Water is Life
Chautauqua County is at the beginning of several different watersheds – water from north county streams flows into Lake Erie, drops over Niagara Falls, and ultimately drains into the Atlantic Ocean. Streams in the southern half of the county drain into the Allegany, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, respectively, and eventually water from these streams reaches the Gulf of Mexico. Our springs and wells are at the source of several large bodies of water and our streams contain some of the cleanest water in these watersheds. As a result, the variety of fish and other aquatic creatures in our area is...
Read MoreThe Hellbender Search Continues
Sunshine is abundant, streams are low, clear and warm, and traps are smelly and baited…wait, what was that last part?! As the summer season is slated to officially begin this Monday, the field season is already underway and our hellbender search within Chautauqua County has begun once again. As you may recall, last fall we worked with Robin Foster, PhD candidate at the University of Buffalo, to take eDNA samples from a number of potentially suitable sites to be tested. In case you aren’t familiar, eDNA is short for environmental DNA and is a reliable method in detecting even...
Read MoreSo Far So Good
So far we have monitored five sites of interest within Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties in search of new infestations of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. For the third year in a row, all of our sites still appear to be HWA free, and are full of healthy trees that support beautiful ecosystems. This past week in particular, we monitored South Valley State Forest and learned from a local volunteer that the streams running through it are excellent trout streams. Thanks to the shade the hemlocks provide, these streams stay cool and therefore highly oxygenated for trout and other species within the...
Read MoreLong-tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)
Earlier this summer I caught my first glimpse of this handsome salamander, appropriately named the Long-tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda). A species of Special Concern in New York State, this uncommon salamander is at the northern fringes of its range and can be found along much of the southern Allegheny Plateau. Long-tails prefer cool woodland seeps and streams, but can occasionally be found along river banks under flat rocks or logs. As the temperatures continue to drop these salamanders will work their way deeper into rock cracks and crevices in order to protect themselves from...
Read MoreFreshwater Mussels
Is it just me, or does it seem this mussel is sticking it’s tongue out at us? Interestingly, mussels don’t have tongues at all! The white, fleshy protrusion you see is actually referred to as the mussel’s foot. While we often don’t witness mussels moving, as they do it very slowly, this is exactly what this one is attempting to do. Mussels will use their muscular foot to inch themselves across a stream or river bed when they feel they are in danger or need to find a more suitable area to settle. Once in place, a freshwater mussel will often bury itself into the...
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