaponics while at Allegheny College's Creek Camp (Creek Connections Program) last summer.   The system is basically a 3 tier set-up.  On the lower deck below the level in the picture above, you will find fish living in a tank. Their wastewater is pumped up through the system allowing the plants to take advantage of their waste for growth.  These systems are now being used in 3rd world countries to generate food production.  Eric keeps close watch over the system and tests the water periodically for nitrates, pH level etc...

ALLARM Testing



Abbey examines 2 samples collected from Little Sewickley Creek in Jan 2012



QV Creeker (Eva) tests water at Barberry Road site on Little Sewickley Creek

On Jan 18 2012, the QV Creekers were visited by Veronica Coptis of the Mountain Watershed Association.  Veronica spoke to the creekers about the new testing they will be doing on Little Sewickley Creek for the next year.  Students will collect monthly water samples from 5 locations in the watershed and test for TDS and conductivity.  They will also record surrogate stream flow  The purpose of this testing is to start gathering baseline water quality data before any type of drilling takes place for natural gas extraction in the Marcellus shale formation within the watershed.  There are currently no drill sites within the LSC watershed, however the data collected by the creekers will serve as a baseline record before any drilling activities begin.  The first round of water samples were sent to Dickison College for Quality Control through the ALLARM program.

Hemlock Wooly Adlegid

The  Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (HWA) is a forest pest that attacks pine trees, specifically Eastern Hemlocks. It is an invasive species from Asia brought over to America around 1922, it was found in PA records around 1967. It is a problem in the US, because it sucks juices from the base of Hemlock needles. This prevents the tree from photosynthesizing and kills it. There are also no native predators in the US, which causes them to just keep breeding and spreading. There are two main tactics that local naturalists are using to remove them. One is a chemical approach which when applied to the Hemlock trees, kills the Wooly Adlegid. The other technique is to use a biological control. This would consist of us introducting one of it's natural predators, a type of beetle.  Beetles are currently being introduced into Pennsulvania to control HWA using beetles from the Pacific Northwest.  There are benefits and drawbacks of using the chemical and the beetles for biological control.

This is Thad our Park Ranger giving us a lesson on Hemlock threes and more importantly the Hemlock Wooly Adlegid.

In our last Creekers meeting we met with April and Thad to help them measure and tag Hemlocks. We were educated about the HWA and then split into two groups so we could cover more ground. In that one hike we collect data from 113 different Hemlocks. This information will give us a more accurate number of Hemlocks and help estimate a price for a chemical treatment.

Andrew House; a Creeker participating in data collecting got himself into a web of troubles while trying to measure the circumference of a Hemlock.