Carlin Lake Association

Our "Pier Group"

 

 

Air temperature:  28 degrees

Water temperature:  45 degrees or so

Season:  the end of fall, with winter in the air.

 

 

On Monday's chilly morning,  Jim S., Danny, Duanne, Bill H., Richard, and John froze their fingers and toes taking out the Carlin boat landing pier, marking the end of the 2013 boating season.   Everyone's boat and pier appear to be out of the water, and now we're just waiting for ice-in for the winter.

 

 

The guys made short work of the job, motivated in part by the promise of Jeanne's monkey bread and hot chocolate and coffee when the job was completed.   

 

 

I know the workers appreciated Jeanne for baking the delicious breakfast.    

And, we all give a sincere "Thank you!" to the Carlin Lake Landing Group for their work on our behalf year round.

(It wasn't a very bright morning, but guess I should have brightened up these photos a little.  Click to enlarge, to get a better look.)

 

Balsam fir gall midges

 

This fall, Bob and Judy Ruch noticed that needles of the new growth of the balsam firs on their property were turning yellow and then dropping to the ground.   They investigated and discovered that this condition is caused by balsam fir midges.

On a walk with Judy, she showed me infected branches, and after that, it was easy to locate midges on much of the new balsam growth along the trail.

(The photo on the left is from a website; the one on the right is of a branch I brought home from a walk in the woods.)

After a little googling, I learned a bit more:

Tiny midges lay their eggs on the new balsam shoots in the spring.   Then, the young larvae feed on the base of the developing needles, which causes needle tissue to form around the tiny orange larvae.  This causes the gall which is visible on the needles.

In fall, the mature larvae drop to the ground, along with the drying needles, and spend the winter in decaying matter there.  In spring, the larvae transform into tiny orange mosquito-like flies.   These again lay eggs on the new balsam growth to repeat the cycle.

On my google search, many of the hits came from extension services of states in the Northeast. Those who make their living growing Christmas trees are understandably concerned.  One of the most informative is this one from Vermont.

Bob has contacted Stony Creek Gardens, and a naturalist there is going to learn more about the midges, and especially about their treatment.   Many of the articles I read mention pesticides, or natural insect enemies of the midge.   One article I read, though ended with this sentence:  

In this case it is best, as it often is, to let nature take its course.

 

And now, Thursday

 

We had another two or three inches of wet snow overnight, in this combination fall/winter week.

I took the photo this afternoon, once the sun was lighting up the tamaracks in the bog across the road, and after the sun had melted most of the snow off the trees.

The temp is still about freezing, but the sunshine warms things up.

On Sunday, October 6th, when we pontooned around the lake with Susan Knight, our group noticed several small tamaracks with their feet wet along Carlin's shoreline. They were just getting started in the strip that had been dry with the low water level, and now was "lake" again with a higher water level.  

I checked Wikipedia, where it said,  "Tamarack is commonly an early invader.  Tamarack is generally the first forest tree to invade filled-lake bogs."    We will see if these baby Carlin tamaracks will survive, if our water level stays high.

 

Wednesday morning

 

 

 

"Yesterday's history; tomorrow's a mystery, but today is a gift.  That's why we call it the present."

 

And waking up to this morning's sunrise was another gift.

One of my favorite young teachers used to have this quote on her blackboard for her 8th graders.   I think blackboards are now obsolete, but this quote stays timeless.  

I hope your day today stays as bright as our sunrise was this morning.

 

Tuesday morning

 

Those of us at Carlin Lake were greeted by winter this morning.   On our flattest surface, it looked like 3 inches or so to me, a little more than had been predicted.

The electricity was out between 6:00 and 8:00, so was a good morning to roll over and go back to sleep.

The forecast calls for more possibilities of snow the next few days, so we'll see.

It's lovely.   I'm glad I got my last window washing done last week.

 

Carlin friends

 

The biggest news to start this week is the arrival of cold and snowy weather.  Linda Davis supplies these photos of yesterday afternoon's snow.  It continued into the evening, thick and wet enough to send John outdoors to scrape the snow off our satellite dish.   Thanks, LInda.

