I’ve seen worse storms. I’ve seen worse damage (tree falling for instance). But this storm this past weekend was ridiculous. lightning strikes felt as if they were hitting the trees on our property. And we got an inch of Hail in about 15 minutes of time, that looked an awful like snow from the east coast but felt like pellet shot from a gun. I’ve never seen a hailstorm like that before. And the hail lasted until the afternoon the next day.
In the middle of the night after the storm had long past, I suddenly thought of the ospreys roosting on their nest. The next morning we went out there to see if the osprey at Villa Grande was okay. The female was still in her nest and she responded to my calls so I think she was all right. But today when I went by the nest she wasn’t in it. She might have lost her eggs. I hope not. And until the river clears up I won’t be able to check on the other nests I know about.
If this was the middle of the winter I wouldn’t mind soo much but because this is our spring, I’m getting annoyed that I can’t get out on the river. An early Shad run is out of the question and so is bass spawning with the cold the rain and hail brought. Not that I will actually be able to tell if there is a shad run because the River is high and muddy. If the river system was a healthy one the mud would clear up in a day (the creeks already have flushed to a nice green) but because of Human disturbing the equilibrium the river stays muddy for weeks. These things are unhealthy for fish and fish egg developement.
To understand further how man has disturbed this equilibrium (and not that the disturbance wasn’t a necessity but equal work that was used to destroy what the river was is needed to help fix the river) please take the time and buy and read, “Totem Salmon” by Freeman House, which talks about the Matole River here in CA. Every Naturalist, Biologist, and government official who has anything to do with River health and safety Should/Must read this book. Very well written.
Hail anybody:
What deck?
Must always collect some Hail for Woo-wooness
wow, that’s some hail. we had something like that a couple months ago. dramatic for sure.
especially after having had a tree branch drop in your backyard, i’m sure.
it was surprisingly virulent down here. totaled 1.5 in, i believe. everything is drooping over so much cause they have already had a growth spurt and are even flowering like crazy, and now soaking wet. driving down the road is like a green and yellow tunnel in places.
By: mike on April 14, 2010
at 8:45 pm
Yeah it dramtic to say the least.
I’m really worried about all the nests. I don’t think the birds who were out in the open could go unscathed and would have to seek shelter. So those who have had early eggs, even if the eggs survived all that hail would’ve dropped the temperature in the nest. River was way to high to get to the beach today. maybe tomorrow I will see if the female osprey is around.
Bro’s going to be up but no fishing. Thank gawd we got bio-shock 2 and some movies ha!
By: tavvi on April 14, 2010
at 9:35 pm