We are hosting the new Antigonish Field Naturalists for a BioBlitz on Saturday June 18th starting at 10:00 am. Meet at the trailhead and bring a lunch - we will stop to eat at the beautiful beach on Archibald Lake.
Join the St Mary’s River Association on a hike-in Bioblitz at Archibald Lake!
We are going to go twice this spring, to see the variety of species as they emerge from winter rest. Join us for either or both, 11am on April 3rd, and 1pm on May 22nd.
This Bioblitz will take place at Archibald Lake, a unique natural beauty within the St Mary’s River Watershed. At least 300 hectares surrounding the lake is old hardwood forest on drumlin terrain, with mature softwood on the flats. This crown land forest provides outstanding habitat for a highly biodiverse network of species. It is home to the mainland moose population, as well as the endangered wood turtle, and some interesting and vulnerable species of lichen.
Directions: The trailhead is 5km in off Indian River Rd (3.8km from Melrose-Country Harbour Rd, east of 7). https://goo.gl/maps/rUVtgWjEsKi1Lm6U8
Take your time on Indian River Rd, the winter has been cruel to that road!
We hope to see you there!
Liz and Edwin
Please reach out if you have any questions and come prepared for the mud and the bugs!
Elizabeth.jones@stmarysriverassociation.com
We're excited about the #BioBlitz ~tomorrow~ at #ArchibaldLake! Sunny & 13 C - perfect weather for a spectacular 6 km hike. See an #OldGrowthForest and a #waterfall in a beautiful ravine.
It's ON
Inaturalist logged Bioblitz, this Saturday!
240 species, 549 observations! A wonderful day with wonderful people!
Our first bioblitz for Archibald Lake was a fantastic success and we're going to get it going again!
Let's see how many more species and observations we can count, this Saturday, October 2nd, at 10am!
The hike this time will follow a path on foot to Rocky Lake and then onward to Archibald Lake, both integral to the St Mary's Watershed. We will walk through this pristine ecosystem, visiting a waterfall and exploring an old growth forest. The path is blazed but the terrain is difficult, please wear appropriate hiking boots and bring what you need for a lovely day out (water, sunscreen, phone with the inaturalist app ready to use!)
This Sunday, coinciding with World Rivers' Day, we will meet on Indian River Road at the entrance to the hike.
To get there: travel highway 7 to Melrose, turn east onto Melrose-Country Harbour Rd and follow for 4 km until the turn right onto Indian River Rd. Travel just shy of 5km, we will be parked at that spot (drive slowly! it's bumpy!)
Hope you can join us!
Hello everyone,
Unfortunately, the weather is looking pretty dicey tomorrow, the trail becomes quite boggy and floods with the rain, because of this we have decided to put off the Archibald Lake hike and bioblitz until this upcoming Saturday, October 2nd at 10am - if it's still a rainy one next Saturday we'll play it by ear, though with the right gear it can still be a lovely wet wander!
The inaturalist polygon: Archibald Lake - Guysborough County is an open project to add any observations if you'd like to head down there on your own time. Check us out on twitter and instagram @ArchibaldLake for updates and news. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.
See you next Saturday, we hope you can make it and let's hope for a fine day for our accompanying artists and a bit less soggy!
Cheers!
240 species, 549 observations! A wonderful day with wonderful people!
Our first bioblitz for Archibald Lake was a fantastic success and we're going to get it going again!
Let's see how many more species and observations we can count, this Sunday, September 26th, at 10am!
The hike this time will follow a path on foot to Rocky Lake and then onward to Archibald Lake, both integral to the St Mary's Watershed. We will walk through this pristine ecosystem, visiting a waterfall and exploring an old growth forest. The path is blazed but the terrain is difficult, please wear appropriate hiking boots and bring what you need for a lovely day out (water, sunscreen, phone with the inaturalist app ready to use!)
This Sunday, coinciding with World Rivers' Day, we will meet on Indian River Road at the entrance to the hike.
To get there: travel highway 7 to Melrose, turn east onto Melrose-Country Harbour Rd and follow for 4 km until the turn right onto Indian River Rd. Travel just shy of 5km, we will be parked at that spot (drive slowly! it's bumpy!)
After the hike, you're welcome to join us at the St. Mary's River Association Interpretive Centre, on highway 7 near Sherbrooke, where we will be celebrating World Rivers Day with a BBQ and many awesome demonstrations and info.
Hope you can join us!
Wow, we had so much fun on the first BioBlitz we are doing it again! The next one is scheduled for Sunday September 26th at 10:00 am. We hope the trees will be showing off their beautiful fall colours, so the scenery should be spectacular.
