The Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Patrol is a dedicated group of volunteers who patrol Conway Lake in kayaks, canoes and on paddle...

I finally got out to patrol Zone 14, grid 462 up to Ship Island, grid 479. It was a bit breezy, so not best visibility in some spots, but I was able to get a pretty good look at the quiet coves along the way, including near the beach and the boat ramp in the old cove campground. Nothing unusual to report!

In the past few years and, again, this year an “oily” looking sheen has appeared on the lake. About 2-3 years ago when it was first brought to our attention by some patrollers, Bob Craycraft identified it as a very natural phenomena and called it an “iron stain.” Recently other patrollers have also seen it, along the shoreline or near docks (Dean, Don, Brenda and Thia and me.) I did take a paddle and whacked at the stains I had found. They broke into tiny fragments, not regro

Sap Story Patrolling zones 4 & 5 calm mornings 9/17 & 18. No invasive weeds spotted. We did notice an “oil slick” coming from a pine cone floating on the surface of the lake in Zone 5. After talking with Thea, we decided to find out more about this rainbow on the water. I went to search and AI came up with an answer. Very few pine cones with slicks were found.

I have the benefit of being somewhat sheltered from wind in my patrol zone. On Saturday, Sept 12 I took advantage of the suns angle. I noted ‘die-back’ and even young growth of species. I focused on location of certain plants and clipped a few samples.

Well it took all summer, but I finally made it out there this weekend. There was a little wind from the north on Saturday that impacted visibility around Mayo Point, but I double checked that area again on Sunday morning when winds were calm (sections 403-411). I am happy to report that I saw nothing unusual or concerning in either zone. Zone 12 was very quiet and peaceful, and I picked up a few examples of what I think are flat leaf bladderwort and water marigold, plus a

On a sunny afternoon, Don donated his time and shared his wisdom to confirm there are no concerning weeds in the area indicated below. It was extra fun to paddle Dolloff Cove as a team. Thank you Don and Barbara!

Thanks for all your patrol updates. The map below shows the status of AIS patrols through September 5th. The yellow grids are those areas that have yet to be checked this year. The light orange areas were checked once in July, the dark orange areas were checked once in August, and the green checked areas were checked in July and August. Our aim is to patrol all areas at least twice over the course of the summer so if you can get out and help to turn all areas green we woul

On this remarkably beautiful day I made a full loop around Zones 11 and 10, launching from the South Cove put-in (Eaton), and paddling up the Snow Brook Inlet, halfway to the bridge, and then out and round the Zones with in the submerged aquatic vegetation. I paddled across the lake doing the full loop of the zones. I saw all the usual suspects for these zones, including some coontail in the Snow Brook inlet and elsewhere. I have not seen flowering marigold this year. I pic

With the departure of family and guests and a gloriously sunny Monday with calm wind and a lake devoid of boats, I was able to take my time and do a "deep dive" of Zones 9 and 8 today. The west side of 9 is flourishing in littoral life; Zone 8 is dark and quickly gets deep so not much going on there. What I did see in Zone 9 included lots of the "usual" and -- I think!! -- a couple of groups of Coontail toward the very southern end of 9, opposite Boyton Island. I didn't want

For those patrollers that want a free alternative to Avenza, there is a new mapping app (MapNero) that allows you to import our GIS patrol map and track your progress on the lake and it’s free to use. I’ve tested it, and while the tracking is not quite as accurate as Avenza, it’s pretty good. See photos below. The image on the left shows tracking with MapNero and the photo on the right is with Avenza. Using it is not quite as straightforward as Avenza but you can track y

On Wednesday, 8/26 I walked down to my swimming beach area to find what looked to be a Cyanobacteria bloom. I took some photos, took a sample and reached out to Maria Gross who came over to take a look. We agreed it should be reported and I filled out the online form and submitted it to NHDES. Within the hour and a half after I saw it, it had cleared and I could not find any evidence even along surrounding shorelines. Someone from NHDES called and we arranged to meet halfway

Biggest, pinkest lilies ever.

John Edgarton (hearty soul that he is) took out his kayak on August 22nd and patrolled from his dock in zone 6, grid #172, to Gull Rock, Maidens of the Mist and out to the farthest buoy (grid 173) and back. He stated that his Avenza map would not track and he wanted to report the patrol through me. He found that there was surprisingly very little plant growth around any of the rock collections along that stretch. He is remembering that in past seasons there was never a lo

fascinating how localized some plants are. Most all the main lakeside of the patrol showed off only some grasses and the occasional lillypad and shields but on the south cove of Walker Island i couldn't stop finding bladderwort. Floating bits but mostly all attached to the bottom. I had to look closely to makesure there wasn't anything more but it seems to have taken over the whole area. The beaver dam behind the island also prevented me from circumnavigating the island th

Kay, my 10yr old grand-daughter, and I made it back to Pennacook on 8/20 and to the big boulder in grid #429 to investigate the Bryozoan we reported on in an earlier post this season but did not have either the sun or my camera to record it fully. We knew that it was large, but this is just huge. Kay’s hand as you see it, measuring 6” at its full length, made the full length of the fetus-like shape be about 12” long as we looked down on it … then I managed to wrap ¾ of my

Yesterday I headed out for a kayak run with Thia and decided as I went to meet her to make it a patrol as the conditions were good for viewing. As I headed over to the south side of Scribner Point I visited the very weedy and shallow area where land connects to the point. I glided over spike rush, some floating pond weed as well as bur reed. Once I met up with Thia at the end of Scribner Point, we were given a delightful show by the loon family. Both mama and Papa were feedi

Aug 15th had started off a sunny day with no wind but that only lasted until early afternoon, snipping short the patrol. Regardless, some neat finds were made. My grand-daughters Benna and Kay, ages 9 and 10 respectively, came with me and were determined to see whatever I saw, know the names of the plants I pointed out, and then investigate further if possible. They did just that. Inspiring. Each one had their own inflatable paddle board and, after about few minutes of thei

Aug 15th was exceptionally sunny with absolutely no wind which made viewing to the lake floor almost effortless. No new news of any changes with the plants I found earlier in July (other than I remain amazed at how substantial the clump of Elodea is in grid # 474.) No new plants to report.

Saturday morning was perfect for a good look around Paige Brook. I’ve always taken note of the plant life and wildlife and now enjoy being able to identify it! I tend to fill my photo library on any adventure so I’ll include a couple here. Nothing suspicious and plenty of diversity. Broadleaf Arrowhead, Cottongrass, algae, Bladderwort varieties and a heron.