Increasing Volumes, But Still Early

Counted 82 herring in 10 minutes at Mill Pond at 5:00 today as the daily volumes continue to grow. The record for a 10 minute count was 241 on day 11 of the run last year [we're on day 7 today].

Most high counts occur between 3:00 - 5:00 [look at the hourly percents at the bottom of the spreadsheet linked to at "schedules and counts" at the right]. So if you want to watch the Herring at their best that would be the time. I'm going to stick my neck out and say the peak days will be April 29 through May 1.

All counts have been scheduled through 05-23. That's 35 days in total, counting 9 times a day at 2 locations for a total of 630 counts.

We have a couple of counters that we're holding in reserve to cover unexpected problems, so while a couple of weeks ago we were concerned about have enough people, we're in great shape now. Yesterday I found Lorna at the Mill Pond Herring Run - she's going to count 80 times!

Early Numbers Disappointing Vs Prior Years

While we're still very early into the run, here's where we are after 4 days compared to the same relative day in prior years:

• 2009 = 266
  
• 2008 = 652 [2009 is down 59% from this]
  
• 2007 = 485 [2009 is down 45% from this]
• 2006 = 266 [strangely, exactly the same]

Be careful about drawing any conclusions from these numbers, as they are most likely going to change in the upcoming days.

Note that these numbers are just what has been counted, not a projection of the total Herring that has passed to date.

Notice To Counters...

A reminder that only some counters have received a schedule as yet and that we are [right now] just scheduled through 04-25 [with a couple of counters out longer then that].

If you haven't yet received an email instructing you to count, you won't be counting until at least 04-26.

Schedules will go out later today or tomorrow, but they may be just for the next couple of weeks, with an update to follow. We have to approach the scheduling this incremental way as a number of folks [~10] can't count this year for one reason or another and we are scrambling to find counters for the later weeks.

Emergency Repairs To Sluiceway

Yesterday [April 20], we had to make emergency repairs to the sluiceway at Middle Pond. A washout had breached the sidewall causing the soil on the bank to wash into the sluiceway.

Adjustments are being made to the water entering the sluiceway. This is a trial and error process that may take a few days to get running right.

But there were hundreds of Herring heading making it through OK, traveling onward to Middle Pond.

Not enough counts in to draw any preliminary guesses from, but some of the numbers look pretty good. The first few days are always a little sporadic.

Notice To Counters...

Only some counters have been scheduled and they all have been contacted by email today.

We've scheduled out only through 04-25, so if you haven't received an email today about counting this week, then you won't be counting until next Monday [04-26] at the earliest.

Additional schedules will go out in a few days and they may be also be only through a certain date in the future.

The reason for this approach is that I need to use those people who have already completed their paperwork to fill all the current counting needs and then fill later weeks with the late paperwork and the new counters.

We're looking for additional help to count in future weeks.

They've Arrived!!

At 2:00 today, Herring in good quantity at Mill Pond.

Note To Our Counters:
We'll start counting Sunday morning [April 19].

We'll use the standby counters for the first day or two and then all other schedules will be invoked [though you all may not be counting right away].

Please watch for an email that your schedule has been completed!

The Sentinels Of Mill Pond

This is the first day the gulls have been here, in position and waiting. A sure sign the Herring are coming very soon, perhaps this afternoon or tomorrow.

Below is Haley, who stopped by for a look today, and also some visitors from Falmouth pausing on their way down Cape.

Still Nothing To Report

Today is a beautiful day...
The sky is blue...
The air has that fresh smell of spring...
The sluiceway has been repaired...
The water temperature is just right...
The counters are standing by...
The osprey are anxious...
The gulls are waiting too...
Yours truly is checking 3-4 times a day...
People are stopping by Mill Pond, looking, waiting...
Everyone reading this Blog is wondering too...

Where ARE they???
.

Lonely At The Ladder

Nothing to report, water at 58F at 3:00 this day.

A Note To Our Counters:
We haven't sent out schedules yet as we didn't want to begin the counting until the Herring started [pretty good idea, huh?].

We have a couple of flexible people that are standing by to count on short notice and we'll use them to cover the first couple of days when the migration starts. [Yes - they should get a life]

As soon as it starts we'll get your schedule out to you. So this means that you won't have to count until at least a day or two after you see a post here that says we've started. Sorry to keep things up in the air, but this is the best use of people's time.

Also, we've had more than a couple of folks that will be unable to count this year and we're going to have to find replacements. We do recruiting at the run at Mill Pond while it's active and have had good success finding additional help that way.

But this means that those who have already submitted their preferences and availability will be "front-loaded" into the first couple of weeks [instead of spread out over the entire run] and the new recruits will be used in later weeks.

