My student Travis and I met NANFA member Joe Scanlan at Emuckfaw Creek in Tallapoosa County, AL, last Friday to look for stippled studfish, Fundulus bifax as part of an ongoing project. We found two exactly where you'd expect to find them, in backwaters of exposed sand bars and in the sun. A university PR guy went with us too who took some good photos. Here's a photo of the first studfish we caught, probably a subadult female with an inch bar for scale:

And here's the three of us wrestling with the seine, l-r Joe Scanlan, myself and Travis:

For you history buffs, this site is very close to the Horseshoe Bend battlefield where the Creek Indians almost got Andrew Jackson in 1817 (if I remember correctly). The irony is that Jackson was saved by his Cherokee soldiers.

For you history buffs, this site is very close to the Horseshoe Bend battlefield where the Creek Indians almost got Andrew Jackson in 1817 (if I remember correctly). The irony is that Jackson was saved by his Cherokee soldiers.

Wasn't Jackson the one who sent the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears?
Oh, that must be where the irony is.

For you history buffs, this site is ....

where the dogs were ???

where the dogs were ???

Oh, now I get it on the second read. No, we've never found dead dogs at this site even though it has a dirt road that you can drive on right under the bridge if you were so inclined for your ritualized dog execution. But it is close to the more popular dog execution site at Hillabee Creek. Luckily we haven't encountered any executed dogs in Tallapoosa County since February. And this in spite of the fact that Irate hasn't posted his signs prohibiting the shooting of dogs.

That's exactly why you haven't seen any - there's no sign saying NOT to do it, so no dead dogs (q.e.d.)!

Oh, now I get it on the second read. No, we've never found dead dogs at this site even though it has a dirt road that you can drive on right under the bridge if you were so inclined for your ritualized dog execution. But it is close to the more popular dog execution site at Hillabee Creek.

Ah, I was confused, I guess I got the two sites flipped in my mind.

I re-visted both those sites two months ago hoping to get some bronze & greenbreast darters, but didn't even get my net wet there ... it pretty much was pouring everywhere, and had been for a day by the time I got there. I got out to look at the Hillabee, so I got soaked even if the net didn't. And happily did not see or detect any dogs. Then drove slowly over the Emuckfaw Bridge but didn't even go down .... water was very high. But next time I get up there I'll know to be on the lookout to avoid bifax.

Didn't take any px there ... as I said it was raining hard ... but here's what a site many of you may know looked like the previous afternoon .... here's the little dam/ford at Paint Rock at Estil Fork / CR-140. When I drove up the big darter dudes were surfing the standing wave but I got too close and they (laughed loudly and then) scattered. 90 seconds after my arrival the real deluge (re-?)started. Which is pretty much how the whole trip went, wet wet wet and flooded flooded flooded. (And still it was not un-fun, in its own way. We are odd, aren't we?)