Nice Paddle Through Zones 2 and 3

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 fragments as I paddled and feeling the texture of the leaves. The leaves on the invasive form are stiffer with prickly edges.

Zone 3 covers most of the Channel and Paige Brook and has a lot more plant growth - Paige Brook especially. I spotted common and purple bladderwort, native naiad, ribbon leaf pondweed, thin-leaf pondweeds, floating pondweed, lilies, watershield, lots of grassy spike rush, and water marigold. Water marigold has a look-a-like invasive (fanwort) and you have to look closely to see how the leaves are attached to the stem to differentiate the two. The native water marigold has leaves attached directly to the stem whereas in fanwort there is a short petiole that attaches the leaves to the stem. It pays to look closely.

No invasives were spotted today.

Water Marigold

Water Marigold - note that the leaves attach directly to the stem.

View from the surface - common bladderwort, native naiad, and thin-leaf pondweed.