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

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

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.

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

July 26th offered another morning of bright sun and calm waters that just had to be taken advantage of. I headed out and even tried my hand at dropping some pins during the patrol to mark where I had some interesting finds...outside of the first one I was almost on target. The second and third landed almost on top of each other. (More practice needed.) The aquatic plants I found in Zone14 offered few surprises. That said, given it is relatively early in the growth season, I f

July 25th and patrolling another sunny morning with very calm winds – so perfect. Started at bottom of Zone 15 and found nothing unusual other than in grid 485 where there is still the amazingly thick layer of Aquatic Moss, now at least over 1.5’ in one section. Scattered within the moss was a good mix of Elodea, red Water Naiad (pic attached), Thin-leaf Pondweed, and wispy strands of Floating bladderwort. Naturally, a fine coating of Filamentous algae was everywhere. Met up

July 24th was finally a sunny day with calm winds(!) Throughout the zone I found the water was a combination of easy viewing to the lake’s floor and very fine dust or debris on the surface with a good many floating strands of young bladderwort, thin leafed Pondweed, Elodea, and/or native Water naiad. The Maidens of the Mist and Gull Rock had barely any plant growth that was visible but there were the familiar bright green Fresh Water Sponges of previous years, stuck to many

I was out for a paddle this past week through Turtle Cove in Zone 1 and spotted this nice example of Floating Bladderwort (Utricularia inflata). There are four types of bladderworts that have been identified in Conway Lake, and this is the least common form. There are two quite different types of leaves on Floating Bladderwort. The lower leaves alternate on the stem, are up to 3 cm long, and are divided many times into hair-like leaflets, each bearing many tiny bladders.

July 18, 2026 First AIS Patrol of Zone 11 this morning. Weather was perfect, winds calm, and light was good. I stayed in Zone 11 to get a more thorough look at what's growing. While seeing nothing invasive, white and yellow pond lily (much in bloom), Potamogeton natans (pond weed), bladderworts (Utricaria spp) including thin-leafed, floating hearts (Nymphoides cordata), watershield (Brasenia schreberi) with its gooey underside, and tape-grass (Vallisneria americana) were all

Took advantage of the bright sun and still morning waters to venture out into zones that few people have been able to patrol this summer....

I headed down from where I had stopped 2 days ago, on 9/18, and patrolled down the west side of each of the above zones to grids 300 and...

Sept 18 th was picture perfect and the lake’s surface like glass. Although the preponderance of particles floating in the still water...

Gitch and I were able to take advantage of the calm conditions and bright sun on Sept 3. We coordinated our tracks to cover as much area...

Brad asked that I record his July patrols. He’s been diving all around the lake and not finding any native plant growths beyond the very...

Maria and I completed a sweep of Zone 7 on Saturday, July 26. We saw an abundance of native Elodea in Dean’s Cove, a small patch of Water...

A beautiful day (7/16) and I borrowed an open kayak so that I didn’t have to fold my brand new slightly swollen knee inside a regular...

It was a beautiful morning when I last patrolled Paige Brook on 9/13/24. Saw some Flat-leaf Bladderwort for the first time and a few...

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