Minor Park

The weather was at a peak of its roller-coaster ride this afternoon- it was very nice! I hit minor park to see what the river was doing. There was not a hole lot of life besides the V's of Canadas that flew above me. I was there for a little over an hour and found a couple of woodpeckers and a flurry of chickadees enjoying the warm air in a mess of grape vines.

The river is up. Many of my favorite gravel bars are still underwater and more little islands have formed. I walked along the bank- snapping the occational photo and watching the ground for any interesting plants or rocks. The water was clear. Usually when the river becomes swollen the water will be turbid and become 'dirty' or milky-lookin. I fliped a few stones a few inches from the bank, but I found only a few snails and a small caddis larvae webbed into it's upside-down stone sleeping bag.

I poped over a bank and spooked the handful of chickadees that were feeding off of the poison ivy and grape vines that had overcome a small tree. They hoped a few inches at a time in every direction as if they were performing some intricate dance to accompany their songs. Each individual let out a long, high-pitched whistle followed by an abrupt cherp. I'd never heard it from them before. When one was done, another would reply with the same call.
As I got further from the birds their calls changed to be more recognizable and complicated.
A large hawk flew over. Red-tail. I noticed no change in the chickadees behavior- maybe they are not afraid because the larger hawks generally pose no threat to small birds. Dinner and a show!
The sun was low and I headed for the truck. In the woods a large man was pacing along the cement wall near the entrance. He was in sweat pants and a t- He followed me out of the park. I unfolded the knife in my pocket, but as I came closer to truck a read dodge charger pulled up. The man who had followed me out of the park spoke briefly to the charger and they both went back into the woods. Creepy.

There are three main threats to Blue River Parkway: Pollution (waterquality and litter alike), Invasive/exotic species and erosion.


GARLIC MUSTARD (above)- greening now and is growing in patches along the river. The plant was brought over from Eurasia for food and is now threatening our wild areas. It will bloom clusters of small white flowers in later April-


BUSH HONEYSUCKLE- Another nasty of Minor park. Its taken over several part of the park and is removed several times a year by KC WILDLANDS. The bush will begin to green in March and will bloom with the Garlic Mustard.


EUONYMUS- this too, is green now. From asia, the plant is a very invasive vine. It has a wax coating that makes herbicide useless. It is thick where it is along the bank and on the slopes above the first bank.

LITTER- A new raft has arrived! It is partially deflated and sits on the far side of the ripple closest to the entrance. A red car, too, has settled into the bank over the past few years just a few hundred yards upstream. Fishing line, tires, bottles and household trash are among the largest threats to Minor park. Besides the few who dump on the area, many people do not think to collect their waste from the river's banks. There is also a temporary camp-lookin set up on a lagre gravel bar now.

EROSION/WATER QUALITY- Construction of buildings and roads dump alot of silt into the river. the loose soil on the banks is carved violently when we get heavy rains by unnatural flooding. Because so much of it's watershed is now paved and impermeable, the blue river recieves a lot of water all at once instead of getting water over a longer period of time from that that is soaked by the earth. We have taken most of the marsh-type areas from the watershed. These areas are essential for filtering water for the river. They collect contaminants and silt, release water slowly and support many important and rare plants/animals that cannot otherwise survive. There are still a few marshes around and much of the Blue has been protected withing parks to create a greenway. However, the health of the river depends greatly on the water that it recieves from its tributaries and goundwater withtin it's watershed- these sources of water are not so clean.

Even with all of these threats, the blue river is able to keep balanced due to efforts made by all sorts of individuals and local organizations. In many spots, the river resembles a more ozarkian scene and is very beautiful.