May I introduce you to Liz Beaulieu who will share patrolling Zone 4 with Gloria Brennan.
The day was spectacular, at last (!) with sun and low wind. We chose to patrol the southern side of Scribner’s Point and worked our way down into Zone 5. Liz was able to see a good variety of native plants including strands of others that happened to be floating near us (Bladderwort and Elodea.) I introduced her to the patrolling techniques and the equipment we use. She also saw how the Avenza app. will help both Gloria and her to have a record of this patrol’s route.
Liz and I had the great fortune to find a plant close to her home that has not been found yet on Conway Lake in Grid 61, nestled right up against the bottom of a large boulder. Both Don and I feel that it might be Nitella, aka Stonewort, and Amy Smagula just confirmed it. This plant is defined as a multicellular algae, providing habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. And I did see many wiggly animals move about on my dish. Nitella appears to present between a light to dark green in color with forked, bushy branches (1/16-1/8” in diameter) and very soft to the touch. A small strand of this plant was found by Judy 2 years ago at the Conway Beach boat launch, right off the ramp floating in the water.
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