Thanks to the volunteers that came out on Saturday (4/24) to discuss our plans for helping creating nature trails at the Fish Hatchery site. These volunteers then began the long journey to create a unique nature site for the RGV.
We learned the levee between ponds 6 and 7 is as long as it can go given the trail narrows and won’t allow passage. The levee between ponds 7 and 8 looks promising but we ran into two large ant dens that need to be treated before moving forward.
The trail in front of pond 6 ends at a small water flow area. We will need to search for a pathway further up the south side perhaps closer to the road.
The yellow area on the map is our initial point of attach against the guinea grass, Brazilian pepper, and chinaberry trees. A lot of dead trees visible appear to be Brazilian pepper trees knocked back due to the February cold snap. Unfortunately, they are coming back but now is the perfect time to knock them back completely.
We found evidence of red apple snail eggs. We knocked as many of them as we could into the water.
We did see many examples of the beauty of the site. From minnows, dragonflies, herons, egrets, ducks, and woodpeckers to vines, flowers, and trees including two large Montezuma cypress trees.
Our next work day will be Wednesday (4/28) from 5:30 pm to 8:00ish. We should have some shade by the time the sun is low on the horizon but we will pick our target spot on Wednesday.
