Comments on: another mudpuppy night at oxford mills http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/ a place where nature, photography and writing meet Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:48:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: burning silo http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/comment-page-1/#comment-28609 burning silo Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:47:38 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/#comment-28609 Clare - Yes, pretty darn cool indeed! I froze my hand up a bit to get those photos and the little movie clips! I had to scoop some debris off the top of the water and that was it -- from then on, my fingers were freezing. Next time, I'll bring a soup ladle along to clean up the water surface before I start shooting! Interesting about the mudpuppy up at Roblin, MB. I checked the range map on the NatureServe website, and you're quite right - it looks as though the known range doesn't extend that far north. (*** Edit to this post: I just received this note from Fred Schueler regarding known range of mudpuppies: <i>that map's out of date -- the known range (in Andrée Gendron's draft COSEWIC report, at least) extends to the Shellmouth dam and Lake of the Prairies, west of Roblin).</i> For anyone interested in checking the range - well, the range *before* the revision mentioned in my edit), go to <a href="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Necturus+maculosus">this link</a> and click on "expand" in the bar marked "Distribution". The range map is the second map down (the one marked in purple). Clare – Yes, pretty darn cool indeed! I froze my hand up a bit to get those photos and the little movie clips! I had to scoop some debris off the top of the water and that was it — from then on, my fingers were freezing. Next time, I’ll bring a soup ladle along to clean up the water surface before I start shooting!
Interesting about the mudpuppy up at Roblin, MB. I checked the range map on the NatureServe website, and you’re quite right – it looks as though the known range doesn’t extend that far north. (*** Edit to this post: I just received this note from Fred Schueler regarding known range of mudpuppies: that map’s out of date — the known range (in Andrée Gendron’s draft COSEWIC report, at least) extends to the Shellmouth dam and Lake of the Prairies, west of Roblin).
For anyone interested in checking the range – well, the range *before* the revision mentioned in my edit), go to this link and click on “expand” in the bar marked “Distribution”. The range map is the second map down (the one marked in purple).

]]> By: Clare http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/comment-page-1/#comment-28604 Clare Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:36:06 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/#comment-28604 Pretty darn cool post Bev (pun sort of intended). I've never seen a mudpuppy in person, they just haven't lived where I have. Although there was one caught by an icefisher a few years back in Roblin MB my home town, well out if it's known Manitoba distribution. Pretty darn cool post Bev (pun sort of intended). I’ve never seen a mudpuppy in person, they just haven’t lived where I have. Although there was one caught by an icefisher a few years back in Roblin MB my home town, well out if it’s known Manitoba distribution.

]]> By: burning silo http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/comment-page-1/#comment-28592 burning silo Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:37:10 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/#comment-28592 Fred - Thanks for posting your field notes for last Friday. It's nice to have them here with the post. I've edited a link to the notes into the main post. Fred – Thanks for posting your field notes for last Friday. It’s nice to have them here with the post. I’ve edited a link to the notes into the main post.

