Outdoors Maryland; 1405

to This program has been made possible by the members of MPT. Thank you for your generous support. Coming up, listening long to the insistent song of warm summer nights. Happily paddling one of Maryland's majestic rivers, the Patuxans. And taking to the water in search of hope for the Chesapeake, next. Outdoors Maryland is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The N.R. Inspired by nature. The N.R. This is the serenade of a balmy late summer evening. Sounds conjuring memories of lazy long days.

In nature's vast memory, this chorus has echoed for more than 300 million years. Insect songs were already ancient by the age of the dinosaurs. Will Hershberger has been fascinated by natural sounds like these ever since he can remember. The passion began with birds. He's president of the Frederick County chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society. Will pursued training in natural sound recording at Cornell University's famous laboratory of ornithology. His bird, amphibian, and insect recordings are archived at their library of natural sounds. The largest repository of bird songs in the world. Now, with partners Steve Reynolds, Will has produced a digitally recorded identification guide on CD. Of songs of 43 species of crickets and cateids. I guess it's a lot like bird watching, sound recording becomes an addiction, and you try to find as much time to get out and record as you can.

Toward light summer and autumn, the bird stopped singing. The frogs have stopped singing. But the insects are really making a lot of noise. So I thought, well, I'll try recording insects. It wasn't until the age of digital recording that Will was finally satisfied with the fidelity of his insect recordings. It is kind of funny that in order to get a really representative sound of something like a singing insect, a very primitive sound, you have to have state-of-the-art equipment for the fidelity to be high enough for it to sound as real as it does. Is it real or is it memory? One of the interesting things about this digital era is being able to separate species that sound really similar to one another. And in this example, the first one is Allard's ground cricket, and the second is tinkling ground cricket. If you look at sound spectrograms of the calls, you can distinctly see that they're different, even though they sound similar.

Seeking out the insects to record is part of the irresistible lure. World-wide, there are thousands, tens of thousands of species of orthopteran. Orthopterans are the flat-winged insects, crickets catedids. There's false catedids and menograsshoppers and all this that are orthoporants. And in this area, there are probably hundreds or thousands of species, but the ones that really sing loud, and that you could track down and find and have a chance of identifying or between 40 and 45 species. During the day, these insects are often very well hidden, trying to stay away from predators. Most of them are active only at night. This is a fast-calling tree cricket, olecanthus, cilarinictus.

It's one of the few tree crickets that can be active during the day, actually singing and attracting mates and hunting. Most people when they hear the word cricket think of the big, dark, shiny, round-headed crickets that you see in and around the house. But there are many, many different forms. They can be leaf mimics, they can look like pieces of twig, and even some of the really tiny bush crickets produce an unbelievably loud sound. This is oblong wing Katie did. It's an inhabitant of open woods, and they typically sing the evening. They ever winter as eggs, and once it gets warm, so it would be mid to late spring, they hatch, and they go through, it depends on the species between five and fourteen end stars.

An end star would be a developmental stage. Once it gets so big it has to shed its exoskeleton, and then grow into the next one, and grow into the next one. There it's going to sing for us. So once they grow up, the males will sing. In the singing insect sound is used for attracting mates. There are special songs that are given if another male of the same species is in your territory. Then some of the females will also produce sounds when they're in the proximity of a male, or they're being attacked by something, but it's nothing like the actual calling song or mating song of the males. The wings that you see are actually wing covers, and they are modified for sound production. The dark area has a file, and the wing cover underneath of it has a scraper, and right up here at the front is a bright green ridge. That's where the file is.

The scraper is on the wing cover below it, and it drags across that file, and it sets into motion these windows on both the upper and lower wing cover. That's what amplifies the sound, so that it carries for incredible distances when you think of the size of this thing. If you look at this front leg on both front legs right before the joint is a swelling, and that's the ear. That's what they use to hear. The arthopterans branched off from a common ancestor, it's about 360 million years ago. In the fossil record, there appear to be files and scrapers, so if you're producing sounds, you have to have a hearing organ as well, so they must have developed sound and hearing very closely to one another. This is a Katie did, it's a short leg shield bear, has that robust kind of linebacker look to it. It's one of the nastier looking of the arthopterans around here.

It looks like it could really bite, but they typically don't. Every day in the leaf litter, it very slowly as it gets dark, it crawls up through the vegetation, then starts singing. You notice that the wing covers on this insect are very small, and yet it still produces quite a bit of noise. They can be heard along the roadsides, just rattling away from the golden rods, the vegetation like that. Under cover of darkness, crickets and Katie did strike up their chorus altogether. Honing in on one bug in the big night requires uncommon skill, stealth, perseverance. Wills the one to answer the call. I guess learning the insect sounds is a lot like learning bird songs, it's just repetition or repetition.

