The Spring News Letter is now available for your viewing and reading pleasure. Please be safe out there. Here is the Link. https://provincelake.org/news-2/newsletters-2/
Category Archives: Important Communications
BABY LOON UPDATE
As reported last Fall, … following the unexpected death of our Province Lake loon chick in mid-August, the body was transported to the Loon Preservation Center for examination.
They had the veterinary team at Tufts examine the bird. The findings were:
This loon was necropsied in December at Tufts by Mark Pokras.
- A healthy female in good body condition (2.1 kg, precisely average for a healthy chick that age (about 33 days after hatch)).
- No evidence of ingested fishing tackle or human-caused problems.
- Extensive trauma was the cause of death.
John Cooley, Senior Biologist at LPC added:
All of the specific findings at necropsy were consistent with the observations that an intruding loon likely killed the chick. Interestingly, this case was necropsied on the same day as another loon chick, from Kanasatka Lake in Center Harbor, NH. In that case, people on the lake had watched a bald eagle attack the chick, so we were pretty sure of the cause, but Mark noted that the signs of trauma were very similar in the two cases. I do not think this suggests that an eagle was the culprit at Province Lake.
Thank you to everyone involved in monitoring last year’s nest and loon family, and in reporting the loss of the chick. We are transferring tissue samples from this loon to UNH for cyanotoxin testing.
I know the cyanotoxin results will be of interest, because the loon chick was born and raised on Province Lake during the season when cyanobacteria were active, and I will keep you posted if I hear those results from UNH over the course of the spring and early summer.
BOARDS FROM DAM TO BE REMOVED OCT 15, 2019
We hope you are enjoying fall at Province Lake.
We wanted to inform you that we will be removing the dam boards on Tuesday, Oct 15. This will allow the lake level to lower in preparation for the winter season.
Thank you,
The PLA
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PLA PRESENTS TO EFFINGHAM SELECTMEN SEPT. 17, 2019
PLA President, Lorie Dunne, and several other PLA board members went to the Effingham Selectmen’s meeting on September 17, 2019 to share information about the PLA and how we rely on the towns as partners in our pursuit to maintain and improve the water quality of the lake. You can watch the tape of the presentation at this link (note the PLA part starts about 20 minutes in): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtXp_xFcs10&feature=youtu.be
If you prefer, you can view the presentation by clicking HERE.
6th ANNUAL BEACH CLEAN UP
A huge thank you to all who participated in our beach
clean up yesterday. In spite of some outer band Hurricane Dorian
weather, we had the largest turnout ever with 26 folks who cleaned our
beach along Rt 153 in little over an hour.
We
collected 5 full bags of trash and it was notable that the beach
appears to be getting cleaner although firework debris, blue styrofoam
bits, cigarette butts and cans are still the prevalent trash items,
particularly along the Maine section of beach.
A
special thanks again to the residents of the Donville, Butler Field and
NH beach areas. You do a fabulous job in keeping your beach areas clean
and healthy.
Again, thank you all!
The PLA
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KAYAK FOUND
The Kayak has been returned to its owner
A Kayak was found floating in the middle of the lake this morning (8/23/19 at about 10am). The paddle was in it as well as a life jacket. The paddle, life jacket and the seat area were covered in spider webs and it had about 2 inches of water and some acorns in it as well. It appears it hasn’t been used in a bit. Should you think it is yours, you can contact Rick at 978-457-5346. You will need to describe it to him and if it is yours, you can go and get it.
SAD NEWS THAT OUR BABY LOON HAS DIED
We are very sad to report that the single loon chick hatched 5 weeks ago has died. The cause is unknown at this time. The Loon Preservation Committee has retrieved the body with plans to do a necropsy this fall. We will inform you when we get that information from them.
PLA
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NH DES LIFTS OFFICIAL CYANOBACTERIA ADVISORY
The NH DES Province Lake Cyanobacteria Advisory was lifted on Aug 30. Please click here for details.
NH DES informed the PLA that the cyanobacteria found can produce anatoxins but they do not analyze for toxicity. As a precaution, you should use judgment and avoid areas where a bloom occurs (bright green mats, stringers) as shown on our website.
NH DES POSTS OFFICIAL CYANOBACTERIA WARNING
As communicated yesterday, the PLA observed some pretty significant cyanobacteria blooms in several spots around the lake. The PLA took samples of those and brought them to UNH for analysis. The PLA also decided to post the red warning signs to give folks a “heads up”. NH DES came to the lake today (Thursday 7/25/19) and took samples as well. Based on the samples analyzed at UNH and at DES, the State has issued an official warning as can be read by clicking here.
Cyanobacteria Warning Posted
Unfortunately our recent weather has been very conducive for the growth of cyanobacteria. There have been several blooms (green floating scummy mats) around the lake today. In an abundance of caution, we will be posting the red NHDES Advisory signs. Samples have been taken and will be analyzed to see if the cyanobacteria has any toxicity. In the meantime, we would recommend that children and pets be kept out of the water and if anyone comes in contact with the bloom, they should rinse off in fresh water.
We will inform you of the NHDES results as soon as they are available.
Several photos are attached.
PLA
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