Water, Woods, and Warblers - My Summer at ACAP
Mia, 2025 Summer Student
*Disclaimer: This blog post was prepared in July 2025, before the provincial and municipal land closures took effect!*
The humidity is at 91%. 24°C, feels like 29. There’s an intermittent buzzing floating past my ears every few seconds, another mosquito waiting to land on the back of my neck. My sweaty hands are soaking through my gardening gloves. I pat down the soil around the base of a silver maple sapling and stand, rolling out the knot in my shoulder. I’m tired and hot, and there are still 50 trees left in the bed of the truck. As I grab my water bottle and take a moment to rehydrate, a dull ache creeping through my muscles, I hear a high-pitched “chip” from above. A song sparrow, most likely. I stand still and wait, wondering who else will join in. A chickadee gives out its signature “cheese-burger.” A powder blue dragonfly darts past me, landing on the trunk of a fir tree just long enough for me to snap its picture. I’ve forgotten all about my tired arms and sweaty gloves, and I pick up my shovel, ready to get back to work.
When I accepted a position as a summer field assistant at ACAPSJ, I knew I would get to work outdoors in a variety of places. I come from a marine biology background, so initially I was extra excited about the prospect of intertidal fishing and spotting seals in the Musquash marine protected area. However, as the summer began, we delved into our first round of tree planting and stream assessments, as well as our regular water quality monitoring trips, so I started spending a lot of time in the woods.
ACAPSJ had a variety of projects that involved planting trees this summer, including reforesting empty lots in the Loch Lomond watershed. Planting young trees throughout the watershed helps diversify the age of the forest, which makes it more resilient to wildfires. Increasing the plant cover will help prevent erosion and absorb excess nutrients to keep our source water running clean. For the lakes and streams, we monitor their health by checking them for bacteria and contaminants, as well as measuring the temperature, pH, and oxygen levels. One of the regular trips we take is a hike through the woods between McBrien Lake and Loch Lomond, cutting across trails through the spruce and ferns to reach a particular tributary. We also do stream assessments in waterways across our region, including the Nerepis River and Milligan Brook, which means we walk up the streambed taking notes and pictures of changes in habitat, the presence of fish, and jams of dead trees and debris that can be removed.
A calm morning on McBrien Lake.
I was surprised to find that these days in the woods became my favorites. I loved encountering new animals and plants that I wasn’t familiar with, such as the British soldier lichen I spotted near Braydon Rd., or the pink lady slipper I found near Wells Recreation Park. I heard the songs of a bunch of migratory birds that I don’t normally encounter in my backyard, such as the magnolia warbler and the hermit thrush (pro tip: Merlin Bird ID is a free app that can record bird sounds and tell you who you’re hearing!).
Left to right: my results of a Merlin recording near Rothesay in June; British soldier lichen; Pink lady slipper.
I also got to help out with electrofishing surveys, which was all new to me. E-fishing uses an electrical pulse to momentarily stun the fish so we can scoop them up in nets to be counted, identified, and safely released. We do these surveys before and after removing jams and blockages in the stream, to measure how the fish population responds to the changes in the flow of the water. I was surprised at how quickly I came to recognize so many different freshwater fishes, like blacknose dace, suckers, chubs, and of course, slippery little eels (so hard to catch!). I think the pearl dace is my favorite of them all-- I love how shiny and pink they look in the sun.
Left to right: Pearl dace; Mill Creek; Me, measuring a brook trout.
My summer at ACAPSJ was full of hiking, fishing, and learning. I’ve lived in Saint John for 7 years now, but I feel that I’ve only just begun to truly connect with the land, water, and community that make this region my home. I can guarantee that I’ll be taking all I’ve learned this summer into my life as a new appreciation for our rivers and forests. The woods are a weird and wonderful place -- get out there and start looking at stuff!
