Diario del proyecto Archibald Lake, Guysborough County

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

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

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

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