The FATC Stream Team # 4907 had a good turnout of 12 volunteers on Saturday, Mar. 3rd. Despite the rather brisk temperatures, it was a beautiful day, and they got everything accomplished that they hoped to. Because of the good response of willing volunteers, they were able to split up into two teams of six each, led by Mike Bisaga and Mike Chambers, and cover both of their Bonhomme Creek sites at the same time. This included six new volunteers who had never done this before, and which were spread equally with three newbies per team.
Some of the newbies were long time FATC members and were pleasantly surprised at what a valuable learning experience this was, particularly with the macroinvertebrate survey of the “bugs”. Comments ranged from; “So that’s what they look like!” to; “I’m going to have to re-tie a bunch more now in different colors than what I’ve already tied!” One of the longtime member newbie’s, Alan Blair, summed it up in a nice email to the two Mikes; “Thanks for coordinating the Stream Team events. I wish I had participated earlier.”
In addition to doing the “Bug Shuffle” in the creek bottom in order to collect and survey the macro invertebrates, the teams also did chemical tests to check the water quality, measured the flow rate of water at both sites, and picked up all the trash they could find along a good length of the creek at both sites. If you’d like to help monitor what’s happening in these small creeks that feed and build the large main rivers in Missouri and want to REALLY learn the bugs that the fish are eating, contact either Mike Bisaga or Mike Chambers to volunteer for the next Stream Team outing.