One of the real keys is to listen to an insect singing approach it slowly and carefully, and actually see it singing, capture it, and identify it. If you do that a couple of times, it really sinks in. This sound is the brass good cone head Katie did, or common motor Katie did, or whatever. Do I still run into things that are new? There's always a challenge. It will take them away. One week, to slowly, methodically, happily, paddled 42 beautiful miles from Upper Marlboro to Brooms Island. Gathering together today, these canoeists and kayakers are dropping in for day one of the first annual Potucks in sojourn.

Their goal, to paddle their way south and east along this most famous Marlboro River, and finish it with a legendary Potuckson rite of passage. Bob Murphy, sojourn coordinator, works with the Alliance for the Chesapeake. The Alliance has been working on the organizing of Susquehanna sojourn for 11 years now, and it's been such a normal success. We realized, wait a second, the Chesapeake Bay has many tributaries that can support sojourns. Let's move it down south, let's move it into Maryland. Once we did that, we decided that the Potucksons the natural choice. It's part of the stewardship that we like to impart on sojourns and also journs. This, the theme of this one was restoration habitat, and to understand the continuum that a river is. It's not just the body of water.

It's the adjacent lands. It's the adjacent habitats. It's what's below the water. It's everything. It's a cultural history. Day one was interesting from my perspective for one thing. We went from a non-tidal river to a tidal river, and that's a neat change. It's always kind of a guessing game when we're not there. Are we in tidal portion yet? Or, you know, just tell because of the winds or whatnot. So that was fun, and the river starts to widen. The landscape changes from a contiguous forest to start getting a lot of marshes, and the bird population changes. During the sojourn, Candace Morelle will help coordinate several SAV plantains. She works for the Academy of Natural Science. So lots of osprey, great blue heron, of course red winged blackbirds, things like that. Saw turtles, saw snakes. We found a green darner dragonfly. We named him at his, he was our mascot for the whole trip.

He was, unfortunately, he hadn't met his demise, but he was beautiful anyway. I haven't spent a week on the water before. So this was, I spent a couple days, but not a week, and that's a long time to go without basic amenities. But it really, I think, without the absence of those amenities, kind of draws you closer to your surroundings, the people you're with. You, you made such good friends. We really have to know each other very well. We'd stay at play. You'd think you're with someone for, you know, an entire week. You'd think there's eight hours of sleep would be nice. No, you stay at play and you talk. You know, you talk about the day. It's, it was a fantastic experience. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you're stuck. Oh, you're stuck. Day 3 at King's Landing Park after a vigorous paddle. The sojourners have developed a routine and made friends. Creature comfort, screaming for attention.

You can use the showers and the pool. You can use the pool. There's a lot of jokes going on. And the personalities are really emerging. I think that's a, that's a cool part. The only thing missing from this camping trip is room service. I'm dressing. I need my coffee. 6 hours sleep and 3 nights. How about that? Day 5, Dawn's clear and warm at King's Landing Park. The first daughter of business is striking tents and loading them into the U-Haul. After breakfast, it's time to drop in and head towards chalk point. Sight of the Marant power plant and the next campsite. But first, time out for a mouth harp lesson. Alright, yeah. Coordination takes time and it can be exhausting, but it's made easier by careful advanced planning. We couldn't have done this without the cooperation. Of all the facilities we stayed at. And most of those were the state park. The Texas River State Park and King's Landing. We also stayed at chalk point.

The power plant, very accommodating. And they prepared everything for us. So we knew where we were going to camp. I was surprised I wasn't as sore as I thought I'd be. I thought I'd be sore every night. I brought my Ben gay. Never used it. Let's go. Getting out of the water will be easy, but negotiating the stairs up all up is tricky. Why did I take the back? Okay. Can't swing it this way. Got it? We got it. Lunch at last.

Then a group of sojourners head down to the shoreline to plant aquatic grasses. A symbolic gesture they make several times during the week long paddle. That was a big event. That was a lot of fun. Got out in the mud. Planted those sea grasses. And we know how important the sea grasses are because they not only provide a habitat for young animals out there like the baby crabs and small fish and stuff, but they also hold back the sedimentation. They create oxygen for all the animals underwater. So it's a good thing. Day seven. The ceremonial paddle from Jack's Bay to Broom's Island begins. Sojourners are itching to let off a little Steve. The water fight done.

They paddle to Broom's Island, where lovers of the Potoxins are ready to join hands with former state senator Bernie Fowler for an annual waiting. The dramatize is the current condition of the Potoxin River's waters. Okay, stretch the line out. Everybody hold hands, stretch out a little. Stretch the line out nice and tight. Are you ready on the right? The sojourners find themselves among friends, both new and old. Okay, here we go. Who share a love of the Potoxin who are willing to join together and carry on the dream of a better river. It's an historic ship, a famous Chesapeake Bay skipjack as century old.

