Baby Loons

Heard from John today that we have baby loons on the lake. Be careful when you're out on the lake.

Annual Meeting -- Saturday, May 28

 Just a quick reminder -- The annual meeting is this weekend at the Town Hall. Coffee and treats will be served starting at 8 AM. The meeting starts at 9 AM.

You can drop off your membership sheet and dues at the meeting.

Hope to see you there.

Spring 2022 Ice almost out!

 

The ice is almost out. The loons are back and so are the swans. Looks like spring is finally here!

Elder Care Specialist at Winchester Library

 

On Friday, November 5, from 10:30 - noon, Susan Corrieri, Elder Care Specialist with the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Vilas County, will be at the Winchester Library. She will be available for group discussion or individual appointments regarding Medicare and Supplements, If you wish an appointment, please call the Library at 715.686.2926. Refreshments will be served. 

Birch Lake Annual Meeting & Annual Picnic

The annual meeting and annual picnic for Birch Lake will take place on Saturday, August 21, at the Winchester Town Park located at the intersection of Old Hwy O and Town Site Road.

The meeting will begin at 10 AM with lunch to follow at approximately 11 AM,

Hamburgers, brats, buns, condiments and paper plates will be provided by the Association. Those attending are asked to provide their own side dishes and beverages for their families.

All landowners and members are invited. Hope to see you there!

Birch Lake Photos

 Here are some more beautiful photos from the lake by Ann Marie.

Weekly Events at Winchester Library -- July 28 -- July 1

 

Look No Farther than the Winchester Public Library for your entertainment and fun this week. 

Tuesday at 1 pm Licia, from the North Lakeland Discovery Center will tell us - both young and old -all about Dream Catchers - their origin, legend and why they are so very important for children to have. Then we will be making a Dream Catcher for you to take home to grab all those nasty dreams.  A treat will be served. Program may be held indoors or outdoors.  

On Wednesday, all the way from Wausau at 1 , Colossal Fossils is bringing tales of large and ancient animals with bones to look at and touch.   For one hour, you will see and marvel at the size and scope of these gigantic fossils. Program may be held indoors or outdoors. 

On Thursday, via Facebook at 4 pm, Chad Lewis, researcher. author, and lecturer on topics of the strange and unusual will entertain us with stories of Wisconsin Lumberjack Lore. You can view this program at home or here at the Library. 

Spend part of your week with the kids and grandkids or by yourself at the programs being held at the Winchester Public Library.

Summer Events at Winchester Library

Betty's got some really good programs at the library. Below is a list of the current schedule. If you need to get out or have company and need something to do, check the list below.

 JUNE  

  June 21 – Book Club, at 3, Glory Over Everything, at Library

June 24 at 4 – Darrell Smith – Prohibition with a sample brew/here

June 25 at 11-Dottie Reeder – Casseroles and one dish meals/Zoom

June 29-Discovery Center – Dream Catchers.1-2, at Library  

June 30 – Colossal Fossils at 1, at the Library

July

July 1-Chad Lewis at 4, Wisconsin Lumberjack Lore, virtually

July 6-Children’s Program with Blaze, 10:30 AM, at Library

July 8 – Bill Jamerson, CCC program at 4 at Library

July 9-Dottie Reeder, Homemade Pizza and no cook Sauce/Zoom

July 13-Discovery Center – Dragonflies, 1-2, at Library

July 19-Book Club – Book Woman of Troublesome Creek at 3.

July 20-Children’s Program with Blaze at 10:30, at Library

July 22 – Jim Bokern at 4 – History of Winchester /at Library

July 23 – Dottie Reeder at 11-Stove Top Chocolate Cake/ Zoom

July 27-Discovery Center, Animal Tracks at 1-2, at Library

July 29-John Bates at 4, at Library

July 30-Bill Rutherford at 2-Fearless, in Library

August 

August 3 – 10:30AM, last Kid’s Program, in person

August 10-Basket Class 10-3, in Library

August 16-Book Club, 3 PM, in Library

August 17-Watercolor Bird’s Nest Class 10-3:30, in Library

Birch Lake Loons

 Just a quick note -- a mama loon and a baby were seen in the southwest bay this weekend. If you're in that area please be careful and go slowly.

Easter Sunday Ice Out

Just wanted to let you know the ice went out today. Seems pretty early but we'll take it.

Winter Buoys in Place

Here's a note from Bobbi about the buoys by the island . . .

" I wanted to let you know that Tom switched out the fair weather Island Buoys with the Winter Ice Spar Buoys yesterday. These ice spar buoys, located at the dedicated GPS locations for the buoys on file with the WDNR, will act as place holders during the winter. They extend about a foot above the surface of the lake. This will make returning the fair weather buoys to their exact location much easier in the spring. Thought residents should be aware they will be out on the lake in the winter. "

Birch Lake Photos

Here are some beautiful pictures
Ann Marie sent to me that she'd
taken by the lake.

