Recently a Watchic Lake homeowner developed and mailed a short letter to all Watchic Lake property owners regarding the recent death of a baby loon. The letter, included here, was reminding us how we can all help avoid future such occurrences. The Maine Audubon poster they included has some great info on the loons, including a very cool “loon calendar”. Check it out. Our thanks to the Lajoie’s for developing and funding this mailing. Dear Watchic Lake Homeowner, As you
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Members of the Watchic Lake Association regularly check for invasive plants when they are out on the lake (many are Maine certified). Recently a volunteer spotted something concerning. They took a sample and sent it off for analysis by the Water Resource Specialist at Portland Water District. From the Water Resource Specialist: “The plant you brought in yesterday is called “Sago Pondweed.”  It’s not considered a rare plant but it certainly isn’t common either.  I had to get out the books
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Tom Atwell has been writing the Maine Gardener column at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram since 2004. He recently did a nice article on the responsibilities we all have when owning lakefront property. Much of Tom’s information has be mentioned in some form on this website in the past. However, its great to see these ideas and others reinforced by a respected reporter outside the Watchic Lake community. The full article is included here and can be access via
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The Portland Water District is dedicated to helping all of us better maintain our lakefront property and thus the quality of our lakes. They remind us that vegetated buffers of trees, shrubs and groundcover plants catch sediment and other pollution before it reaches lakes or streams. Trees and shrubs intercept raindrops and reduce their impact on the soil. Low growing plants and the “duff” layer on the ground filter runoff. Root systems hold soil in place and absorb water and nutrients. In
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We are fortunate to have a pair of loon families on the lake. However, we recently learned that we’ve lost one of the island loon juveniles. This was discovered by a resident returning to their camp for Labor Day. The Maine Center for Loon Conservation has been contacted about the dead loon and had no further insight to offer on how it died. The last time both the young island loons were seen was on Sunday morning 8/24. Both were
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  The Watchic Lake Association completed its 2014 yard sale on a beautiful Saturday August 9th. A small group of volunteers gathered truckloads of items, sorted and priced them, moved them to the feild, put them out for display and managed the event. There were no costs to the WLA, and all proceeds from the sale will be used to support the improvement of Watchic Lake and the Watchic Lake Watershed. Many thanks to the organizations that supported the event, including the
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On Wednesday evening, July 30, wildlife biologists from BioDiversity Research (www.briloon.org) completed banding loons on Watchic Lake.  They were able to get both the male and female swamp loons and the male island loon banded. The female island loon didn’t want to cooperate.  The chicks legs are not big enough to be banded at this time.  Capture was done with a large net and a very bright light.  Several measurements are taken including blood samples, throat swabs, and the birds weight,
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We all know what “landscaping” is. Ever wonder what “lakescaping” is? Unlike landscaping, lakescaping first assesses the lake front  growing environment and then selects native plants that grow best in that environment. Ideally the plants thrive in your specific soils, moisture, and light conditions and do not  require supplemental water, fertilizer, pesticides or excessive labor to maintain. Laurel Jackson, Water Resources Specialist at the Portland Water District recently spoke at the 2014 WLA Annual Meeting. She had lots of great
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