Mariaville Falls Preserve

While searching for things to do in this area I came across this short hike to a waterfall that is just down the road (about 20 minutes) from us.

Mariaville Falls Preserve is 123 acres on the Union River.

The trailhead looked a little weedy so we tucked our pants inside our socks, sprayed tick repellent and set out.

There were a few nice, steady, bridges to cross.

Everyone looks good with their pants tucked in their socks!!

The trail follows the river bank with lots of opportunities for pictures.  This is a beautiful place - and we hadn’t even gotten to the Falls!

The trail is wide and well-maintained.    

We saw butterflies in a few of the sunny areas of the trail.

Viceroy

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail

White Admiral

We also saw plenty of these Ebony Jewelwing damselflies along the way. 

We heard the roar of the falls before we could see them. As we rounded a corner they came into view. 

The trail continued to a bench that someone had thoughtfully put next to the falls.

I love to hear the roaring of the water! The water in the Union River is very clear, but is stained with tannin from fallen leaves so it looks brown in the pictures. 

We walked a little farther past the falls before turning around.

An adult Bald Eagle flew up and then back down the river while we hiked. 

The trail is 1.3 miles round trip.  It’s a short, easy hike.

With the timer on my camera we were able to take a picture of both of us in this beautiful area.

If You Build It, Will They Come?

One thing we like so much about volunteering at this hatchery is that there are a variety of projects for us to do.

There are fish projects: feed fish, clean tanks, etc.

There are people projects:  hiking trails, tours, etc.

There are maintenance projects: mowing, painting, lots of motors for tune ups and oil changes, etc.

There are critter projects: pollinator gardens, etc.

A very fun project for us is building bluebird houses.  We’ve built many bluebird houses during our volunteer time and always enjoy it.

The hatchery has some old, rough-sawed, lumber stacked up and we were asked to use it to build bluebird houses.

Normally old wood is hard to use because it’s uneven, warped, rotted, etc.  BUT - we had a wonderful machine at our disposal.  A planer.  I’m not sure why the hatchery has a planer but we made good use of it!

This lumber is 12 feet long.  Much too long to work with.

We cut off the bad ends leaving us with a 7-foot piece to work with.

This wood is rough.

In addition to the planer that is probably 40+ years old, the hatchery just purchased a fabulous new saw.

Mark got the saw all set up. 

In addition to the boards being too long, they were too wide.  Both edges were ripped and straightened.

Then the fun began:  It’s planer time!

The finished product looks great.

Here is a comparison.  Finished on the left, the end that was cut off before we started on the right.

Lots of cleanup.

Cutting out one back, one front, one bottom, one top, and two sides.

Our bluebird house plans called for a new design for the entry hole, an oval.  How do you cut an oval hole?

Two round holes:

And, a little sanding:

With all the pieces ready, it’s time to put everything together.

One house complete.

We’ve completed 3 houses so far and will probably make 3 more.  They will be attached to 4x4 posts.  Even though it’s too late this Spring for the bluebirds to use them, we’ll go ahead and put the boxes out so they will be ready next year.

This is a very fun project!

Dog Days of Summer

Mark and I like dogs and have owned several during our time together.  When we were getting close to retirement and our last dog passed on, we decided not to get another.

There is usually one day a week that one or two staff members bring their dog to work here at the hatchery.    

Meet Jack.  He is owned by one of the biologists and is a Jack Russell Terrier.  As you can tell, he is still a puppy.

Jack just looks like trouble!

Chew bones are ok . . .

Flesh is much better ! ! !

This is Lucy.  Lucy is owned by the Manager and is a Bernese Mountain Dog.  It might be hard to tell buy Lucy is also a puppy!

Lucy is a little calmer (most of the time).

Jack and Lucy get along great.

Jack thinks he’s in charge.

Dogs are fun!!

Happy 1st day of Summer!

Fish Wrangling - I’m Not Kidding

Our little fry have grown enough to be transferred to the large outdoor tanks.  A lot of math is involved determining how many fish it takes to make a pound.

A certain weight of fish is taken from each of the 52 indoor tanks and transferred to either a 20’ or 30’ tank outside.  The large 30’ tanks receive 40,000 fish!

Our job was to help wrangle all the little fish with our little nets and get them into a bucket for weighing.

Two buckets on the scale.

When the tanks start getting low on fish, they get harder and harder to catch.

Round ‘em up!

At one point we had 6 people working on each tank!

Can you guess how many fish in a bucket?

The small buckets are transferred to the large tub to be transferred to the outside tanks.

Move ‘em out!

They will get used to all the extra space soon and will spread out.

Black areas are Atlantic Salmon.