Little Ducklings Appreciating Happy Hollow Creek

A bunch of ducks are appreciative of the ponded water of Happy Hollow Creek, at the southeast portion of Memorial Park. These days the birds going about their daily routine of swimming and eating a suitable morsel can be easily seen from the nearby sidewalk, just to the west of the southern, green metal barrier.

The extent of the duck activity was especially prominent on the morning of June 5th, during and after a time when some errant and unwanted aluminum cans were removed from a creek-side swale.

Nearby was a female wood duck with eight itty-bitty ducklings swimming close, before they disappeared around the bend. This was a new addition to the birdlife, because previous viewings had only been one mother wood duck with six youngsters. There obviously was a new family present.

Minutes after the trash removal chore was done, a second perspective from a bit southward indicated more fledgling ducks. The whole bunch did not like the subdued, yet obvious, momentary intrusion. The feathered fluffs, i.e., ducklings, scooted quickly away, their small legs paddling them towards their mom, as she called her brood together because of a perceived, yet not actual, danger.

Three female Wood Ducks were taking care of their own brood, with another family of six, and one with only two youngsters. The overall count of twenty is the largest number of this species observed since 2008 at this urban waterway.

History for this species in the Dundee area, does however go back much further. On June 6th, 1971, Rushton G. Cortelyou (editor of the Nebraska Bird Review), with a residence along Underwood Avenue about three blocks distant, reported Wood Ducks.

The legacy continues. Obviously the woods and water are a realized haven, so the birds continue to return in the annual wonder of finding a nest site, brooding eggs and bringing a batch of little birds into the world.

There were also those Mallards, including a female with her brood of six. Breeding of this species in this urban setting, rather than some wetland elsewhere, was first observed in later May 2009, along Wood Creek in nearby Elmwood Park.

The Happy Hollow activity was certainly a fowl scene. Hopefully there will be a sufficient buffet for all of them to survive. It was not all serene. A lone female Mallard, sitting creekside, upon being disturbed flew a short distance and landed among the flock. One greenhead chased her away into the main part of Memorial Park.

This habitat situation so suitable for the water birds, occurs because of the myriad of fallen trees and other stuff which inhibits the drainage of the urban waters which flow. The place would be less suited for the waterfowl if there was no ponding of the water.

The blockages in the creek do result in a gathering of trash, stagnant water because of the loss of a flow and the potential for a loss of trees due to flooding water conditions during rainfall events. Ducks find the place okay. People find the situation unacceptable, based upon complaints of trash in the creek.

It's an example of the whatever method of park management. A few weeks ago trash was removed because of a teevee report. The response to emails asking that the debris be completely removed meant replies indicating that it is too wet to remove the material gathered in the creek.

Obviously, the ducks want water, and the public does not want trash. There is now no known answer to this paradox. And that is because there has been no attention given to determining a suitable solution.

Duck watching can also be enjoyed southward along Wood Creek in Elmwood Park. Be sure to also take a look at Shadow Lake along Jones Street, because if there are no ducks, perhaps the Carolina Wren might provide a serenade.

Trash Reaccumulates in Happy Hollow Creek

Following the recent rains in the Omaha, a significant amount of trash was washed down Happy Hollow Creek, ending up at the deadfall barriers.

The following pictures taken on April 10th, indicate the trash that has reoccurred. The situation is once again similar to what it was when this issue was first reported.

There was no trash at either of these two locations following the cleanup last Friday and Sunday.

The last picture also shows how the "damming" effect of the debris in the creek results in a temporary inundation of an area of the creek bank. This is hazardous to the trees, and with the excessive water, may result in their mortality, and further degradation of the greenspace environs and its natural qualities.

Deadfall Obstructions at Happy Hollow Creek, Omaha

Following the television report on the 4th, a few minutes were taken on the 5th to discuss the situation with the acting parks director, Brook Bench, in his downtown office.

An explanation was given that deadfall blockages at several places along the south end of the creek were the problem, and it was much more than accumulated trash. The tree material, etc., needed to be removed to prevent trash from accumulating, and to limit the scummy water conditions.

The following pictures were taken a short time later in the morning, after this discussion, to document the situation. A copy of the first five pictures have been sent to Bench, and also to the mayor's office, with a request that the material be removed.

The pictures indicate five distinct obstruction spots, starting at the south end, where the creek goes into the culvert beneath Dodge Street, and for a relative short distance northward.

