Carlin Lake Association

Fall color

 

I have been waiting all week for the promised sunshine---hoping to snap some pictures of beautiful fall colors.  But, drizzle and clouds have seemed to over-ride daily the predictions of sun.

Maybe many of you will be at the lake this weekend to have your own opinion of the vibrancy of trees this year.     Although TV news says our area is still not at peak color, it seems to me that the dampness and the breezes have made trees this week not as bright as other years.     And today, the wind is making leaves fly through the air in spite of the drizzle.    A lot of leaves are already on the ground!

 

The original weekend forecast was for warm and sunny, and that may still happen.   No matter what, it's still a beautiful time of year to be here, and I hope you are able to manage some leaf-peeping in the next days.

 

If you have lovely fall photos, please email them to me, and I will be glad to post some with more dramatic colors.  

 

Mergansers

 

If you are able to be on the lake this coming weekend, keep your eyes out for the interesting-looking mergansers.   Gary and Sally report that they saw 34 ---yes, that's right!---swim in front of their dock yesterday.     What a thrill!

But, the Wises also report that they were not able to spot any loons, either from their dock or on their nightly boat ride.   They ask if anyone else has seen the loons, and if it is possible that the chick has already been able to fly.     We all continue to care about this family that we enjoyed watching all summer.

 

September book club meeting

Sixteen women gathered at the home of Judy Ruch. We meet the first Tuesday of most months and all Carlin women are invited to join us.  We offer Zoom oftentimes too.  Emeritus members are always welcome!

Greeting each other and catching up on news with a little refreshment is always the first order of business.  Guests are introduced and then we discuss the book .  This month it was The Measure.  We had various opinions about this book but we enjoyed a long discussion.  We decided a “good” book generates lots of discussion so this one hit the mark.

Attending were: Mary Watkins, Pauline Rider,Char Glashagel and Kathy Carlisle who share grandparenting duties, Carol Brewer, Jeanne Huemann, Susan Straus, Judy Ruch, Linda Davis,Sally Wise, Gayle Strand, Pam Van Brocklin, Aliza Gilbert, Carmen Farwell, Karen Malliet and her sister Denise.

In case more urging is needed, our history of this club has included books that resulted  in delightful road trips. It would be fun to do this again!

(Shared by Judy Ruch)

Birds know fall is coming

 

Our hummingbird feeder is still hanging outdoors, but I haven't seen a visitor in the last two days.     I remember John Bates writing a couple of years ago that we should keep feeders out for just a little longer, for the "stragglers" that may still be around.

Bill Draves has watched closely and says their hummers left almost two weeks ago.   He describes behaviors showing that the same hummingbirds come back to their feeders every summer, and that they even buzz up to say goodbye before they leave.    

What a summer, huh?   Hummingbirds, eagles, and a real joy for all of us---watching the loon chick successfully grow up.    Now, we will wait for reports from any of you who may see the chick learning to fly.

Bill sends a link to an interesting site with information about fall bird migrations in Wisconsin.

https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-WI-125

It tells the technology that shows that 2.6 million birds a night are leaving Wisconsin for sites further south.   That's certainly a number that humans would not be willing or able to count!

 

Pontoon float on Labor Day weekend

 

Our annual Pontoon Float was a huge success this year.  We had 5 pontoon boats linked together and we added one more fishing boat for part of the time. We counted 33 people floating and 3 more heading off to fish.

The weather totally cooperated, the treats were wonderful, the company just fine, and only one person ended up in the water.

 Thanks to Chris Malliet for assisting while we dropped folks off at their docks.  One misstep, and he and his phone were wet! Thanks to Captain Cecil and his assistants Steve Houle and Bob Ruch for ably moving us all around the lake for two hours.

Know that if you missed this fun afternoon,you were missed.  

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Judy and Bob Ruch (Many thanks for all these photos!)   Karen Malliet with son Chris and daughter Kaitlyn, and front right, Kathy Houle.  

 

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Sam Badger and Mary Watkins;   then Zach and Peter Glashagel, with Brooke Badger and daughter Allie

 

 

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 Karen Nixon, Clarke Searl, Aliza & Marty.  Bottom, Linda Davis, Sue Straus, Sally Wise.

 

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Robert Houle (with sunglasses) & friend Travis in the foreground. Mark Houle with wife Sarah in the background.   Right, Steve Houle and daughter Victoria.     

 

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Gary Wise, Karen Malliet, Chris Malliet foreground.

Cecil Davis, Aliza Gilbert, Marty Coonen, plus Phil Malliet’s arm in the background.

 

And finally, just one section of the whole crew. 

Now, a young adult loon

 

Clark and Karen forward this cheerful photo of our now "teenage" loon.   Hasn't been fun to watch its birth and growth all summer??     It makes me happy!

This calls for a celebration:  the first loon chick in our memory to survive the summer and grow up at Carln Lake.     Now we will keep our eyes peeled, hoping to see the our adolescent learn to fly and be able to leave for the winter.   

Thanks to Clark and Karen, and all other lake neighbors, too, who have kept us posted on the loon's where-abouts all summer!