He is an authentic Chesapeake Bay waterman, made his living dredging for oysters for more than 60 years. This is a rare opportunity to sail into the bay to experience firsthand its rich history and abundance sea life. These kids hail from the Boys and Girls Club of Annapolis, Maryland, and they're ready for a day of discovery. Every year, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation leads dozens of such environmental education trips to the bay and the rivers and streams of the bay's vast watershed. Save the bay, does that mean the bay's in trouble? Yeah, there is a problem with the bay. So the theme of the day? Craig Highfield is manager of the skipjack program for CBF. What does it have to add?

You could read about the bay, you could look at pictures about the bay, but actually being on the bay and doing things hand on, or so important because it's lasting. People will remember these trips for the rest of their lives. In the bay right now. All these streams and rivers end up in the bay. Whatever you, first activity we usually do with our participants is to show them some maps and charts. We like to try to build a connection to the rate off of how they, wherever they are in the watershed, are connected to the bay. Hi, you're in the bay. One of the biggest problems in the bay today is dirt, or sediment. Where does dirt come from? Where do you see a lot of dirt? In the grass. Yeah, now how does that dirt on land get into the water? It's called erosion. All the activities that we do on our field trip are designed really to reinforce our main theme, which is to save the bay. That's a big huge problem in the bay. Excellent, good job.

Sampling the bay's diversity nets hope the bay can be saved and is worth saving. My polling the trial net, we take a random sample of the different types of fish and critters that are in the bay. And this just is the point of biodiversity. We also want to build an appreciation for the bay. So they might see the bay differently as they come in, and maybe it's worth saving to them. Oh! I want to make sure everybody gets a good look at them, because he's too big to keep on the boat. Dave Galenter is captain of the Skipjack. The best part of my job, I think, is probably having the kids on the boat. I work on the type of boat that I do. I can work on all different kinds of boats, and I just wanted to be a captain. There's plenty of tour boats out there.

But I grew up spending summers on the bay, and I learned about the bay on a sailboat, and I love being able to watch the light bulb go on over to kids. When we take a group out, we definitely have a message that we try to get across about the state of the bay and what the bay needs from us. If nothing else, I really hope that having them out plants a seed. Hopefully, for more experiences out on the bay, that's why I do what I do. What kind of crabs are those? I believe so. Oh! Oh! Oh! Raising sail is hands-on history. Oh! The Skipjack is a tradition-old sailing boat that used to dredge oysters. When we take our participants out, we have them actually work the boat, so they are in charge of raising the sails, both the main sail and the jib sail, to actually put the boat to work in dredge. Hey!

This is a great oyster-catching boat. It was designed in the bay to catch oysters. In Earl, our first mate, has been catching oysters for over 60 years. He worked on this boat when it was a workboat. This is called a drilling. Parsons is caught in cool weather, like I say, all cool weather. I'll tell you something that's catching oysters. It's a rough job and a hard job. Okay, let's put it in! First mate, Earl C. White. Kids is first. Kids come first, and I like to teach them. And that's what's going to help bring them at. That's what they can do it. That is, you want to look at it closer, you take it. Dredging oysters in the traditional way gives a taste of the importance of oysters to the health, history, culture, and economy of the Chesapeake Bay, North America's largest estuary. Evelyn Parker is camp director

for the Annapolis Boys and Girls Club. She sees this trip as personal exploration and community outreach. What colors? The trip is very interesting because I've never actually been on a boat where you do this kind of work with the water. And a lot of the kids is there for a time, then it's a good learning experience for all of us. So we're looking forward to taking it back to the community and letting them know what we learned about the Bay. Holding that once, we caught seven different things. Okay, there's a lot of different type of fish over there. So that means that area over there can support many different types of fish. So that's a great habitat over there. Look at that one. Yeah, this is a skipjack. Marshall was delighted by the Bay's diversity. I didn't know that the Chesapeake Bay has so much life in it. I want to, you know, do something

and tell others to do stuff at the Bay. Yeah, it becomes spat, and then they turn into oysters. It was the Bay's critters that sparked delicious imagination. No, they're not, actually. My favorite part is when we put oil and fish, you know, I got to touch the, um, the omelette. There's millions of fish in the water that need oxygen and we're on the dirt in the water. They can't breathe, and if they don't have oxygen in the water, they could all die out. Rolling right on up. Like many people, William was familiar with CBF's motto, Save the Bay, but he'd never known exactly what to do. I always wanted to know what could I do. The ways that I can help prevent the Bay being wasted is by recycling and also by selling other people about what my experience was on this trip.

So it will really get to them, and they wouldn't believe that's my husband. If there's one concept I want our participants to know as they leave our boat, it's just how wonderful the Chesapeake Bay is and what a great resource it is for the entire watershed, and hopefully they'll think this Bay is worth saving. Thank you. Drop into our website at www.mpt.org

to send us your comments and suggestions. This program has been made possible by the members of MPT. Thank you for your generous support.