Tree debris in lower Happy Hollow Creek.

During my visit, Pat the caretaker of Memorial and Elmwood Parks was present, and picking trash out of the creek, to haul it away.

This effort is appreciated, but the next time it rains, there will once again be trash present, and it will continue to accumulate.

On Sunday afternoon, Boy Scout troop 597 picked up trash along Happy Hollow Creek, and also southward into Elmwood Park. Their effort is appreciated!

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A picture taken November 9, 2002 shows what the Dodge Street culvert would look like when it is not blocked. Obviously at that time, the issue was lurid graffiti.

This picture was taken in association with a report titled: "A Pictorial of Problems at Three Omaha Parks," and included other unnecessary situations at Elmwood Park and Spring Lake Park, in eastern Omaha.

Happy Hollow Creek Featured in Local TV News

Happy Hollow Creek was featured on the local news report last night on KPTM.

Reporting was done by Leah Uko, and the story titled "Trash Pile Up Replaces Water in Creek" started with:

A trash pile up near a creek has people throwing out suggestions on how to fix it. Happy Hollow Creek at Memorial Park is flooded with dirty water because of built up litter.

This story has been featured only on this station, and the reporter was given an exclusive on site interview. Especially important was her realization that the waterway was actually called Happy Hollow Creek. It added a personal touch to the scene.

The only problem with the story was getting comments with a representative of Nebraska Wildlife Rehabilitation that seemed to convey the trash was no problem, because the ducks will just leave.

Obviously having the Wood Ducks and Mallards present is a better condition, and that should have been reflected in her dubious statement.

Happy Hollow Work Delayed by Omaha Officials

 Work to complete installation of the walkway barricade along Happy Hollow Creek was delayed by officials of the city of Omaha.

"We were ready to field-fit the barricade in mid-April" when we presented this option to city officials, said a spokesman for the contractor, Valley Corporation, interviewed at the project site.

Field fitting is where the posts are properly placed and the rail segments are "trimmed" to fit. This involves cutting out a section and then rewelding it to the proper size.

About a dozen cuts and welds were required, the company spokesman said May 1, while they were making repairs expected to be finished within a couple of days.

The new welds will be smoothed, sandblasted and then painted to match the remainder of the barricade.

Example of a weld repair.

Field fitting is where the posts are properly placed and the rail segments are "trimmed" to fit. This involves cutting out a section and then rewelding it to the proper size.

About a dozen cuts and welds were required, the company spokesman said May 1, while they were making repairs expected to be finished within a couple of days.

The new welds will be smoothed, sandblasted and then painted to match the remainder of the barricade.

A meeting was held onsite on April 30 to reach an agreement on fixing the barricade, according to the spokesman. The president of the contractor company and a planner with Omaha Parks Recreation and Public Property were among those present.

The company representative noted that it took five days to get approval from city officials for the nuts and bolts to use to anchor the barricade structure.

Costs associated with the additional work needed to complete the installation of the barricade will be the responsibility of the contractor.

The amount will be a few thousand dollars, he said, adding that their work had strictly followed the engineer plans provided by the city.

The spokesman also noted that they had fenced off the entire sidewalk area to ensure the safety of people, because if one of the heavy barricades fell — though thoroughly anchored — it could be a hazard.

Ground Cover Netting Traps Chipping Sparrow

Plastic netting placed to hold bare soil in place, trapped and nearly led to the demise of a Chipping Sparrow.

A pair of these sparrows were observed was foraging along Happy Hollow Creek about noon, and about two hours later came word than one had been freed from the netting covering the ground.

A community volunteer planting berry trees nearby happened to notice the bird's predicament, and was able to set it free. Its head was caught in a couple of the small squares of the netting. Apparently when going after a bit of an edible, the head was stuck through the net, but when trying to pull it back out, the feathers caught and prevented any escape.

The bird could have easily died due to being trapped for a long term, or it might have fallen prey to a foraging crow, one which was noted at the site, later.

This netting covers three areas along Happy Hollow Creek where a City of Omaha project was recently done to stabilize the banks with gabion baskets full of rock. The mesh was supposed to be biodegradable, but it is not clear if that is actually the case?

The plastic material is now an obvious hazard to the many birds present in the area.

City Responds Within Hours to Citizen Comment

City of Omaha officials responded within hours to a comment regarding the situation associated with a project along Happy Hollow Creek.

