Done for another year

Well, we are done for another year.  Not the best year we've had, but far from the worst.  So, thank you to everyone who volunteered and spent their free time counting these little fish that are so important.  If you are still on the schedule, don't worry about counting.  There are no fish anyway!!
I will post the final totals when I figure it out.  If anyone has counts that they haven't reported, please send them on in and we'll figure it all out!
THANK YOU!!!!

Year to year comparison

I did a comparison of the last 3 years, and we seem to be a little slower than the past 2 years.  2012 was a fantastic year for us, so hopefully we can pick up a few more fish in the next few days!!

Underwater fish!

We had another person, Travis Cundiff,  share this video of the fish underwater!  It's so fun to see it from their point of view! This was taken at the flume up at Middle Pond!

The struggle!!!

And here's another video that one of our counters, Jessica Kozik took last week.  You can just see how they struggle to get over!  Thanks Jessica!

They have definitely arrived!

We went up to the flume at Middle Pond yesterday and it was packed with fish!  There were so many fish that they just kept getting pushed back down the flume!

And we took some pictures too!

Some great pictures

One of our counters, Ruth Haas-Castro, took these wonderful pictures yesterday.  As you can see, the fish are definitely here.

They're Here!

On Thursday, April 9th, Amy Croteau from the Department of Natural Resources was working in the flume and saw some fish!  So, she called me and we made the decision to begin the count on Saturday because lovely weather was forecast for over the weekend. We started the count on Saturday, April 11th and it was a slow start.  The water temps were still pretty cool, but as the sun warmed up the water, the fish arrived!  So, we have fish!  On Sunday, they started to come up a little more, so they are definitely here.  As of last night, we had 39 fish come over the white board to be counted!
So, another counting year has begun...

One of our counters, Jessica Kozik took some really nice pictures and I wanted to share them with everyone:

A panoramic view of Mill Pond

Some great views of the area with the counting box, the run, the white board, and the history of the run!

And, if anyone out there takes any pictures you would like to share, please send them on in!  We love pictures!
And Happy Counting!

It's still pretty chilly in the water around here and still no sign of the herring.  I was up at the flume at Middle Pond today, only about 40 degrees water temp.  And there's still plenty of ice around!  And we wait...

Still waiting

So, we're still waiting for the fish to arrive.  We went and took some water temperatures yesterday and the water is still pretty chilly.  It was 43 degrees at Mill Pond and only 39 degrees at Middle Pond.  The flume at Middle Pond still has a lot of ice in it too, so they might not be able to make it into the pond if they tried!

Thanks so much to everyone who has signed up for hours.  But, don't go out to count unless you hear from us!  We're predicting that it may be another week or two before they finally get here. We've been monitoring a buoy out in Nantucket Sound, and it's only 37 degrees out there!! What a long cold winter this has been!!

Another Counting Year is Almost Here!

Believe it or not, it's almost time for the herring to return!!  Hard to believe with all this snow on the ground and these bone-chilling temperatures we've had to endure.  Although it could always be worse; my friend who lives in Burlington, Vermont had 30 below zero the other day! Wow!  How does your car even start in weather like that???

So, we will be having another herring training meeting soon.  If you've counted in the past and would like to count again, or if you've always wanted to give it a try, please attend:

Where:              Liberty Hall - 2150 Main Street -  Marstons Mills, MA 02648

When:               Saturday, March 14, 2015                   1:00 - 3:00 pm

This year, Amy Croteau from the Town of Barnstable's Department of Natural Resources will be joining us to discuss the state of our herring run, as well as new and exciting news about other runs in the town.

If you can't make the meeting, but would still like to be a counter, please send us an email at:
                                         herringcount@yahoo.com                                                                                                                     and let us know!

                                          We hope to see you there!