We spent the last two summers volunteering at Green Lake National Fish Hatchery in Ellsworth, Maine. Both years were wonderful experiences. The staff is the best we’ve ever worked with, we had a variety of jobs to work on, the area is beautiful and our RV site was very nice and secluded.
Fred was the biologist we worked with the most and he had a lot of ideas of things he wanted us to do.
We have kept in touch with Fred and this morning he sent
some pictures.
Last summer we made 12 bluebird houses, attached them to poles, and set them in the ground in two different areas of the hatchery. (See Blog Post June 24,2019 - If You Build It Will They Come?)
Fred wrote that Bluebirds have set up housekeeping in one of the houses and Tree Swallows are staking out another house. It’s great to see that they have found the houses the first summer available!
We spent two summers putting in pollinator gardens (two the first year and two the second year). (See Blog Post August 28, 2018- Pollinator Garden)
Our first completed garden.
Due to the bitterly cold winter in between years, our first gardens had quite a bit of plant loss. We replanted the first 2 beds and got the 2 additional beds dug-out and planted in time for a very successful summer. (See Blog Posts August 7, 2019 - OurPollinator Garden and September 20, 2019 - Monarch Success).
Fred sent pictures showing the gardens are popping out and ready for bees and butterflies.
2020. Picture by Fred.
Our first summer we resurfaced one raceway but didn’t have time to get to the others (See Blog Post September 27, 2018 - Offto the Race(way)s!). One of our last projects last summer was to resurface 3 raceways. (See Blog Post August 16, 2019 - Off to the Race(way)s - DejaVue).
After resurface.
Fred sent pictures from this Spring showing the raceways
in use. They look great!
So many times, we leave a volunteer position and never get back to that area. We often wonder if all our hard labor was useful or just a waste of time.
We appreciate Fred taking the time to show us that the fruits
of our labor have been successful!
Teri
What a nice thing for Fred to do, tangible proof that you were appreciated. Although we have maintained good friendships with a handful of volunteers we've worked with, the ranger relationships have pretty much faded over time. They have so many people that come and go, I get it, and we never repeated. Yet, the boss man from Chief Plenty Coupe State Park keeps in touch and we appreciate that. The relationship there has grown over time.
ReplyDeleteIt does vary a lot, doesn't it? We've had staff that never even acknowledged that we were leaving (unusual), most are gracious but we con't stay in touch, but we've had a couple that we do enjoy checking back in with. Fred even visited for a week this winter for some Texas birding!
DeleteI have had similar thoughts d as bout things we have done that are more project oriented. At our very last assignment, I worked on putting up a lot of new fencing. My friends have taken pictures of my work, and it is still holding up well, but the staff, as Serene said, moves on to new volunteers and current issues.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said before, you two are the very best volunteers I have ever met. So much talent and versatility. Any staff would be very lucky for you to chose them as your next assignment.
We have wondered how we would feel if we returned to past places years later and found projects gone to ruin. We generally don't know what happens to things we leave behind, do we?? Thank you for the kind words about our volunteering. We do enjoy it!
DeleteThis would have been our 12th (maybe 13th) year to return to ANWR in Maine. Circumstances are such that, while our motorhome is still there, we cannot return this summer. But since everything else in our life also is "on hold", and there's nothing we can do to change it, we're just hoping the world sees some positive changes and next year and will be better. Meanwhile, we're seeing new birds (for us) here as we've never lived here during the summer months. A good thing... the manager at ANWR has sent us some photos of the projects we worked on last year and how they came through the winter. The fish weirs are especially rewarding. So... I'm glad you are getting good news from your places as well. Keep in touch!
ReplyDeleteWe’re disappointed that we have had to change a lot of our plans this summer but we’re grateful we have a safe, comfortable place to stay while we wait this out.
DeleteWhen we were at Santa Ana NWR we planted many small tree saplings and watered and cared for them only to find out that the next summer the maintenance staff just mowed them all down instead of mowing around them! I guess sometimes it’s better to not know.
Teri, there are three left from your planting. It was a lot of work. But since we are here and the maintenance volunteer a this summer, the campground is getting mowed and weedwacked regularly while time permits while working for LRGV NWR.
ReplyDeleteReading your blog, we feel so bad we had to postpone our plans for the summer. We really look forward to hitting the road in the Spring when this health crisis in over.
Are you staying in Texas for the time being? Our Refuge is still closed, but we have been given the approval to return to checking the properties and making repairs.
I’m so glad to hear that some of the trees have survived! Thank you for taking care of them. I remember when we planted them around your site that yall were out watering them and taking care of them.
DeleteDo you think you will try to get to Maine next summer? We should be hearing from Jordan River pretty soon. We might have some decisions to make.
Yes, we plan to go next year. We felt so bad postponing, but felt it wasn't safe to drive there this summer.
DeleteI'm glad to hear yall have rescheduled. Hopefully things will be back to normal by then.
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