Field notes of Frederick W. Schueler: 1999-2000 Mudpuppy Nights in Oxford Mills, Kemptville Creek, North Grenville Township (Oxford-on-Rideau geographic township), United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, Canada
This was the second winter of regular Mudpuppy night outings, and light was provided by quartz-halogen spotlights, as well as incadescent headlamps. Text output from the EoBase database; UTM grids NAD27 Canada in military grid notation, lat/long WGS84 (=NAD83).
12 November 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2306-2334. AIR TEMP: 2 ca, overcast, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler. 99/222/aa, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 9 adult, active, seen. 6 above bridge, 3 blw bridge, seen with searchlight. At 'vantage point' one had only its head protuding from crack in the bedrock of the ledge, and another pushing up into 2 cm of water just below the spillway. Both were small.
Two (ca 20 cm TL) on shallow bedrock in big eddy on E side, another two in deeper water there seen from the bridge. Three were visible below the bridge on the E side of the creek.
Water low, 'vantage point' ca 20 cm above water level. Water 3. 5 C. Used 200, 000 candle power searchlight and lead/acid battery --- incredibly brighter than any previous light source. I waded across the creek and scanned almost all of the bottom, so count above bridge is very certainly complete.
(same location) TIME: 2306-2334. 99/222/ab, Rana cf catesbeiana (Bull Frog) (herp). 1 adult, active, seen. ca 55 mm SVL, swimming agst concrete of bridge abutment. Seen with searchlight, in deep water. Lots of various fish about, but NO:Orconectes or tadpoles seen.
19 November 1999 data entry incomplete
26 November 1999 data entry incomplete
3 December 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 1957-2040. AIR TEMP: 5, SRN, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W., Aleta Karstad, & Jennifer H. Schueler. 99/242/c, Elliptio complanata (Eastern Elliptio) (Mollusca). 1 adult, seen. large ad, in 20 cm water near W shore of creek. One wonders how this got up here, in an area that would have been dry fairly recently.
Steady rain, and water rising, rushing past forcibly, the 'vantage point' just awash. Water 0. 5 C. 200,000 candle power searchlight failed early in visit, & we had just seen NO:Necturus from the dam (both upstream & downstream when it shorted out due to faulty wiring.
Water cloudy above the dam, so we could only see 0. 5 m deep, to silty Myriophyllum 'coontails' and small rocks. Our serch of the area below the dam was no less thorough than in previous years, so the low number seen (0) is a real reflection of their not being active.
10 December 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 1932-2020. AIR TEMP: 2 ca, windy, overcast. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Jennifer Helene Schueler. 99/248/c, Orconectes virilis (Northern Crayfish) . 1 adult, seen, active. large male(?) active blw W side of bridge. This was a visit to look for Mudpuppies, but despite searching the entire shore from both banks, bridge, and dam, with the searchlight, we didn't see any, and this was the only Animal other than small fish that was active. Water was high from recent rain, 10 cm over the 'vantage point', and 2.5 C.
It seems that the new lower number of logs in the dam means that a stronger current flows over the vantage point when the water is high than in previous years, and the eddy on the E side is stronger and nearer shore. JHS waded the W shore with the bright light, while I did the rest of the circuit from shore.
15 December 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 0835. AIR TEMP: 0, overcast, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler. 99/250/b, visit () (E). nat.hist, seen. water nrly down to vantage pt., pond greenish with new slush.
(same location) TIME: 2348-2412. AIR TEMP: 4, windy, cloudy. 99/250/c, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 1 adult, captured. tumbling in current near shore, only 1 seen in careful search. Held in captivity in EOBM, released 28 Dec. Water 4 C, 5 cm over 'vantage point, ' but too rough to walk out into the stream. Careful search of all shores with searchlight.
There's new snow slush on ice ice above dam. If the creek was 1 C before 10 cm of snow (>1 cm water) fell into the creek, the latent heat of fusion would reduce the temperature of 55 cm (a plausible estimate of average depth) to 0 C.
17 December 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2006-2033. AIR TEMP: -5 ca, clear, breezy. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Aleta Karstad Schueler. 99/255/c, visit () (E). nat.hist., walk, wade. water level high, NO:Necturus seen. Ca 10 cm water over the 'vantage point, ' and NO:Necturus, or other Animals there or anywhere else, though we did the whole circuit of the 4 shores. The water is still high from the rain earlier in the fall, and the current across the flats below the dam seems changed from previous years, since they've got fewer logs in the dam. Since at the last visit we got just about the same result, except that at the last minute I saw a smallish adult tumbling about in the current, and reached in and snagged it by hand, maybe they just stay under cover when the current is excessive.
