I Know Where To Find Blueside Darters

Well, so do other people. But we netted a surprising number of Bluesides yesterday in Estill Fork, more than I've seen before. We're not using them in our current study of darter parasites, and so we were keeping Tennessee Snubnoses, Fantails, Stripetails, Rainbows and Redlines. The Baptist Church site has fast-flowing water over sand and gravel which of course is exactly what the species likes. It's a Tennessee River endemic, and Alabama is where the species is hanging on especially in the Paint Rock River system, and Little Bear Creek in Franklin County. It's biology hasn't been closely studied, so that's something we should maybe do in the near future.

Our power is coming back on in Huntsville this morning, luckily. We were sneaking in and out of the Shelby Center yesterday to pick up and return equipment for our Estill Fork trip. There's one major weakness in the electronic door security system, and lucky for me it's still a weakness so I can get in easily. Hopefully others don't know about it...