Audubon Naturalist Society Monitoring - Sligo Creek

The Audubon Naturalist Society has a well established, highly regarded macroinvertebrate monitoring program in the region. Friends of Sligo Creek began monitoring one site on Sligo Creek using the Audubon Naturalist Society's water monitoring protocol in 2006. The site is located on Sligo Creek just south of where Sligo Creek Parkway meets University Boulevard in Wheaton (the precise location can be seen on this map). A goal of the monitoring is to have data for Sligo Creek represented in the Audubon Naturalist Society's data set, which is periodically turned over to Montgomery County to help them assess the water quality of County streams. Other goals include public education, and to see for ourselves whether Sligo Creek's water quality is getting better or worse over time. The Sligo Creek site has been named Audubon Naturalist Society Site 34.

Also, the Water Quality Committee began periodic cross section surveys of the stream channel at this site in 2007 to see how it changes over time.

Keep an eye out for future monitoring events every season on the Friends of Sligo Creek listserv and join us! The next monitoring will take place in spring 2020.

Monitoring Results

Date Total Aquatic Worms
(Oligochaeta) or Flatworms, Planarians
(Platyhelminthes)		 Caddisflies (Trichoptera) Crayfish (Decapoda) Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) Scud (Amphipoda) Snail (Gastropoda) True Flies (Diptera) Clam (Bivalvia) Beetles (Coleoptera) Fishflies, etc. (Megaloptera) True Bugs (Hemiptera)
10/26/2019 102 3 planaria 38 netspinner, 55 fingernet 0 0 0 2 0 2 midges, 2 crane flies 0 0 0 0
7/23/2019 100 3 aquatic worms, 4 planaria 55 netspinner, 40 fingernet 2 0 0 0 1 (pouch snail) 5 crane flies 0 0 0 0
4/25/2019 100+ 2 aquatic worms 50+ netspinner 0 0 14 (small minnow mayflies) 0 0 21 midges, 4 crane flies 1 (Asian) 0 0 0
10/13/2018 116 0 64 netspinner 0 1 narrowed-winged damselfly 0 30 0 4 midges, 9 crane flies 7 (fingernail) 1 riffle beetle (larva) 0 0
7/31/2018 99 3 planaria 74 netspinner, 8 fingernet 0 0 0 3 0 3 midges, 6 crane flies, 1 black fly 0 0 0 1 short-legged strider
4/28/2018 40 2 aquatic worms 20 netspinner 0 4 narrowed-winged damselflies 0 3 0 10 midges, 1 black fly 0 0 0 0
10/28/2017 60 0 50 (40 netspinner, 10 fingernet) 0 0 0 0 4 (pond snails) 6 midges 0 0 0 0
4/27/2017 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 midges 0 0 0 0
10/29/2016 13 1 aquatic worm 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 (5 midges, 5 mosquitos) 0 0 0 0
7/18/2016 54+ 1 aquatic worm, 8 planaria 8 0 0 6 (small minnow mayflies) 0 0 31 (30+ midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
4/30/2016 100+ 2 aquatic worms 0 0 0 0 2 0 96+ (95+ midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
10/31/2015 13 0 4 0 4 broadwinged damselflies 0 0 0 5 (4 midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
7/29/2015 11 1 aquatic worm 1 0 1 darner dragonfly 1 (small minnow mayfly) 2 1 (pond snail) 3 (2 midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 1 (dobsonfly) 0
4/25/2015 100+ 0 20 0 0 0 0 2 (pond snails) 78+ midges 0 0 0 0
10/18/2014 10 0 7 1 0 0 1 0 1 midge 0 0 0 0
7/22/2014 100+ 0 71+ 0 5 damselflies 3 (small minnow mayflies) 4 8 (pond snails) 9 (8 midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
4/25/2014 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 (12 midges, 2 crane flies) 0 0 0 0
10/25/2013 9 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 3 midges 0 1 riffle beetle (adult) 0 0
7/15/2013 12 0 5 1 0 0 5 0 1 crane fly 0 0 0 0
4/20/2013 100+ 4 aquatic worms 0 1 0 0 0 0 95+ midges 0 0 0 0
10/20/2012 100+ 1 (planaria) 1 0 1 darner dragonfly 0 87+ 0 10+ midges 0 0 0 0
7/31/2012 100+ 13 (planaria) 0 1 3 damselflies (2 narrow-winged, 1 broad-winged) 0 56+ 0 20+ midges 7 (fingernail) 0 0 0
4/25/2012 100+ 3 (planaria) 2 0 0 0 30+ 4 (pond snails) 61+ (60+ midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
10/15/2011 32 4 aquatic worms, 2 planaria 9 0 0 0 16 1 (pond snail) 0 0 0 0 0
07/21/2011 100+ 3 5 1 6
(5 darner dragonflies, 1 broad-winged damselfly)		 0 20 0 67+ (65+ midges, 2 mosquitos) 0 0 0 0
04/20/2011 100+ 0 17 0 1
(dragonfly)		 0 12 0 70+ (67+ midges, 3 crane flies) 0 0 0 0
10/09/2010 100+ 0 1 0 3
(damselflies)		 0 100+ 0 11 (10 midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
7/06/2010 100+ 2 0 2 0 0 100+ 0 0 6 0 0 0
4/17/2010 68 5 40 0 0 3 (small minnow mayflies) 7 0 13 (10 midges, 3 crane flies 0 0 0 0
10/25/2009 100+ 1 100+ 1 2 (1 damselfly, 1 dragonfly) 0 6 0 1 (crane fly) 0 0 0 0
7/16/2009 54 0 1 0 1 (dragonfly) 12 (small minnow mayflies) 23 1 13 (12 midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
3/28/2009 59 0 1 0 1 (damselfly) 0 24 0 33 (32 midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
10/18/2008 100+ 2 1 1 7 (damselflies) 0 100+ 0 5 (midge) 0 0 0 0
7/5/2008 55 2 0 2 3 (2 damselflies, 1 dragonfly) 0 41 0 7 (midge) 0 0 0 0
4/5/2008 179 1 4 3 0 0 15 1 (limpet) 155 (151 midges, 3 black flies, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
9/8/2007
(low flow conditions)		 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7/8/2007 26 0 13 1 0 1 (small minnow mayfly) 9 0 2 (1 midge, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
5/11/2007 26 0 16 1 0 0 3 0 6 (3 midges, 2 black flies, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0
2/03/2007 15 1 3 0 0 0 4 0 7 (4 midges, 3 crane flies) 0 0 0 0
9/11/2006 60 0 44 1 0 0 11 0 4 (midges) 0 0 0 0
7/10/2006 100 1 5 0 0 0 84 0 10 (9 midges, 1 crane fly) 0 0 0 0


September 8, 2007 - Notice there is almost no water in the stream bed

Thanks to Masaya Maeda for these photos of the site.

May 11, 2007

February 3, 2007

September 11, 2006 - Notice the low flow at the site.

These are from April 5th, 2008. Thanks to Chris Victoria for taking the pictures!


These pictures are from the session scheduled for September 8, 2007. Because there was almost no water in the stream bed we were unable to monitor. Better infiltration of stormwater in the Sligo watershed would help to prevent this.


Thanks to Duane Murphy of Friends of Accotink Creek for joining us with his son William and taking these pictures at the February 2007 monitoring.