Flat films of ice were breaking up as the went over the spillway, and tiny (5-15 cm) pans of ice were circling with patches of foam in both east and west eddies, but no significant ice on either shore. Above the dam it's still possible to see the bottom, and again no Necturus there.
23 December 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2115. AIR TEMP: -11, clear, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler. 99/257/b, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 1 adult, active, seen. ca 25 cm TL, seen in calm water with searchlight. This was in the eddy just above W side of bridge. Ca 2-3 cm water over the 'vantage point.' Stopped briefly to check what could be seen from the bridge. Water level is receding, and there isn't much current over the v. p., so the W eddy is much bigger than the E, and the strong current is shifted towards the E from previous years. The W eddy is two-thirds covered by flocks of 20-30 cm rounded pans of ice, with fortunately enough gaps between them to allow the bottom to be seen. No Animals seen below the bridge, though much of the bottom was searchable.
26 December 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2234-2257. AIR TEMP: -10, overcast, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Jennifer Helene Schueler. 99/254/b, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 6 adult, active, seen. most in shallow central eddy, seen with searchlight. Water falling, 'vantage point' ca 5 cm above water level, but capped with ice. Used 200, 000 candle power searchlight. We scanned the bottom, from bridge/ dam/ east shore /west shore & vantage point without seeing any. Pans of ice in the west eddy much like the last visit.
One slender ca 25 cm TL Necturus struggling on the bottom just below the bridge (in ca 70 cm of water, and a moderate current) with a ca 65-70 mm SVL Rana, probably Rana pipiens. The Mudpuppy had the Frog by one arm, and was thrashing (slowly) about on the bottom as if trying to wrench the limb off, like a Crocodyle with an Antelope. We watched them for about 8 minutes, and saw no progress in the struggle, until they moved under the bridge span, so we don't know how it came out. The diameter of the Frog's torso was considerablely greater than that of the Mudpuppy, so it obviously couldn't have swallowed it whole, and I suppose the frog must have been dead before the struggle bagan, though as far as we could tell it seemed freshly dead. There were 4 other large-to-moderately-large Necturus active on the bottom above the bridge, and one in the midstream rocks below the bridge.
The Necturus seem to be off to a slow start this year: we've never watched for them systematically early in the season before, but in other years we've seen large numbers early in December, and this year on some nights we've seen none or only a few despite using a 200 000 candlepower searchlight that lights up the bottom much more effectively than the headlamps we've used before. But the water level has just begun to subside after heavy fall rains, and maybe with cold weather coming they'll begin to move up to the bedrock area where we can see them.
28 December 1999
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 1900-2036. AIR TEMP: -7, snowing, windy. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler. 99/254/da, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 23 adult, active, seen. dispersed over bottom, mostly in midstream & und bridge. Two visits, FWS alone 1900-1925, and "Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills" group 2000-2036. Water low, 'vantage point' ca 15 cm above water level, and sheathed in ice. Used 200, 000 candle power searchlight. Didn't wade into the the creek, but scanned the bottom, from bridge/dam/east shore/ & west shore. Lots of snow and ripples make it hard to see into the water --- and maybe the Pike are keeping the Necturus under cover. Moderate ice shelves on shore, but most ice cover flocks of small pans drifting, but not covering west eddy, though in front of the v. p. the coverage of slushy pans (many just slush, with no icy core) was about 80%.
At 'vantage point' saw 3 small adults, and 1 ca 55 cm Esox. Saw about 8 above the bridge (the largest captured, 315 mm TL), and recovered body of Rana clamitans (Green Frog) that was being mouthed by Necturus on 26 Dec, which was still being tussled with by a Mudpuppy tonight. Also one adult either retreating before the 45 cm TL Esox, or before my light, or both. There were about 12 small adults in the shallow eddy in midstream.
(same location) TIME: 1900-2036. 99/254/db, Rana clamitans (Green Frog) (herp). 1 adult, male, dead, captured. 76. 8-36. 6-9. 1 mm, M thumb, not fresh, mouthed by Necturus. Being tussled with by Necturus tonight and on 26 Dec., in ca 70 cm water. Well fleshed. Not-fresh skin of arm slightly scored by (?) Necturus teeth, but not broken.
(same location) TIME: 1900-2036. 99/254/dc, Rana pipiens (Leopard Frog) (herp). 1 adult, active, seen. ca 50 mm SVL, on bottom, 70 cm depth, near dead River. clam. .
(same location) TIME: 1900-2036. 99/254/dd, Elliptio complanata (Eastern Elliptio) (Mollusca). 1 adult, seen. ca 80 mm, noted in ca 80 cm water, shell closed.