]]> By: Frederick W. Schueler http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/comment-page-1/#comment-28520 Frederick W. Schueler Tue, 30 Jan 2007 04:56:34 +0000 http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/01/27/another-mudpuppy-night-at-oxford-mills/#comment-28520 ======================================================= Field notes of Frederick W. Schueler Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). circa 38 adults, seen, dipnetted, photo. 2007/009/a Canada: Ontario: Grenville County: Oxford-on-Rideau: Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. MAP:31B/13, UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5. 44.96486N 75.67863W 26 January 2007 TIME: 2010-2045. AIR TEMP: -24.5C, clear, calm COLLECTED BY: Frederick W. Schueler, Aleta Karstad Schueler, Matt G. Keevil, Joe Sparling & Jalen, Paul Goulet, Bev & Don Wigney, ++ Field#: 2007/009/a HABITAT: freezing high brown-water creek at limestone flats below old milldam; seen in Mudpuppy Night outing with lights, wading, & photography. One was seen from the bridge before I arrived; 7, mostly small on the W side flats (none seen from Vantage Point) mostly along shore in floating beds of ice crystals and little pans; about 25, both large and small, on the east side flats; 2 up near the spillway; and 3 exposed when a 2x8m floating slab of grey-slushy ice was pushed out of the east side calm spot, under the trees, and out into the current. The water was steaming, since it was so cold and there was no overall ice cover, just ledges of ice 2-3 m out from the banks. The water was very clear, though fog often obscured the view of the Mudpuppies. The shore end of the Vantage Point ledge is now thickly shouldered with ice, and the exposed rock is under about 5 cm of water pouring over it, with the rock about 5cm above the level of the water below it. The current from the spillways is slanted over towards the west side, so there's no calm central eddy on the west side, but big areas of moderate current on the east side, where the Mudpuppies were lined up on the bottom as if it finally really was January: the air temperature is 29C colder than it was 2 weeks ago! Bev & Don Wigney brought aquaria and cameras, to take pictures, which Bev has posted as this blog entry. The pond above the dam is solidly frozen over, and there's substantial ice on the spillways, though we didn't take proper notes on the spillways. ======================================================= Determined by: F.W.Schueler; Site accuracy: 100m blw dam; Coordinates from: map reference location, datum UTM NAD 27 Canada & Lat-long WGS 84; EOBase entry: FWSOBS FWS/2007Jan29/2310:24; source: FWS/biography/as entered/EOBase; record last modified: FWS/2007Jan29/2343:23. ======================================================= Bishops Mills Natural History Centre ======================================================= =======================================================
Field notes of Frederick W. Schueler

Necturus maculosus (Mudpuppy). circa 38 adults, seen, dipnetted, photo. 2007/009/a

Canada: Ontario: Grenville County: Oxford-on-Rideau: Oxford Mills Dam, Kemptville Creek. MAP:31B/13, UTM 18TVE 464.5 790.5. 44.96486N 75.67863W

26 January 2007 TIME: 2010-2045. AIR TEMP: -24.5C, clear, calm

COLLECTED BY: Frederick W. Schueler, Aleta Karstad Schueler, Matt G. Keevil, Joe Sparling & Jalen, Paul Goulet, Bev & Don Wigney, ++ Field#: 2007/009/a

HABITAT: freezing high brown-water creek at limestone flats below old milldam; seen in Mudpuppy Night outing with lights, wading, & photography. One was seen from the bridge before I arrived; 7, mostly small on the W side flats (none seen from Vantage Point) mostly along shore in floating beds of ice crystals and little pans; about 25, both large and small, on the east side flats; 2 up near the spillway; and 3 exposed when a 2×8m floating slab of grey-slushy ice was pushed out of the east side calm spot, under the trees, and out into the current.

The water was steaming, since it was so cold and there was no overall ice cover, just ledges of ice 2-3 m out from the banks. The water was very clear, though fog often obscured the view of the Mudpuppies. The shore end of the Vantage Point ledge is now thickly shouldered with ice, and the exposed rock is under about 5 cm of water pouring over it, with the rock about 5cm above the level of the water below it. The current from the spillways is slanted over towards the west side, so there’s no calm central eddy on the west side, but big areas of moderate current on the east side, where the Mudpuppies were lined up on the bottom as if it finally really was January: the air temperature is 29C colder than it was 2 weeks ago!

Bev & Don Wigney brought aquaria and cameras, to take pictures, which Bev has posted as this blog entry.

The pond above the dam is solidly frozen over, and there’s substantial ice on the spillways, though we didn’t take proper notes on the spillways.
=======================================================
Determined by: F.W.Schueler; Site accuracy: 100m blw dam; Coordinates from: map reference location, datum UTM NAD 27 Canada & Lat-long WGS 84; EOBase entry: FWSOBS FWS/2007Jan29/2310:24; source: FWS/biography/as entered/EOBase; record last modified: FWS/2007Jan29/2343:23.
=======================================================
Bishops Mills Natural History Centre
=======================================================

]]>