Wildlife Sightings

One of the truly great things about being able to have a place on the lake is the opportunity to observe wildlife of all kinds. There were links on the original website to a number of animal and nature guide links and those will be added to this site.

 

A few years ago, Louise and Russ sent this picture of a moose swimming across Birch. Michigan has been working at reintroducing moose for a number of years so it probably found it's way down from the UP. This past fall another one crossed the road just past the bridge in Winchester on Old O.

Wolves have been seen a couple of times this year. Once by a Board member and his daughter while driving and once by our neighbor's son while he was mowing the lawn. There are some interesting sites about wolf populations in Wisconsin that I've added to the "Wildlife Links" list.

If you come across any interesting animal links I may have missed, just send me an email or post a comment below.

Birch Lake Association Picnic

Birch Lake Association Picnic

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

1-4 pm Winchester Town Park

(eating around 1:30)

Please make your reservations by August 23th,

if you are planning to attend.

Meat (hamburgers and hot dogs) will be provided. Bring a dish to pass, table service and whatever you like to drink. Hope to see you there.

All current members will be getting a postcard in the mail with contact information included. If you have a Birch Lake neighbor who isn't a member, consider inviting them as a guest. We'll have membership forms available.

Loons Sporting New Jewelry

Hal and John spent a couple of hours last night with the DNR folks who were attempting to band our loon family. I talked with Judy today and she indicated that the first two (an adult and one young) were pretty compliant. They had to work a little longer for the others but finally did get the last young one banded and released. Judy also said there would be some pictures coming. I'll get those posted when I get them.

I found a couple of videos on YouTube about loon banding. (They both take a little while to load but, once they get going, it's not too bad.) The first, from the Northland Adventures television program, is called  Northland Adventures Loon Lookers  The other video from Petosky, MI is also interesting. Petosky MI Banding

If you're looking for even more loon information, the Northland College LoonWatch  is a good site.

Membership Numbers

As of the Board meeting on Saturday, membership in the Association was at 78. We have nearly everyone from last year and a number of former members who have signed up again. If you haven't renewed yet, we hope you'll consider joining.

Birch Lake Pictures

In response to a request in the most recent newsletter, a Birch Lake resident sent a number of pictures she had taken indicating they could be used for the history project and on the blog. There were so many good ones from which to choose. Here are just a few. Thanks, Dianne!

If you're into photography, you can go to the Shutterfly website and set up a free account that provides unlimited storage and a free website to showcase your photographs. They also have a number of items for sale that can be personalized with your pictures.

Vilas County Code Red

After last night's thunderstorms rolled through, it seemed like an appropriate time to add a link to the Vilas County Code Red system. This is a fairly new service up here. Some of you may have the service in your home area and are already familiar with it. All you do is sign up at the site with your address and contact phone number and you will receive emergency notifications through a computerized system. We received three separate calls last night -- as the storm approached, as it got worse and when the flash flood warning was issued. A cell phone number can be used so even those without a local phone at the lake can set up notification.

Vilas County Emergency Government  -- You'll see "Code Red" on the right side of the emergency government site. If you click the link, it will bring up the notification form.

Birch Lake Blog

Welcome to the Birch Lake Blog. I hope the blog will serve as an electronic bulletin board for the lake and the events of the Lake Association.

This format makes it so easy to keep things current. The links from the website have been updated and transferred so you can still search for additional information. You can also access the page from web-enabled mobile devices.

Please feel free to comment at any time. And, if you get a good picture from the lake that you'd like to share, email it to me at dittz.geo (at) gmail.com.