BTW: Don't be afraid to ask someone you know to volunteer to help in the counting!

Fishless In The Mills

Checked at 11:00, 2:00 & 4:00 - water temperature was mid 50's+, but still no Herring.

Emptiness At Mill Pond...

Today at 12:45 the temperature was 47, not a Herring anywhere...

Checked yesterday at 12:00 and 3:30. The temperature was 48-49, with no fish in sight.

Nothing!

Checked Mill Pond today at 11:00, 2:00 & 4:00. Water temp was 47-49, no Herring observed.

Nothing New...

Checked at 10:30 and 12:30: water temperature is good [55], but no Herring.

Traveled further down-stream to some gathering pools, no activity.

No Herring In Sight

We've been checking several times a day now, as the water temperature at Mill Pond has been in the mid to high 50's, which is above the 51 that the Alewives like.

But this reading is at Mill Pond and doesn't reflect what it is down-stream, like at Prince Cove.

A reliable precursor is the screeching of the aptly name Herring Gull. The only time they're heard at Mill Pond is when the Herring are migrating. These gulls know the locations where the fish are most vulnerable [where the water is shallow] and can be seen and heard fighting over the good spots on the first day the Herring arrive.

So far, we have 38 people that have enrolled to count this year. We haven't scheduled them as yet [will in the next day or so] as we don't want to waste their time until the Herring are running. We have a handful of counters that are ready on short notice to cover the first couple of days when they show.

We will always need help in counting and other tasks, so if you're interested or know of anyone that is, click on the link at the right.

We'll be updating this blog on a regular basis now as the Herring are due any day. Their arrival dates in prior years were:

• 2008 - April 10
• 2007 - April 20
• 2006 - April 12

A-h-h-h! Spring Is In The Air!

We're starting the planning process for counting herring for 2009 and will have a meeting Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 4:00, at the Burgess House, 559 Route 149, Marstons Mills, MA. [map]

This meeting is not specifically on the Counting Project, but more about checking the river for any impediments and resolving them before the run. All are welcome to attend, especially if you'd like to help in the [light] physical work that may need to be done to prepare for the migration.

The Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission has continued the moratorium on the taking of herring though 2011 [story here].

We'll be running the count pretty much the same as 2008 with the collection of some additional data, like water temperature.

We're always looking for counters [we did 684 counts last year]. If interested click here to get more information.

Counting To Cease May 17

The daily counts are down to a trickle and there's little sense in counting any longer, so we'll stop at the end of the day Saturday May 17.

Many thanks to all that have helped in the program this year and it's gone very smoothly - a credit to all of you that did the work!

I'll be sending a newsletter out recapping what's transpired and if I've communicated to you via email in the past then you'll receive it automatically.

If you'd like to get on the email list for the newsletter go here, then click on the link beneath Herring Counting Project, complete the form and put "newsletter only" in the comments section.

I'll post the final projections here as soon as I receive them back from the state [in about a month or so] but the regular postings on this blog are just about done for the year.

See you in March 2009!

Winding down...

Volume is really trailing off now and we'll perhaps stop counting the end of this week or there abouts.

Up And Down Counts

Volumes are up and down on a day-to-day basis.

At Mill Pond there was a spike on Wednesday May 7 of at least 215 counted [a couple of counts not yet posted] and then a big drop-off the next day down to at least 78 [also a couple of counts not yet posted].

It hard to see a trend here - it always is when you look too closely...

They're B-a-c-k!

An ad-hoc count taken at Mill Pond Station today at 4pm yielded 61 herring in 10 minutes, which is three times the median count taken for this time of day through the first 18 Days of the Run.

And although some counts haven't yet been posted, 61 almost matches the total that was counted for all of the times we counted in the last 7 days.

So, we'll be counting for a while longer...

Huge Drop-Off In Volume

Things seem to have came to a screeching halt on Sunday, April 27th.

If you look at the spreadsheet with the numbers for the run [the link at the right at 'Monitor the progress of the run'], you'll see that the counts at Mill Pond Station dropped from 100's a day to almost none, and then with a small pickup in volume a couple of days later.

This could be due heavy rainfall and cool temps we've had. I've been looking at historical patterns on these points to see if there is any correlation to that and this year volumes and in prior years as well. If you're interested, the site Weather Underground maintains some very detailed statistics - see Cape Cod Airfield's numbers.

I've also done some work on the velocity of the water traveling through the pipe under Route 28. The students at Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School did some work on this last year and the concern is that this could be an impediment to the migration. This velocity increases significantly during periods of heavy precipitation.

We'll see what the next few days tell us...