(same location) TIME: 1900-2036. 99/254/de, Esox lucius (Northern Pike) (fish). 2 adult, seen. ca 45 cm TL in midstream eddy, ca 55 cm TL und slush near shore. Patches of white (fungus?) at base of pectoral fins of both individuals. Never seen here before: are they a threat to Necturus. One adult Necturus either retreating before the 45 cm TL Esox, or before my light, or both.
1 January 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 0000-0021. AIR TEMP: -8, overcast, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Dave Seburn. 2000/001/aa, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 21 adult, active, song. most in shallow central eddy, seen with searchlight. All but one were in the sparsely mossy (2000/001/ab) shallow (20-35 cm) central eddy, or adjacent to it walking upstream among small rocks on the W side of the main current. An area about 4(cross-stream)x 8 m. After we'd been wandering around for a while, the Necturus began to let go and drift/swim downstream out of the area. We saw only one walking on bare bedrock.
None seen from the vantage point (which was 20 cm above the water, and sheathed in heavy ice we forgot to bring an axe to deal with). We also couldn't see any from the bridge or the east wall (didn't go up on the dam).
There was ice completely across the stream under the bridge, mostly an unconsolidated froth of foam and small pans, so we couldn't see the Necturus that may have been where we've seen there on recent visits.
and an e-mail account of the outing:
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 01:22:43 -0800
From: "Frederick W. Schuelrer" <bckcdb at istar. ca>
Organization: Eastern Ontario Biodiversity Museum
To: many. . .
CC: many more. . .
Frederick W. Schueler wrote:
>
> at midnight+1 I'm going to be at Oxford Mills, watching Mudpuppies, in the hopes of making the most northerly first record of an observation of active Amphibia in what passes in the popular imagination as the new millennium.
* Dave Seburn and I went out to perform this feat of herpetological excess, and saw 21 Mudpuppies in a shallow (20-30 cm) eddy in midstream (ca 4 x 8 m area), but only where the bedrock was sparsely sodded with an aquatic moss (the sample taken to identify this becomes the millennial first specimen in my books), and the rocky area nearby at the edge of the main current coming off the spillway. Only one on an area of moss-free bedrock. This is a considerable change from their deployment in previous years, when they have been all over the bedrock bottom. We suspect that the changed flow over the spillways is responsible, since previously the main current would have run over the area where they're congregated this year. This situation cries out for somebody to do a recapture study (no need to mark them since they're spangled with such distinctive spots), and we're scheming how to fit a preliminary version of such into our already compacted schedules.
So, merry mudpups to all, and to all a good night! - fred.
(same location) TIME: 0000-0021. 2000/001/ab, Fontinalis hypnoides (not listed) (Bryophyte). dominant herb, specimen. 4 x 8 m area in shallow central eddy, preferred by Necturus. DET_BY:Linda M. Ley
From: "Linda M. Ley" <lindaley at storm. ca>
To: "Schueler, Frederick W." <bckcdb at istar. ca>
Subject: Aquatic moss
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 23:20:31 -0500
Dear Fred
I have looked at your moss and have identified it as Fontinalis hypnoides Hartm. Do you wish your specimen returned? As a matter of interest, this collection also comes loaded with epiphytic diatoms.
Best wishes - Linda
(same location) TIME: 0000-0021. 2000/001/ac, Gammarus (invertebrate). many adult, specimen. in sample of moss from shallow central eddy.
7-21 January 2000 data entry incomplete
28 January 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 1954-2045. AIR TEMP: -13, clear, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Jennifer Helene Schueler, Melways. 2000/016/d, visit () (E). nat.hist., wade. ice covering most of area, water low, search with searchlight. About 20 cm of snow on the ground, extending to the ice in proportion to its age, and the outermost 50-80 cm of ice snow-free, though capable of supporting a person nearly to the edge. Due to recent cold the water level is low, there is flow only over the eastern spillway, and there are substantial shelves of ice for the first time that we've been down at the water this winter. The 'vantage point' ledge is completely encased in ice, as there's no current past it from the western spillway, and clearing ca 6 sq m of ice nearby revealed 2 Necturus in addition to 1 visible in the nearest water.
Shelves of ice extended out from the western shore to the central eddy, and we cleared ca 30 sq m of ice from this, and smashed up the periphery of the floating central island (ca 3. 5 m diameter) floating in the centre of the eddy. The current changed, and water level rose, as slabs of ice we had cleared lodged in the outflow from the open water area, which also deflected a stronger eddy west along the opened edge of the ice.
