66 replies to this topic

[Matt DeLaVega]

You guys are great! When the rain gets to the point that you are confined to a tent, games over. Time to head to the house, unless you just solitaire.

[Michael Wolfe]

It wasn't so bad, it was dark and raining and I slept for a while... but a real downpour and I started getting wet, so I just packed it all in the Jeep and headed for Arkansas.

 

And the clear, clear water and amazing fish were all worth it for the whole afternoon... I didn't get any rain until after the campfire had already cooked my hotdogs, so there was not really much to complain about.

[fundulus]

There was a for-real DarterFest for a period of time in the 1990s mostly with professionals who worked with darters. One was scheduled for April 2001 but was cancelled for lack of pre-registration, and that was the end of it. I tried to tie it in to the 2003 Huntsville convention but got no real interest so I let it slide. The last hurrah was the fabled mushroom roast at Stott's house as recounted by Casper, that involved a day's driving around greater Birmingham looking at rush, vermillion and watercress darters at a range of interesting sites. That doesn't even include the goldfish we found in a spring pool in someone's yard.....

[Casper]

Yeah...

There were real DarterFests populated by ihcthyology students and leaders at one time.  I attended a couple as a new enthusiast and promoted the upcoming Chattanooga NANFA convention.  That was 1997 or 98.  I remember meeting the CFI guys, David Etnier and Larry Page for the first time.  In the evenings were loud ruckus partying, lots of beer and rebel yells and horrible karaoke.  But they were certainly interesting and i heard good speakers, stories and spawning videos... new to my eyes, but the gatherings had NO field trips unless you and a few others were so motivated as i ventured out.  I remember seeing spawning Lampreys near the MS site.  I attended another in KY and saw Barcheeks Darters for the first time and shipped a Devil Dog to Newport, Little Satan.

Our NANFA conventions are much more satisfying.

[Casper]

Contact has been made with Stott via Facebook.  B'ham is home for the Darterfest AND the Stott.  Next year, i think the 4th year, the festival date is unknown unless someone has better info.

Stott is not active with live fishes any more as he prefers fossilized versions.

Unless someone steps forward Stott will be our guide to the creeks and funnelcakes.

[Casper]

Well i spoke too soon.

I did another extended search and found the phone number for the director of the event.  Nice chat.  2016 will be on a Sunday, April 17.  It will be held next to Railroad Park at the Good People Brewery which will feature a Darter Ale.  Belly dancers will return as the mix of Beer and Belly Dancers provides good attendance numbers.  Also featured are locally crafted Fish Kites and hopefully a Fish Float Parade.

What more can we ask for?

[Casper]

 

Found this nifty poster from 2013, kinda styled in the Kelly Mouse San Fran hippy era...

They are looking for a 2016 poster designer.

I plan to attend.  Saturday would be a field day and Sunday the Festival.

Edited by Casper, 12 November 2015 - 06:06 PM.

[Mrfipp]

Tracking all that down was seriously good work, Casper.

[Doug_Dame]

I've put it on my calendar. 

[Casper]

 

Found this 2011 Poster, predating the 2013 festival combining of all 3 listed Darters into the now known Darter Festival.  I keep looking for a 2014 poster but i think it is the same basically as the beer / water 2015 poster.

 

And for here in Chattanooga, 2 hours away we had the Swim the Suck and the Snail Darter 1 mile Sprint. That would be a good race.

Edited by Casper, 18 November 2015 - 05:11 PM.

[Casper]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another reason to attend...

 

A very nice mural of the Watercress Darter in downtown Birmingham just completed by artist Roger Peet and friends.

 

[Isaac Szabo]

That's really cool.

[littlen]

That's a double thumbs up painting. I'd be in favor of graffiti if kids would do more stuff like that rather than illegible words that no one can read.

[MtFallsTodd]

That's outstanding!!!

[Matt DeLaVega]

Those kids will remember that the rest of their lives.

[Casper]

I have made contact with the preserve manager and he has offered some fine hospitality for our visit in 2016.

I have also asked Tom to send Charles an issue of our recent AC and for those NANFans interested in attending the 2016 Darter Festival we are laying some nice groundwork.  We may even have a permitted individual along.

 

 

Casper,

 

Hello! My name is Charles Yeager and I manage the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson, Alabama. My supervisor, Roald Hazelhoff sent me the links you sent him, and I am very interested in your organization. I honestly had no idea it even existed.

