Cleaning out the stream

Last week, I spent about 12 hours, spread over several days, cleaning up the stream area. I raked a lot of (mostly) maple leaves and hoed weeds from the general area. Then I got in the stream to clear out debris: more leaves, twigs, and weeds. Thank goodness for good quality rubber boots! Four days in a row, I got muddy from head to toe and enjoyed it!

The watercress had grown up a lot in the lower part of the stream, plus there was ivy to tackle, along with an assortment of other weeds. There used to be a lot of buttercup, but I've got that well under control now. And I keep cutting back the ivy, more each year.
When we had the heavy rains in October, a lot of water rushed down the stream, bringing debris with it. And there were a lot of maple leaves too.
I usually have trouble stopping once I get into a job, but I just worked a couple hours a day, sometimes in rain showers. While I still have some piles of leaves to remove and new alder leaves that fell (and are still dropping), the stream is in good shape.
I've been gradually adding plants to the bank, including deer fern, some other ferns, and candelabra primroses. Other ferns and bishop's cap are growing there naturally.

When I was taking pictures, I saw a hummingbird feasting on several of my hardy fuchsias. The photos are not very sharp, as I was not near him. Last week, I watched a hummingbird taking a bath in the upper stream - what a thrill!