Google Map
Description
Join the Purcellville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the Purcellville Tree and Environment Sustainability Committee, and the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s Stream Team to catch and count creek critters at the Chapman DeMary Trail. Certified stream monitors from the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy will lead this fun activity that gives students, scouts and others a chance to be citizen scientists and help determine the health of the South Fork Catoctin Creek. Dress appropriately for getting in the creek. Register online to participate, using the Tickets link.
Small critters that live on the bottom of streams are good indicators of water quality. These critters are called benthic (bottom dwelling) macroinvertebrates (organisms without backbones that can be seen without a microscope); some don’t tolerate polluted waters, and others do. During this activity, participants will use large nets to catch the creatures, bring the nets to tables, look for the creatures in the nets, sort them, identify and count them, then release them back into the creek. The experts from Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy will guide the activity, and using the data collected by the participants, will make calculations to determine what the creatures indicate about the health of the creek. In the past, an interesting variety of creatures have been found, including water pennies, dragonfly larvae, mayfly nymphs, and crayfish.
Who
Kids
How
Register online:
