Field Notes

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Gilbert Tract: 2022-05-13 08:45:00 (DOY 133)
Author: Ariane Arias-Ortiz
Others: Dennis, José, Robert

Summary: Knightsen and Old River Elementary school visit, teabag decomposition experiment, fixed de-railed side looker

Dennis, José, Robert, and I arrived at Gilbert Tract at 8.50 am. Katie Bandy was waiting for us at the entrance gate. The day was sunny, with clear skies and a mild breeze.

Soon after our arrival, the school bus and volunteer parents arrived and drove to the trailer location. There Dennis and Katie Bandy did a brief introduction about the Delta, wetlands, and the restoration plans at Dutch Slough.

At about 9.25 am, the kids started to walk to the tower site and breach, meanwhile Robert and I got dropped off at the side looker location. Low tide was at 9.55 am and we could see the side looker platform and detect that, indeed, the SL was derailed (although not in de mud). We brought the instrument outside of the water and rolled it inside the railings from the upper edge of the mount. The SL platform has a set of 4 "wheels" that fit in the inner part of the mount. The top 2 wheels were bent as if something heavy had sat on top of the platform. We straightened them up with the help of a hammer and rolled the instrument down to its original position. Additionally, Robert added new zip ties on the lower edge of the mount to avoid the SL sliding all the way down and de-railing again. The central pole of the mount, used to roll the SL up and down, sticks out about 20 cm when the SL is settled at the depth of the last horizontal bar of the railings. We measured the distance from the solar panel box to the SL platform (hypotenuse) and it was 810 cm. This measurement needs to be double-checked the next time we are out there.

At about 9.45 am the kids had arrived at the breach and we had to host them. Robert stayed at the breach and I walked to the tower where Dennis and José were to assist in the tea bag experiment.

We installed fiberglass rods (anchors) on both sides of the boardwalk (one on each side) and placed PVC tubes on top. The PVC tubes had several holes that I had drilled to pass nylon string through and be able to find the teabags in the future. Students came in groups of 3-4, and with Dennis's help, they tied two tea bags (one green tea, one rooibos) to a nylon string. One student was in charge of digging an 8 cm deep hole and burying the bags. The nylon string was attached to the PVC tubes. Finally, the students put flags as an additional marker where they had buried their bags. There was not enough time to bury all the teabags (n = 26) but the teachers gave us the leftover bags so that we can finish burying them during our next field day.

We left at 11.40 am and Dennis, José, Robert, and I went to have lunch at La Costa (very nice Mexican eats)

5 photos found

20220513GT_SL_mount_close.jpg ( 2022-05-13 00:00:00 ) Full size: 915x686
up photo of the upper end of the side looker mount. The central pole

20220512GT_GreenUp.jpg ( 2022-05-12 10:05:03 ) Full size: 1920x1440
Nice spring day and wetland is greening up

20220512GT_NewSign.jpg ( 2022-05-12 09:41:46 ) Full size: 1920x1440
New sign at the breach site. I suppose that it could possibly help prevent people from driving off the road

20220512GT_SLRails.jpg ( 2022-05-12 11:19:41 ) Full size: 1440x1920
Side Looker was pushed off the railing and the top of the handle was flush with the first cross piece