I have gotten a few messages about conditions at Schoolhouse Pond relating 
to the recent fish kill, and thought that I'd post the information I had.

The fish kill occurred while I was out of town, but the results were still 
evident at the end of last week when I returned.  The Parks Department 
came out after the fish kill had occurred, and determined that the fish 
kill was the result of low water levels, high temperatures, and possibly 
an algae bloom which resulted in low oxygen levels in the pond.  This 
killed the large number of fish reported last week.  Some had suspected 
that the fish kill was the result of dumping or runoff from nearby 
development, but apparently no evidence of this was found.  

Keep in mind, my information is second hand, and what I received when I 
returned to work at the end of last week.  This is the first time I can 
recall something of this scale happening at the pond.  I can verify that 
water levels have been at their lowest levels in recent memory (due to dry 
conditions and a lack of beaver activity).  Hopefully the rains of the 
last few days have returned the water levels to a more normal balance.  

Today at Schoolhouse Pond, I saw an unprecedented 36 Great Egrets on the 
mudflats around the pond, as well as 6 Forster's Terns, and 1 Caspian 
Tern.  There was also a swirling flock of Laughing Gulls over and around 
the pond.  This is by far the biggest group of Great Egrets I've seen at 
the pond.  On Thursday morning, which was my first day back, there were 
over 100 Black Vultures ringing the pond, busy with their cleanup of the 
fish kill.

Fred Shaffer
Patuxent MOS