Tug-of-War with Mother Nature

Low water 1Mississippi River Days of Action, trash cleanup and species count

A family has a tug-of-war with a piece of plastic trash during our cleanup on Mississippi River Days of Action, Sat, June 17th (the family won!)

Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 911
"Voice of the Lower Mississippi River" 
Memphis, TN ~ Helena, AR ~  Clarksdale, MS ~ Vicksburg, MS
Photos & Text (c) 2023 John Ruskey

Mississippi River Days of Action featured representation from 1Mississippi, Clarksdale Recycling, Delta Yoga Collective, Spring Initiative After School Youth Program, Delta Blues Museum, Storyworks, Birdeye Farms, and the Library of Congress! And of course the Mighty Quapawz!

Last weekend we celebrated the 2023 1Mississippi River Days of Action with 14 people, 7 adults, 2 youth, 5 river guides, 100s of turtles, fish, birds and mammals, 1000s of minnows and invertebrates, 10,000s of insects!  

Dragonfly rescued from water

The river has been dropping precipitously, close to reaching historic lows for this time of year.  Many landings are unusable.  Fortunately the one closest to Clarksdale (Quapaw Landing) is still user friendly.  Montezuma Landing becomes a dangerous ramp when the river gets 2' HG or lower -- the end of the ramp falls steeply over a concrete cliff into a deep hole.  But the good news is the route from Quapaw is beautiful and full of good exploration, and thriving with wildlife.

Quapaw Landing is a good ramp in low water conditions

Our aim was to have fun, and spend time immersed in mother nature, through the spiritually cleansing power of the Lower Mississippi River. 

Needlenose Gar discovered near blue hole on Island 62

Mississippi River Days of Action was coordinated by the Mississippi River Network, Quapaw Canoe Company in partnership with the Lower Mississippi River Foundation.  On that day we had representation from Clarksdale Recycling, the Delta Blues Museum, Spring Initiative After School Youth Program, and the Library of Congress.

bottom of baby soft-shell turtle, discovered dead along shoreline, here displayed on the bony ectoskeleton of the needlenose gar. Each soft-shell turtle has a unique belly design, much as each of us has a unique fingerprint

Our specific goals during event day were two-fold: 1) trash clean-up and 2) species count.  It was a hot day.  Their river is once again near-reaching historic lows.  Two things -- We were surprised by the lack of trash, and also surprised by the vitality of creation.  Even us crusty old river-rat types Mark River and myself, who have decades of experience on the big river (since 1982).   

A family of Canada geese in the secret back channel of Island 62

We discovered at least 35 species from many different layers of the animal kingdom, with representation in the 1000s, and maybe 10s of thousands (f you include ants, midges, flies, and minnows!). 

Turtle tracks counted as evidence of a living creature

After cleanup we paddled back to shore with only 6 trash bags of mostly plastic trash, things like used plastic water bottles, bottle caps, chunks of styrofoam, plastic barge ropes, plastic bucket lids, remains of a plastic planter, and many other forms of that awful and awfully useful form of man-made convenience.  

Mississippi Map

Species Count, thanks to amateur ornithologist, "Sunflower" Sutton:

Island 62/Island 63 archipelago
Jun 17, 2023
3:18 PM
Traveling
5.80 miles
210 Minutes
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 2.17.1 Build 2.17.3

2 Mourning Dove
3 Killdeer
1 Least Tern
2 Mississippi Kite
2 Red-headed Woodpecker
1 Acadian Flycatcher
2 Warbling Vireo -- Heard singing along banks of Mississippi River at Quapaw Landing. Very common at this location 
1 American Crow
2 Tree Swallow
4 Barn Swallow
8 Baltimore Oriole
12 Red-winged Blackbird
2 Brown-headed Cowbird
2 Common Grackle
1 Prothonotary Warbler
2 Summer Tanager
2 Northern Cardinal
10 Indigo Bunting

Number of Taxa: 18

I also saw one tiger swallowtail butterfly, one American snout butterfly, and a white tailed deer 

Water Moccasins are excellent swimmers!

Driftwood Johnnie's Species Count:

birds:
2 greater egrets
12-20 indigo buntings
30 orioles
2 american crows
20 Canada geese 

fish:
3 foot needle nose gar
100s of small gar
bass

amphibians
100s of turtle heads (soft-shell and hardshell)
dozens of turtle tracks
2 Miss Map turtle shells
1 dead baby soft-shell turtle
cottonmouth snake (swimming in water)

mammals:
dozens of coyote tracks
5 deer
100s of deer tracks

insects:
yellow swallowtail
black swallowtail
harlequin butterfly
10,000s ants, midges, flies, and others

Mississippi River Days of Action featured representation from 1Mississippi, Clarksdale Recycling, Delta Yoga Collective, Spring Initiative After School Youth Program, Delta Blues Museum, Storyworks, Birdeye Farms, and the Library of Congress.  And of course the Mighty Quapaws of Clarksdlae, Miss.  

1Mississippi River Days of Action was coordinated by the Mississippi River Network.  Together, with our neighbors in nearly all ten states the Mississippi flows through or borders, we are taking action to create a healthier River for people, land, water, and wildlife.