After a short trek through a forested area dotted with mature Skunk Cabbages and Jack-in-the-pulpits, a small group of Stream Team members made their way to the Crooked Run monitoring site outside of Lincoln on a warm May afternoon. They were greeted by a Belted Kingfisher, and a nest of “toadpoles” swimming in a shallow section of the stream.

Toadpoles in Crooked Run (not a misspelling; they are baby toads).
Photo by Amy Ulland

A single 90-second collection net yielded nearly 400 macros, with a wide diversity of 10 different categories including a large number of pollution-tolerant midges and pollution-sensitive mayflies, along with a good number of beetles, black flies, caddisflies and stoneflies. Several water mites were also identified.

Thanks to this diversity of macros with a range of pollution sensitivities, the stream scored a perfect 12 (indicating acceptable ecological conditions) for the second season in a row. You can see more data on the individual site page.

We are grateful to Phil Daley, who has monitored this site for over a quarter of a century, and to landowner Kassie Kingsley, who has allowed Loudoun Wildlife to continue surveying this site. The property is in a conservation easement with the Land Trust of Virginia.

Thanks to team members Susan Schuler, Chris Henke and Helen de Groot for assisting with this survey.

Stream Team members search for macros.
Photo by Amy Ulland

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