More cold and snow showers are predicted for most of this week, but we will see if it's actually enough to collect.   Does everyone have their outdoor preparations all completed?   I know the Carlin lake pier is still in the water to enable those last boats to get out.

 

In some personal news:

Our friend and neighbor Kathy Tomko has sold her home on Hwy P, and will be closing the beginning of November.   Kathy will relocate for now to a rental property near Minocqua.   

Two residents are recovering from surgery---Jerry G. and Chuck H.---and another, Bob R., has surgery scheduled for November.    Wishing good results for all, as well as good wishes for Char, Karen and Judy.

Newly-wed Bob's long awaited retirement date will arrive in early November, and he is looking forward to more time in their Carlin home.

Mary was overwhelmed and gratified by all the friends who joined her on October 12th, in memory and celebration of Warren and his life on Carlin Lake.   And, she will certainly be glad for our continued support.

 

Wolf Awareness Week

 

We attended an interesting program last night at the Discovery Center, in recognition of Wolf Awareness Week.  

The speaker Peter David, a wildlife biologist in the Great Lakes area of Wisconsin, told about humans' changing and conflicted relationships with wolves in the wild.  

David talked specfically about the relationship of the Ojibwe and the wolf, as the tribe's ancient creation myth shows Man and Wolf as brothers,  The Creator tells them that,  "Each of you will be feared, respected, and misunderstood by others on earth."

The speaker explained, "For wolves around the world, the future will depend greatly upon the relationship that humans decide to have with them.  At different times and places through history, the human/wolf relationship has taken many different forms, from reverence to extreme persecution."

David described the complexity of decisions about local wolves, how their re-introduction has positive effects, and how the state is trying to balance the desires of hunters with the emotional comfort property owners have with wolves.  

As we've seen in our country in the last weeks, when people have strong opposing opinions, driven by emotion and determination, compromises come slowly and with difficulty.     I'll try to remain hopeful about both conflicts:   1) among elected officials who govern us,  and 2) between those who fear wolves and those who revere them.

The illustration above comes from the beautiful poster we were given last night.   The Discovery Center will sponsor another program about wolves at their November Nibbles and Knowledge session, on Thursday, November 14th, if you may be interested.

 

Research to improve management of a "state treasure"

 

A big section of the October issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine has been devoted to ongoing research into the state's deer population.  

With hunting season rolling around again and with deer appearing frequently along our fall roadsides, it seems a good time to see what the DNR is learning from their research.

Click in here to "Wisconsin's dedication to deer research," to read the entire article.  

Since 2010, DNR personnel and volunteers have been radio-collaring both adults and new-born fawns.  Although they have only two years of data and 400 bucks and 228 fawns collared, the researchers have evidence that hunting is the mail cause of death for bucks, and for fawns, most were victims of natural predators.  

The study is sub-titled "Investing in our white-tailed herd" and acknowledges that while deer may create problems for drivers, they are also an important part of our eco-system.

 

Plenty of trees

 

 

 

One of the conversations at book club this week was about our spotty cell phone coverage.  That reminded me of this poster which showed up on Facebook sometime this fall.

So, maybe our cell phones or internet access aren't the greatest, but we certainly have plenty of trees producing oxygen-rich air to breathe!

Plus, this time of year, trees have been spectacularly beautiful.

Among the reasons why living in the woods is a great thing!

 

Some updates

 

Thanks to Jim Stocker for a couple of interesting updates to last week's blog posts.  

1) They have noticed wolf scat on the trail between Stockers and Huemanns, so yes, a wolf/wolves have been in our neighborhood.

2) Good news about the threat to bee populations was being reported at an international conference of beekeepers in Russia.   In a report from the end of September, Swedish researchers have developed a new medicine to protect bees from the diseases wiping out bee populations.  Microbiologists are calling their product SymBeeotic, which is made from the bacteria in the stomachs of healthy bees.   

Makes me wonder how a scientist acquires bacteria from a bee's stomach, but however, I hope it helps solve the problem of hive collapse.  

in unrelated news, windy days on Tuesday and Wednesday have taken many leaves from the trees, but it's still beautiful this morning, with sun sparkling on the lake and glowing gold through the leaves.