CITIZEN SCIENCE - STUDIES OF THE ECOSYSTEMS OF SUNFISH LAKE PARK
There have been studies in Sunfish Lake Park by Government agencies, for example forest management plans, lake level and water turbidity measurements, and monitoring of the groundwater for chemicals which leach out of the nearby closed Washington County Landfill on Jamaca Avenue. We are accumulating some of the reports, and links to others, and placing them in our archives, where they can be retrieved by clicking on this link.
To improve the knowledge of details of our local ecosystems, and for the creation of interesting exhibits at SMINC, the Friends have sponsored or participated in various Citizen Science efforts. Most of the work has been done by Summer Interns. Read further to see the array of projects we have done.
The Sunfish Lake Park Project on iNaturalist.org is a collection of observations contributed by visitors and interns. Click here to learn how you can contribute, and review over 2000 observations posted so far. Thanks to Christa for organizing this resource.
Our Fish Survey of Sunfish Lake was first done in Summer 2018, Sam and Tony caught many sunfish, up to 7.5 inches long. Then two cold winters created longer-lasting ice pack on the lake, leading to winter kill of the fish. In 2023 we surveyed the fish again and found a few small sunfish, but also noted that goldfish (koi, a type of carp) were present. The fish were surveyed again in 2026, scroll down to see the description and link.
In 2019 a Bluebird House Trail was installed by a Girl Scout troop and a few Cub Scouts from Stillwater. These houses are cleaned annually before the next nesting season, and in 2019 Chase and Tonywere able to make a Nesting Survey list of the most probable occupants of each house.
The Mammal Survey of Sunfish Lake Park was done by intern Grace in Summer 2021. She built tracking plates and set up temporary trail cameras in over a dozen locations, and confirmed the presence of 13 species of mammal, including a mink and a fisher. She did not observe a bear, but their local presence is documented in photos taken by neighbors whose land is adjacent to the Park.
Liana, Summer intern in 2023, did a Macroinvertebrate Survey of the creatures that live in three bodies of water of the Park, Sunfish Lake, the un-named central pond, and the landfill pond. She identified these creatures and used the diversity index to estimate the differences in water quality.
In 2023 SMINC began a cooperation with the Washington County Master Gardeners ( https://washingtoncountymg.org/ ) Tree Squad to install an educational Tree Trek in Sunfish Lake Park
In Summer 2024 Nina and Riley did a Survey of the Invasive Plants of Sunfish Lake Park, and created maps that display the location and concentration of the ten species of greatest concern. See their exhibit on the mezzanine level, and report link below.
In Fall 2024 SMINC was the beneficiary of a donation of a Haikubox Birdcall Monitor (www.haikubox.com) which has a microphone to detect birdcalls, and connects to a website that records them and keeps statistics which can be reviewed at listen.haikubox.com. The donor provided three for the Sustainable Stillwater Bird City effort. Two were mounted in the Stillwater area, and one was mounted at SMINC. Tony got a fourth one to mount at his home, and the bird statistics of all four can be compared. Click on the link below to see some of the downloaded lists. This is a work in progress, please contact us (info@sminc-lake-elmo.org) if you would like to learn more or participate in the processing of the data into meaningful migration trends, ecosystem preferences by species, etc
In Summer 2025 Abby and Adien did an Insect Survey of Sunfish Lake Park which resulted in an interactive exhibit located near the foot of the stairs, and a Bug Survey report.
A Mushroom Survey of Sunfish Lake Park was done by the Minnesota Mycological Socienty on September 6th 2026. Their tentative plan is to repeat this effort in different seasons to get a more complete idea of the diversity of mushrooms that exist in the Park. A summary of the results is available by clicking the button below.
In Summer 2026 Brooke and Jojo did studies of the Aquatic Life in the Park, resulting in five reports which can be accessed via the buttons below.
They repeated the fish survey of Sunfish Lake with hook/line fishing and seine netting for smaller fish, and included Unnamed pond in the seining work.
They collected aquatic Macroinvertebrates and identified them to provide an update of the 20223 work
They used visual sightings and acoustic recording devices to survey the Amphibian and Reptile denizens of the park
They again used acoustic monitoring to compare bird populations in wetlands with those at two dry spots.
Water samples were taken from two water bodies and analyzed to compare the water quality with the populations of plants and animals found in the water.
Previous Citizen Science reports are in .docx format and will download if you click the button, we will be converting these to .pdf format soon, which simply opens the file when the button is clicked.
These are the presentations that have been given for the Tree Trek “walk and talk” sessions