We'll have to discuss more about Field Trips and "when, where, etc..." at meetings, but I thought it would be a good idea to jot down some ideas for places to go ditch -diving as a club. Feel free to post your favorite spots.
Nacogdoches - Plant Materials Center: the forested area has several wet spots and depressions with an array of plants and inverts. It's a long drive, but well worth it if the weather is right.
Chambers County - local farms and ranches: I MIGHT be able to get us onto some private land with access to lots of freshwater wetlands. My favorite hot-spot has been sold and I'm not well-acquainted with the new owner. Definitely can get into the marshes, but I'm not sure what we'd do in saline areas (maybe hunt nerites?...I wouldn't know where to start).
Alexander Deussen Park (NorthEast Houston): the entrance is loaded with lilies and fish and inverts and there are some shallow drainage ditches running through. Lots of marginal plants that could be grown submersed.
This sounds awesome.
But I would need a scuba diving liscence for this, right?
I found out about this club today, so I was a week too late for the meeting.
Enrique, there wont' be any actual "diving". I say "ditch-diving" meaning we go scouting in ditches, shallow marshes, and small pools of water. All you need are some good mud-boots and maybe a dip-net.
Our next meeting is March 26. We'll be meeting at ADG and we'll post more details on it later.
I have a GREAT place to ditch-dive in my backyard!!!!! It's very organic and wet year-round, though rubber boots and gloves might be appreciated
Just kidding; the place we're renting had an oops in the "system" and Melinda is dealing wit hthat today.
How about adding the pitcher plant bog to the list of potential places to check out in case anyone hasn't seen that yet. It looks really productive during the wet season, unlike the dry visit we made that time with Kev and Ryan.
With April approaching pretty fast wereally need to find a destination for a field trip. I am gain for all proposed locations, really the questions are (distance, time invested and what are we looking for).
The forecast is for the drought to persist through June at the least.
The plants that we might be after would be easy to ID in these conditions, but collecting them might result in a bunch of dead plants by the time we get them into our tanks. For that reason I'd think it might be better to go where we know there is water and stay local. It might even be better to push a collection trip to a later date? (Shudder at the thought. )
Field Trip Ideas 
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