 

As you might have noticed, Darter Fest is more of a fun event rather than a strict educational experience. It actually serves as a major fundraiser for our operation here at the Preserve, which is home to at least 7 federally protected species including the 3 darters.  

 

I noticed in the forum posts that you might be coming next year, that is fantastic! If you would like to come out to the Preserve on the Saturday before, I would love to show you around. I could even give you a place to camp out. Please feel free to invite other members of NANFA. This is not an option that I make available to the public, so please let me know if you are interested. Information about TCNP can be found at: www.TurkeyCreekNP.com.

 

Also, every year we host a Spring  BioBlitz for students, biologist, and amateur enthusiast here at the Preserve.  If this is something you think members of your group would be interested in, I would be more than happy to pass along the date for this event when it is decided.

 

Charles R. Yeager Jr.
Manager
Turkey Creek Nature Preserve

 

 

[Michael Wolfe]

Bioblitzing is so cool!  We need to get folks from North Georgia and Tennessee to join some Alabama folks and really do that!  My spring calendar is sometimes packed with other events, but I would like more information about that.  Whattaya say Bruce?  Think we could figure out how to support that?

 

And camping at Darterfest sounds pretty sweet as well... Camping on April 15th and 16th could be a lot of fun.

[Doug_Dame]

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you did not mean to intentionally discriminate against NANFAns of the North Florida variety.

[Michael Wolfe]

Nah, I just don't count on those guys much... you my friend are already a Georgia NANFAn and were included implicitly.  I mean if we start counting total excursions to collect fish and educate folks about native fishes... you are in the top 10 people in our whole state!  So don't be talking crap like you are from Florida... you are mine.

[Casper]

The Birmingham, AL BioBlitz will be the 2 days before the Darter Festival, which will be on a Sunday April 17, 2016.  Thus Friday and Saturday for the BioBlitz.

Here is a Notice from Charles Yeager.

I know Bryce, Doug and Michael have expressed an interest.

Come late March we will need to firm up our plans.

I will let Charles know of our interest.

 

 

 

 

 

The Turkey Creek Nature Preserve will be hosting our Spring Bioblitz this year on April 15th-16th. For those of you not familiar, A BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible. This is a fun and exciting opportunity to come together as a community and share our knowledge and hopefully learn a little along the way.

 

Participants are welcome to come and stay as long as they would like during the 24-hour period. We will have space for camping, and will provide dinner on the night 15th (veggi Chili) and breakfast on the 16th. 

 

If you are an educator, please encourage your students to take part in this! This is really a great opportunity to inspire passion for biological diversity, and we get so few chances to do it in such a relaxed setting.

 

Feel free to invite and share the attached flyer with anyone you think might be interested in attending.

 

To help us coordinate this event, please RSVP by sending an email to Cyeager@bsc.edu and include:

-Participant name (if your an instructor and plan to bring students, an approximated headcount will suffice)

-Anticipated Arrival/Departure time

-Will you be camping? 
-Will you join us for Dinner (4/15) and/or Breakfast (4/16). Do you have any dietary concerns/restrictions we should be aware of? 

-Are you interested in leading groups for a particular field of study?

-What field of study are you most interested in exploring for this event?

This event is always very fluid, with people coming and going throughout the event, therefore there is not a strict schedule of when groups will be going out for any particular outing. We will be sure to have someone to meet all participants at the front gate and let them know what is happening when they arrive. Closer to the date, I will send an email out to anyone who has RSVP's with any outings that have been scheduled.

Here are few outings we would like to see included, if anyone is interested in leading one of these (or have something else they are interested in), please let us know!
-Aquatic Survey (Friday afternoon and/or Saturday)
-Plant Walk (Friday afternoon and/or Saturday)
-Herp Survey (Friday afternoon and/or Saturday)
-Bat Netting (Friday Evening)
-Mothing (Friday Evening)
-Birding (Saturday Morning)
-Mosses/Lichens Survey (anytime)
-Insect Survey (anytime)

 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

 

Hope to see you there!

 

Charles R. Yeager Jr.
Manager
Turkey Creek Nature Preserve
Office : (205) 680-4116
Cell: (205) 317-2913
Email: cyeager@bsc.edu
http://www.bsc.edu/s...turkeycreek.cfm