Birdy Day

We were greeted by a low fog hanging over Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge this morning. By 8am the fog had lifted and we had clear, fall like weather and found 54 species of birds. Zena and Joan each added two birds to their life lists. Checklist of Birds Seen Today

Will, Zena, Kathy and Joan with something good.

Will, Kathy, Larry, Zena hiding behind Joan
 Survey Team off to a foggy start.

Wood Frog near Maintenance Shop. 

Pulling Posts with Kevin

There are many rusted posts along the Concord River that used to mark the boarders of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. These posts are a navigation hazard so
my Grandson Kevin and I have been pulling them using a 7,000 pound capacity truck jack, some chain and a little ingenuity

Kevin demonstrating our technique.

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Our collection of posts. All of the metal posts were buried 6' deep. 

Kevin's a great helper, especially shoveling gravel into our truck. 

He's also good at prying field stones out of the trails. The resulting holes are filled with gravel.

Here we are ready to launch a kayak in the Concord River to look for more rusted posts.

The red line in the upper right corner shows our route and the numbers indicate the location of posts found. Notice that after #022 the red path enters vegetation.

We noticed the apparent outflow from the refuge and decided to try to make our way back into the refuge by going straight ahead.

The way got tighter as we entered the Button Bush.

It also got shallower.

We missed our destination by 100' and dragged the kayak overland. This kayak is designed with a flat bottom so you can step in and out in fairly deep water.

Stuck in the Mud

 

Today I helped Ziggy who was dredging the water control ditches in the Upper Impoundment at Great Meadows NWR. We discovered that new arrived piece of equipment called a Marsh Master does not work well (or at all) in mud. We had to use the winch to get back on dry land.  

Busting Rocks with Kevin: Part 2

Back to finish off the rock we started to work on last week.
Kevin studying a seam.

Satisfying moment after quite a number of blows with the sledge hammer

We pulled several old poles using a chain and a truck jack but decided to leave this one with a paper wasp nest for the fall.

We used a leaf blower to sweep the floor of the shop and we mowed the edge of theTimber Trail.

Velcro like seed from the Showy Tic-trefoil take a lot of time to remove.

Marsh Master

A new machine arrived at the refuge today to deal with the American Lotus and excavating the water control ditches and building the "refugia".
It called a Marsh Master.
  

 
Orlando and Chad entering the Upper Impoundment

 
Mower attachment.

Busting Rocks with Kevin

Grandson Kevin joined me again today for a little work at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord MA. We started the day by spreading sand/clay on top of tree roots on the Timber Trail.

Kevin, examining my office cube (storage closet behind the rest rooms).

Learning the fine art of litter pickup.

Before

and After sign cleaning with Simple Green.

We watched Chad excavating the drainage ditch in the Upper Impoundment.

After Kevin discovered how to work the truck jack we extracted several old posts.

We used the truck jack and chain to move the rock on the right into a vertical position.

Then Keven busted up the rock with a sledge hammer. The rock on the right awaits our attention next week.
We also:

• Mowed the edge of the Timber Trail, the field by Maintenance Shop and the road to dump area.
• Mounted a "No Entry" sign at the dump area.
•  Disturbed a bunch of bees while filling a muskrat hole. 
• Washed the electric truck.

Kevin Bragg at Great Meadows

On July 12 my oldest grandson Kevin helped me with a few chores at the refuge.
 
We hauled several loads of gravel to fill muskrat holes.

 
Ruth stopped by to say hello as we were about to dump a load of brush.

 
Kevin became proficient with a mop and bucket after we washed the electric truck. Some water had leaked from the utility faucet connection we were using in the rest room.

 
Ziggy demonstrated the ARGO 8-wheel drive amphibious all terrain vehicle.