These are the notable details:

at 1:50 p.m. April 25, a set of four picture was sent to Omaha officials, and two media outlets, with the following comments:

The attached pictures indicate the current situation at the rec trail along Happy Hollow, a condition which has not changed for at least ten days.

There is a prominent error in the placement pads for the base of the barricades as shown in the pictures, representing different spots, not just one...

Please tell me why people have to jog in the street because of a construction error, and a failure to move ahead and address the issue so the trail could be reopened?

How simple it would be to get rid of the dirt piles at the south end and move the traffic barriers close to the barricade being installed, allowing at least partial access to the sidewalk.

I'm not sure yet if I will post these pictures online. They certainly do indicate how the people responsible for this project are indifferent to trail users and are willing to put people into unsafe conditions, by forcing them to run in the street or cross the street in an area where there is nothing to slow the traffic.

I'd think city officials would go out of their way to work with the neighborhood, but as this is a second instance of negative significance that has been left to languish, that is apparently not the case!

Perhaps local residents should revise the conditions at the site to make it safe for their community? It would only take a few minutes to move the barriers...

Along Happy Hollow Creek, though the situation was not quite pleasant at the time. It was ironic that three Turkey Vultures were soaring over the site when the media arrived.

At 4:15 p.m. a local television station was filming at the scene, and conducted an interview

The news item was presented on the 10 p.m. news, the same day; the reporter was live at the scene, and the story included custom graphics, including map

A written version of the report was available on the morning of the 26th, and later the video

At 10 a.m., the construction contractor was at the site, beginning to move the barricades and remove the dirt pile

By 1 p.m., the trail was partially open

The recreational trail was obviously being used once obstructions were removed.

The Happy Hollow trail on Thursday afternoon.

Once again, no response was received by the officials of the city of Omaha to whom the email was sent. The "acting" parks director also preferred to indicate a contractor's mistake, though it is entirely possible that the engineer plans were not correct.

Failures at Omaha City Project

The Omaha Parks and Recreation has a project underway through a private contractor, to control erosion along Happy Hollow Creek, on the west side of Happy Hollow Boulevard. The creek borders a popular recreational trail.

Last Friday a portion of sidewalk was replaced, but there had been no further construction activity noted through mid-day on April 4th. A visit was made in the evening to document the situation with signage, and other items.

At least the porta-john (which has been tipped at least twice) and removed waddles have been hauled away and off the sidewalk. There were at least a dozen other "failures" associated with the project site, which despite the construction and signage, is still very much being used.

The city and its contractor have not suitably maintained the project details, and this is obvious in the following pictures.

1) Sign laying unused next to the street. It is surprising that some miscreant has not kicked it onto the boulevard.

2) Chunks of rock were used in the gabion baskets, and those as shown here were not been properly removed. This is now nothing more than debris.

3) An errant sign indicating the presence of a flagman, which obviously not been used for days.

4) Trail closed signage on the ground, rather than properly displaying its message.

5) A large barricade sign that has fallen over. This includes twisted wire which a frisky dog could easily get tangled into.

6) A pile of waste dirt.

7) Forms used to construct the sidewalk, just left setting around.

8) Unnecessary tree damage.

9) Another flagman present sign that is falsely indicating a traffic hazard. This was at the evening, long after typical work hours.

10) Trail closed signage readily bypassed by joggers and walkers.

11) Sign indicating road work when there is no such activity underway.

12) Jogger on the trail. In the foreground where the walk is dirty was where there had been a pile of waddles.

Instead of having the contractor work with the community, they simply imposed a situation upon the many users of the trail/walkway. Obviously the sidewalk/trail users are ignoring what the city would prefer.

It is just another example of poor leadership and management by city officials, and careless maintenance by the construction company. Signs should be dealt with daily. Any debris or unneeded materials should be removed by the end of the work day. Damaged trees should be replaced, etc.

Thankfully, once the barricades are installed — hopefully soon — this project will be completed!

Additional Creek Issues

The following are images of obstructions in the creek near where it goes into the culvert under Dodge Street. This situation was reported to city officials a couple of weeks ago, but there has been no response.

Note the erosion above the drain pipe outlet. Obviously there is a problem here, and there will soon be a hazardous hole.