The one area we didn't explore was the eastern shore, which was completely shelved with ice. Solid ice extends completely under the bridge, and then downstream to the first riffle below the bridge, where there was a patch of clear water, and we cleared some ice from the cobblely bottom without seeing any Necturus.
(same location) TIME: 1954-2045. 2000/016/da, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 15 ca adult, seen, active. dispersed, large ads, ice shelves, water low, seen with searchlight. We saw 3 from 'Vantage Point' area, most of the rest in central eddy, but more dispersed in shallows west of there than on pervious visits. A larger proportion of large individuals than on other nights this season, and as we changed the current with cleared ice lodged in the outlet several were dislodged from the bottom and had to swim (some less successfully than others) as the current became stronger.
(same location) TIME: 1954-2045. 2000/016/db, Orconectes virilis (Northern Crayfish) . 2 adult, seen, active. ads on bottom, ice shelves, water low, seen with searchlight. One medium large' and one fairly large' by the standards of this creek. Obviously not being assaulted by Necturus, but much later in the winter than we saw any last year.
(same location) TIME: 1954-2045. 2000/016/dc, Noturus (Madtom) (fish). 1 adult, dipnetted, specimen. struggling in current, water low, seen with searchlight. Dipnetted up and preserved, area of haemorrhage on venter, and barely able to 'twitch' in the net. Seen as it was writhing uncontrollably in the current of the strengthened eddy produced by ice lodged under the outlet. Perhaps a type of the cold-incapacitated fish the Necturus are after.
(same location) TIME: 1954-2045. 2000/016/dd, Notropis (Chub) (fish). 8 ca/2 ca adult, dipnetted, specimen. ca 8 seen, 2 taken, water low, seen with searchlight. About 8 were individually noticed, but there must have been quite a number more, as 2 were taken inadvertently with the Noturus. This is much later than we saw any fish last winter.
(same location) TIME: 1954-2045. 2000/016/de, Zenaida macroura (Mourning Dove) (Bird). 1 adult, prey of predator, found dead. in snow on shore, head & most breast muscles eaten. Tail feathers missing.
4 February 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 1958-2105. AIR TEMP: -19, clear, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Aleta Karstad Schueler, R.M.Rankin, Greg Hutton, +. 2000/020/aa, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 30 ca adult, seen. most und wide ice shelves on W side, seen with searchlight. Three episodes of observation, because new parties kept arriving for Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills. Ice shelves the most extensive they've ever been, very slippery, especially on the west side, and the main current almost violently plunging under the barrier of ice in midstream. These shelves were soft, and composed in part of chunks from last week's visit, and in places tended to break up when we stood on them, or to be washed over by water when chunks impeded the outlet.
We saw about 20 of the Necturus when we first arrived, in a big eddy on the west side, a few visible in the open water, but most either under the rotating central ice island or under the shelves which we cleared with the axe. All this closer to the Vantage point than not, but all to be seen only from the ice esge 5 m out from the VP. These tended to be in clusters of 4-8 parallel indivduals a few cm apart, all facing into the current. There was also a scattering of individuals in the main current; about 4 to be counted at any one time, and I saw a few along the edge of the ice on the E side. Most were small, none larger than 30 cm TL.
(same location) TIME: 1958-2105. 2000/020/ab, Rana clamitans (Green Frog) (herp). 1-2 larva, seen. 1 tumbling in eddy current, seen with searchlight. The one that was tumbling was not able to right itself in the current: looked like it was vulnerable to the nearby Necturus, but we didn't see any predation.
11 February 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2049-2124. AIR TEMP: -17, clear, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Jennifer Helene Schueler. 2000/022/ea, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 25 ca adult, seen. all small, seen with searchlight, water low, ice extensive.
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 00:14:44 -0500
From: Aleta Karstad <curator at eobm. ca>
To: eobm-nat at mail 2. storm. ca
Subject: [Naturelist] Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills
There's one thing you've got to say about Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills: it's rarely the same twice. Tonight (-17 C, clear, calm, 1 st quarter Moon), the ice shelves (many of them too thin to support our weight under the 20 cm of today's new snow) were more extensive than we've perhaps ever seen them before, with only a 15 x 5 m area of open water below the east spillway of the dam, with flocks of little soft round plate-pans of ice in the eddy, and steam rising from the water. The water level was very low, and Mudpuppies could make crawling headway even against the central main current, in about 25 cm of water. We saw about 25 smallish (most <=20 cm TL) Mudpuppies, and dip-netted four for display at the EOBM. They were disturbed by our light and ice-clearing, so it was hard to get a definite count. A few were in the current, most were in quieter water and under the shelves of ice west of the current, and (where we've never been able to look before) at least 8 were tucked in under the 25 cm ledge the water of the main current comes over about 5 m below the spillway. Doubtless if we'd wielded the axe and cleared a lot more ice we could have seen many more.