We'll see you all early tomorrow morning at 9 on Indian River Rd! I'll have some signs up along the way. Take your time, the road can be rough. It looks like it's going to be gorgeous out, and we may have some extra boats to check out the island, so bring a pfd if you've got one.
We're going to start down the trail, record any and all of your findings on the app, or snap geotagged photos and videos - just make sure to upload them later. Once we've finished for the day (around 1:30) we'll meet up at the St Marys River Association Interpretive Centre down towards Sherbrooke (the salmon museum!) for some light refreshments and to make sure everything's been uploaded if the connection at the lake is sparse.
Hope to see you all there!
Liz
Heya!
A guide has been created! Check out some of the species we hope to find!
Hiked into Archibald Lake today to grab a few photos and ideas, the beautiful lake was spectacular - I'm so excited for you to explore it for yourselves! I also learned a few things that I'll pass along...
Indian River Rd is labelled a Private Road, Logging Operations in Progress. - as it will be Saturday, and this trail has been used for years to access Archibald Lake, I don't think it'll be a problem. It IS rough terrain though, so take things slow, and mind the rocks! PS, there are no washrooms, you've been warned. :)
The 2km hike in is extremely wet, so rubber boots are helpful - or sandals and shorts. The lake is inviting as well, so bring your swim shorts!
Any photos taken on the day, or at the site, or if anyone has any comments or conversations, please use the hashtag #ArchibaldLake so we're all on the same page.
Once we're done for the day, we can meet up at the St. Mary's River Association Interpretive Centre (the Salmon Museum on 7, south of the site, and just north of Sherbrooke) - there are public washrooms to the left of the Centre and we can make sure the uploading goes smoothly and that all your wonderful observations are included!
Cheers,
Liz
Hi everybody!
Just a quick update and reminder that the Archibald Lake BioBlitz is happening in just over a week!
Next Saturday will be a lovely chance to get out with other iNaturalists and nature nerds to explore this serene and spectacular lake and the surrounding wilderness. If you can't make and and want to do some safe exploring on your own time, please don't forget to set the location on inat to Archibald Lake, Guysborough County to have your species counted in this project. Every observation matters!
Depending on how far from the roads we go and the weather on the day, you may not be able to upload your data on site. Cell reception tends to get choppy the further south you head, so if you are having trouble getting a good connection, make sure your location is on when you're capturing photos, videos, and audio, and upload your content onto inaturalist when you get back to your car/find wifi/return to the wired world.
If you have any questions on uploading your photos and audio clips, here is an excellent video explanation from iNat itself
And of course, if you have any questions about set up or uploading I'm always available to help.
See you next Saturday!
Liz
We are excited for you to join us out in the field, contributing to conservation research and feeding our curiosity!
Archibald Lake is in the watershed of Archibald Brook, an important tributary to the St. Mary’s River out here on the Eastern Interior. At least 300 ha surrounding the lake is old hardwood forest on drumlin terrain, with mature softwood on the flats. This crown land forest provides outstanding habitat for a highly biodiverse network of species. It even overlaps with a mainland moose concentration zone!
To get here:
Traveling on NS Trunk Highway 7 between Stillwater and Aspen is the community of Melrose. Turning East off 7 onto Melrose Country Harbour Rd, continue for 3.8 km to Indian River Rd. A right turn onto Indian River Rd and continue 5 km, there will be a trail (rougher terrain) on the right. I'll have some signs up on the Saturday. Park at the signs on Indian River Road, walk half a km in until there is a trail to the left (even rougher terrain and flooding on the path) which is a rocky and wet hike 1.7 km to Archibald Lake.
At 9 am on July 31st, my little silver Nissan with the piping plover on the plate will be parked at the hike-in point 5km on Indian River Rd. (keep going past the twin lakes rd sign)
As is the case with isolated and pristine wilderness, access is limited. But oh, so worthwhile.
Please be aware of ticks – this year is booming for ticks, so dress appropriately! And don’t forget to snap a photo when you do find the little parasitic arachnids!
There’s a wonderful project also on iNaturalist that’s tracking Maritime Ticks.
Bears reside in the area, and though typically not interested in us, please buddy up and make sure you’re Bear Aware. Please share any prints or scat you find. It's all great info.
Don't worry if you and your neighbour are recording the same species, everyone has their own life list, and many photos give better perspectives!
We are insisting on leaving only footprints and taking only photos and sound recordings as detailed in Leave No Trace
Please don’t forget lots of water and bug spray and a packed no-litter lunch.
Thank you for participating in the Archibald Lake BioBlitz, and please join this project for updates and to compare our finds!
Coordinates of the site:
45°13'39.6"N 61°56'59.8"W
45.227675, -61.949945
