Lake Ripples - August 2009

LCC and the University of Vermont are collaborating on a recreational study for the Lake Champlain Paddlers Trail. Surveys were sent this summer to all LCC members who receive our annual Paddlers’ Trail guidebook. Thanks to everyone who has responded. If you haven’t returned your survey yet, please set aside some time this week to give us feedback on the Trail. By sharing your paddling experiences, what you value about getting out on the water, and your thoughts on what enhances or diminishes your recreational experience, you will help guide management of sustainable boating on Lake Champlain. We value your input and need your help!   

LCC volunteers have been hard at work collecting water samples to identify algae blooms around Lake Champlain.  This summer has been relatively quiet.   The thick pervasive bloom often seen in the lake’s northeastern bays has been less prevalent than in years past although a patchy bloom has developed in Missisquoi Bay, particularly in the eastern portion, and occasional short term blooms cropped up in other areas.  Monitoring efforts continue through the Labor Day weekend.  Click here for an overview of the seasons monitoring results or go to http://www.lakechamplaincommittee.org/lcc-at-work/algae-in-lake/ and scroll to the bottom of the page.

LCC Staff Scientist Mike Winslow has been on the road this summer sharing stories of Lake Champlain and promoting LCC’s new book. In his presentations Mike provides an overview of the natural history of Lake Champlain and discusses historic and on-going management efforts. He has appeared at 14 events since Memorial Day reaching out to over 500 people.  Hosts have included Rotary Clubs, libraries, historical societies, and adult education programs.  

Upcoming programs include “Lake Champlain: A Natural History” at the Town & Country Resort in Stowe on September 15th and “What Champlain Saw” at the Dodge Memorial Library in Rouses Point on September 16th. Check out the LEARN section of our website for upcoming programs. Contact us at lcc@[remove this text]lakechamplaincommittee.org or call 802-658-1461 if you’d like to schedule an LCC presentation in your community.

If you see lights out on Lake Champlain in the next few weeks it’s probably not UFOs. The Adirondack Cooperative Loon Program will be conducting night time surveys of loons on Lake Champlain. Researchers have found that going out at night with spotlights allows them to sneak up on the birds and trap them with nets. They can then take blood samples to check for mercury and lead levels and evaluate immune response. They also tag the birds in order to track where they come from and where they are going. The project is a cooperative effort between the NY Department of Environmental Conservation, the Biodiversity Research Institute, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.  

Lake Champlain’s summer loons are typically young adults, not yet ready to defend breeding territories. Smaller ponds in the Adirondacks, Quebec, and eastern Vermont are more likely to support breeding pairs. However, loon populations throughout the region have increased in recent years. As more desirable habitats become filled, breeding on Lake Champlain could increase. 

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department gave its recently-established muskellunge restoration effort a boost in August when it stocked 250 four-month old muskellunge in the Missisquoi River Delta. The fish were donated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.The muskellunge, related to northern pike, but larger, is a prized sport fish. Lake Champlain and the Missisquoi River are the only locations in New England that historically had a native muskellunge population. Muskellunge were native to Lake Champlain’s Missisquoi River and Missisquoi Bay but the population that last existed upstream of the Swanton Dam was apparently lost in the late 1970s following a chemical spill that occurred on the upper river.  

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently completed a genetic assessment of a very small number of muskellunge caught since 2005 in the Lake Champlain Basin. “In the last couple years, anglers have reported catching an occasional muskie in the lower Missisquoi River and Missisquoi Bay,” said Shawn Good, Chair of the department’s Muskellunge Team, and the fisheries biologist leading the restoration efforts. “Through a very successful outreach effort, we were able to work with local anglers and taxidermists in the Swanton area and obtain tissue samples from a number of these incidental muskie catches. Genetic analysis of these tissue samples reveal the muskellunge anglers have been catching in the area are not from the original native strain.”

“The muskie that anglers have been catching in the Missisquoi came from the Great Chazy River in New York, as their genetic makeup is identical to the Lake Chautauqua-strain muskie the NYDEC have stocked there for many years,” said Good. He notes they now know some of those fish make their way down the Chazy and out into Lake Champlain to the Missisquoi Bay and River. There are also a small number of muskellunge in Otter Creek. These fish originated from Pennsylvania following a Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department stocking effort more than 20 years ago.

Their names can evoke spine-chilling fear - bog haunter, pond hawk, shadow dragon, widow skimmer - or elfin magic - jewel wing, aurora dancer, sedge sprite. They are the subject of old wives tales about sewn lips of misbehaved children or their ability to reincarnate snakes. Few animal groups inspire more colorful stories than dragonflies and damselflies. Yet, even if the wives tales are not true and the names are only fanciful, these insect masters of the sky still lead fascinating lives. Together, dragonflies and damselflies comprise the insect order Odonata or “toothed ones”. Generally, dragonflies are faster and larger than damselflies, but the most reliable visual difference between the two groups is how they hold their wings when resting. Dragonflies hold their wings horizontal to the ground while most damselflies hold theirs perpendicular. Both groups are predators as adults and nymphs.

Odonates spend most of their life under water as nymphs. Nymphs can be found in many parts of Lake Champlain and other water bodies, but they generally prefer weedy sections. The weeds support an abundance of food and places to hide from fish that would otherwise eat them. Dragonfly nymphs have inspired horror stories, reportedly including the creature in the Alien movies. They have a hinged mask attached to their lower lip which can be extended about half the length of their body. As the mask shoots forward, spines on the end spread out to impale passing prey which can then be dragged reluctantly to the nymphs waiting jaws. The nymphs are voracious and large ones can take newts, tadpoles, or even small fish.  

Only after a period, which can last between three months for some species and ten years for others, they emerge as the adults with which we are most familiar. Each adult may only live a few days during which time its principal activities are feeding and mating. Adults are among the most acrobatic flyers in the animal kingdom. They can maneuver forward and backward, or hover like a helicopter. Some species can reach speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour.   

Many nature watchers have observed the aerial acrobatics of odonate reproduction. First, the male will fly by the female and grasp her head with specialized appendages on his abdomen. The couple is then said to be in “tandem”, and they may fly like this. The female then curls her abdomen toward a specialized pocket closer to the male’s thorax where sperm is stored. At this point the couple is said to be in the “wheel” position, which may occur in flight or while resting. One thought is that the complicated grasping and flying routine helps the male avoid being eaten by the female after his donation to the offspring is complete. After the female accepts the sperm, the male may guard his mate to assure that the eggs she lays were fathered by him. Guarding may mean maintaining the tandem position or he may simply hover nearby and chase off rivals. Depending on the species, the female lays eggs in slits she makes in plants or simply deposits the eggs into the water.