We saw no fish, though we looked carefully and dipnetted blindly in the main current, but there was a Bull Frog (55-25. 2-3. 85 mm, relatively large black spots, skin slightly edematous) that was in the quiet water under the ice with several Mudpuppies, and a female Orconectes virilis Crayfish (carapace 37 mm) freshly dead nearby. - Fred & Jennie Schueler
(same location) TIME: 2049-2124. 2000/022/eb, Rana catesbeiana (Bull Frog) (herp). 1 adult, captured. 55-25. 2-3. 85 mm, rel. large black spots, skin slightly edematous. Quiescent on the bottom in slow-moving water under the ice with several Mudpuppies.
(same location) TIME: 2049-2124. 2000/022/ec, Orconectes virilis (Northern Crayfish) . 1 female, dead, captured. carapace 37 mm) freshly dead in quiet water und ice shelf. Cut up and fed to captive Necturus.
18 February 2000 data entry incomplete
25 February 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2002-2019. AIR TEMP: -1, overcast, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Aleta Karstad Schueler. 2000/036/d, Elodea canadensis (Canada Waterweed) (p). scraps herb, seen. 5-10 cm scraps on shelves of ice in highwater creek. This was the only aquatic life seen in this visit. NO:Necturus maculosus. Water high and olive-brownn and turbid, so that we couldn't see the bottom in 80 cm of water, even with the searchlight. The west eddy was extensive and with fairly slow current, so there may have been Necturus, but it was too deep to safely wade into, and the water so murky (presumeably from humic acids precipitated by freezing, and washed out of melting ice) that we could only see the features of the bottom over 2 square metres. The shelves along the shore were submerged 20-25 cm in the yellowish water, with big slabs of ice lodged on them.
Water was coming over the west and central spillways (as well as the lower east spillway), but the buildup of ice covering the spillway are still present. The Vantage Point is submerged in flat ice and slush, so it's invisible and unaccessible.
27 February 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 1329. AIR TEMP: 15 ca, light overcast, breezy. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler. 2000/040/c, Rana pipiens (Leopard Frog) (herp). adult, dead, seen, drive. all ice melted & water high blw the dam, lots of ice dwnstrm.
3 March 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2000-2028. AIR TEMP: -2, clear, calm. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W., Aleta Karstad, & Jennifer H. Schueler, Malcolms, +. 2000/043/a, cf Notropis (Chub) (fish). 1 adult, seen. ca 75 mm TL, ice almost all gone, water clear, high, 0 C, surging. This was the only Animal seen in the water. NO:Necturus visible under the spotlight. Ice is reduced to a few residual crusts along the steepest shores, and the water is 40 cm over the vantage point (whence this fish was seen), with 25 cm waves breaking on the shores. There were places in the eddies where Necturus might have been able to deal with the current, but the lateral surges would have dislodged them from the precarious grip they manage to get on the bedrock.
Two large families came to Mudpuppiy Night, so with FRC, RMR, ( & familes) and Don Mc Alpine sluicing and browsing in the Brigadoon (they said they'd seen water before, and didn't come down to look into it), we had the most participants, ca 20, we've had at a Friday Mudpuppy Night all winter.
10 March 2000
Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5 44.96486N 75.67863W. TIME: 2001-2030ca. AIR TEMP: -5, overcast, breezy. HABITAT: brown-water creek@limestone flats blw old milldam. OBSERVER: Frederick W. Schueler, Jennifer Helene Schueler, Laurie Consaul, +. 2000/045/d, Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). 2 adult, seen. ca 18 & 20 cm TL, among cobbles in E eddy, water fairly high. The logs have been replaced in the dam with one fewer in the central spillway, so the main current runs down the middle of the area, and the E and W eddies are of about equal strength and width, water is also thinly flowing over the bypass spillway on the W side of the dam. About 20 cm of water over the vantage point (about half the depth there was last week). Ice is forming in knobs and lumps along the shores (so water was 0 C), and small chunks are coming over the spillway. The water level is still falling.
This is the first time this year we've been able to wade in the E eddy, and as last year, when there's high water this is the place to find Necturus. These were crawling among rounded rocks in 50 cm of water, but had the current been any stonger they likely couldn't have kept their grip on the bottom.
Two parties of visitors to Mudpuppy Night, most of whom were able to see one of the Necturus from the E shore. Snow beginning to fall as we left the Brigadoon at 2130 hr.
Next winter 2000-2001 Back to Mudpuppy Night