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

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.

Spent Monday morning patrolling the channel, Zone 3, minus Paige Brook. Saw nothing unusual. Lots of small clumps of Filamentous green algae along the floor. Enjoyed the wildlife- ducks, turtles & a heron flying overhead.

Aug 6th in Zone 7, grid 200, my 10yr old granddaughter and I, armed with AIS plant guides, we climbed onto my paddleboard and took off to search for and identify any plant growths either growing on the lake floor or floating along the shoreline that we might encounter. We started off finding: Spiral pondweed bits crowded up against one of our dock support posts. Pipeworts, with no flowers, right off our shore that we dug up and investigated to confirm that they were not Quill

On Aug 4 Cheryl Cullion and I met at South Cove (her chosen zone) for her first run through on how to patrol using the system that we have all developed. That day was right after a strong burst of rain a few days before which left the water in the immediate coves around Snow Brook so full of dirt particles that it was virtually impossible to see to the floor of the lake. But along the shallower areas we found Filamentous Algae, Tape grass, Floating hearts, Watershields, Ribbo

I paddled from our home to the town beach and back covering Zones 2 and 3 with near perfect conditions - it was sunny day with minimal wind. Zone 2 covers most of the northern shoreline along Mudgett Rd and is shallow and sandy with fairly sparse vegetation. I did see some floating fragments of native naiad and purple bladderwort, some aquatic moss along the bottom, and the usual floating plants. The naiad was easy to identify as the native form by simply grabbing fragment

I didn’t have my phone for Zone 8 on August 2nd but tracked today’s paddle thru Zone 9 using Strava. All looking good!!

August 5, 2026 second paddle in S Cove, did a big loop this time. Saw lors of friendly healthy natives, nothing troubling and did find what I believe is one lonely Lobelia dortmanni which was kind of cool. I picked it, it was past prime, but feel a little guilty. It's native and definitely in Carroll County lakes and ponds. Photo below, anyone correct me if I am wrong. And I found this native giant bur-reed kind of broken off which is probably why it was noticeable.