Illegal Parking Ongoing

This lawn company rig parked illegally on the grass on the east side of Memorial Park was reported to the city on the day it was observed. The same rig was parked at the same place, one week later and about the same time. At least the second time it had its lights flashing.

Apparently city officials have been unable to make a call to get this stopped. Or perhaps they don't care?

Situation Update

While going along the same route 24 hours later — that would be 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 5th in particular — all of the signage was gone and it was a free ride. The string barricade remained as it was later last evening, on the west side of the sidewalk. The sidewalk forms were still present.

Obviously some city official got the point of this post, as also indicated in an email message sent to city administrators this morning.

Thanks to the person(s) paying attention, and for their efforts to make the trail/walkway once again a welcoming place for the neighborhood residents.

Time will convey how the creek obstructions might, if at all, be dealt with.

Happy Hollow Creek Pollution

Someone in the Dundee neighborhood of Omaha poured paint into a sewer drain on the Sunday, October 16, 2011. The paint drained away and ended up in Happy Hollow Creek, along the east side of Brownell Talbot school and Memorial Park. This is the second known instance of creek pollution, the other event along Wood Creek, in March 2010.

The following images indicate how the creek water was turned white. Note also the other trash which gets washed into the creekway, because of careless littering.

View looking south from where the water flows from the culvert beneath Underwood Avenue.

Looking towards the north.

The spot where the water leaves the culvert, showing how water inflow had cleared.

There were numerous American Robins along the creek at this locale during this time, and they were trying to take a bath in the flowing water. They had to do so in dirty water, because of some moron in the neighborhood.

Where the robins were trying to cleanse themselves, showing the milky character of the creek flow.

Detail showing the scum on the water associated with the pollution event.

The polluting paint eventually dissipated, and the creek returned to its normal appearance. The person responsible should be fined and required to do six hours of community service, which would entail cleaning trash from along the creekways of Memorial Park and Elmwood Park.

The Dundee area has the dubious distinction of being a "top neighborhood" in the U.S., yet this pollution event blatantly shows the little concern some people have for the local natural environment. The worst part of this is that the person(s) responsible are oblivious of what they caused.

Waterfowl Return After Pollution Event

Wood Ducks have been noticed again on the waters of Happy Hollow Creek.

For several days, they had been missing, and there is a readily apparent reason.

The creek was tainted by an accidental discharge of sewage. The situation was obvious during the Memorial Day weekend, as the creek water was a dull-brown color rather than a clear water, and then a smell became obvious. After noting this, the source was located just south of Cass Street along Happy Hollow Boulevard.

There was an ample flow where there was typically none, except during and after precipitation events. It seemed there was at least five gallons a minute being discharged.

The effluent went from Happy Hollow Creek on the east side of Memorial Park, and then into Wood Creek which goes through Elmwood Park.

The aberrant situation was reported on June 2nd to the Environmental Services section at the Omaha Public Works Department.

A technician provided this followup report:

"An Environmental Inspector visited the area of Cass & Happy Hollow in response to the complaint received regarding a suspect discharge into the creek, the same morning of the report. They found a black corrugated plastic pipe on the east side of Elmwood Creek with an active discharge ... cloudy white in color. A faint sewage odor was present and some sanitary sewage accumulation was present along the creek bottom near the outfall.

"They contacted Sewer Maintenance to inform them of a potential cross connection. Sewer maintenance sent a crew to meet the inspector on site. While awaiting their arrival the inspector drove through the neighborhood along the portion of storm sewer that was upstream of the outfall to see if they could see any recent disturbance on any of the lots. When Sewer Maintenance arrived, they checked the outfall and they agreed that the discharge was from a sanitary sewer source. A sanitary sewer in the middle of Happy Hollow Blvd (MH #0166041) was opened and an overflow structure was present. The bypass was built into the sanitary sewer MH from when it was a combined sewer line and had not been capped when the lines were separated. A grab sample of the effluent was taken for analysis. A foreman in sewer maintenance was also contacted about getting a construction crew scheduled to correct the problem."

This problem would have continued unabated if it had not been reported, and the city agency asks that if anyone notices any "If you or your neighbors notice any suspect discharge into the creek please do not hesitate to contact my office at 402-444-3908."

The city was required to report the accidental release to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.

A local community group, when this event was mentioned to a former president, were not aware that it had happened.

The creek still has scum accumulations which will hopefully get washed out with the next substantive rainfall making the habitat more suitable for ducks and other fowl.