Beaver Trapping

"The Birch Lake Association Board would like to inform the Membership that new beaver trapping efforts are now taking place in the Tambier Creek area leading to Tamarack Lake. The Trapper has requested that lake residents refrain from navigating the Creek area until he has completed his work there to ensure your safety. Updates will be provided as quickly as possible. Please share this news with your Lake neighbors."

This notice came from the association secretary on June 23. When it is completed I'll post an update.

Big Bear

Be careful when you're going outside. Looks like the bears are waking up. Here's a picture of one going through our front yard last evening.

Birch Lake Annual Meeting & Picnic Cancelled

"The Birch Lake Association Board hopes this note finds our Members, their families, and friends healthy and safe during this extraordinary time as we face the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic as individuals, families, and as a Nation.

Your BLA Board held a conference call Board Meeting on Saturday, April 25, 2020 to determine the best and most responsible course of action regarding our upcoming Annual Meeting scheduled for May 23rd and the Annual Picnic scheduled for September 5th. The Board unanimously decided to cancel this year's Annual Meeting and Annual Picnic out of an abundance of caution for everyone's safety."

Safer At Home Order

Just a quick reminder that the State of Wisconsin has a Safer At Home Order in effect.

If you right-click on the link below, you'll be given the option to open it in a new tab. That's the one I find most easy to use. If you just click on the link, it will open but it closes the main page.You can also copy this address and look at it later.

https://evers.wi.gov/Documents/COVID19/EMO12-SaferAtHome.pdf

Currently all the libraries, bars, restaurants, schools and non-essential businesses are closed.

Both Vilas and Oneida counties have asked that people who are seasonal residents and those who are out of town currently stay out of the area until the virus spread slows. Our limited hospitals and medical staff just can't handle an increase. If you do return, you need to self-isolate for 14 days.

https://health.vilascountywi.gov/

Here's a link to the Vilas County Covid-19 page. It has additional information about the virus and ways to protect yourself, your family and your neighbors.

With our aging population and limited health care facilities up north, it's important to remember to follow the safer at home guidelines.

More Wolf Kills

Since I posted the last entry about the deer kill, there have been three more deer killed. One was on our driveway last week. One was on the lake. One was last night on a neighbor's driveway.

A West Birch lake resident saw six wolves on the lake. Later they saw a coyote going across the lake with a deer leg in its mouth.

Please be alert and stay safe. Also keep your pets on leash for their safety.

Wolf Kill

Just a quick note to keep your eyes open. We had an apparent wolf kill in our front yard this morning.

River Otters at the Library

Here's an event at the Winchester Library. Give yourself a chance to "chill" after the holidays --

Knowledge at Noon on January 2 from 12-1, here at the Winchester Library, Licia Johnson will speak on the Incredible World of the River Otter. We may not always seen them, but we can see the signs they leave behind in winter! Join Licia as we dive into the incredible world of the river otter, exploring all their funny behaviors, signs and unique adaptations,. 

We hope you will join us. Dessert and coffee or water will be served. 

Water Level Gauge Removal

The water level gauge was removed today. As soon as Emily sends out the last graph, I'll post it on the site.

They were also able to compare the lake levels to sea level on all but one lake. When that information is reported I'll post that on the blog also. It should be interesting to see how we compare.

Bear Alert

Just wanted to let you know to keep and eye on your pets and children. There's a big bear roaming around East Birch Lake Rd. Our neighbors saw it at 6:30 this morning. The raspberries are really starting to pop out so it might have been after those.

AIS Survey

The DNR and the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission will be conducting AIS surveys on lakes this summer.

Fish Trap and Crab Lakes will be surveyed by the DNR staff.

The GLIFWC will be surveying a number of lakes in Vilas County -- including Birch. The other lakes in Vilas County are Annabelle, Big Crooked, Jag, Lake Laura, Mamie, Manitowish & No Mans Lake.

Winchester Picnic in the Park & Boat Parade

Mark July 6th and 7th on your calendar . . . Those are the dates of the Annual Winchester Boat Parade and Picnic.

The boat parade starts at 6 PM at the bridge and the Picnic in the Park is on Sunday, July 7, from 12 PM to 3 PM. There's always great food, fun and games.

Once again, the Friends of the Library are sponsoring the Cake Walk. Folks donate cakes, cupcakes and desserts and the kids play a "ring-around-the rosy" game to see who wins a treat. If you'd like to donate a treat to the game, please have it at the Park by noon.

Hope to see you there.

Lake Tides Newsletter & Lake Levels

Emily Heald, Water Program Coordinator at North Lakeland Discovery Center, sent an email out last week about and interesting article . . . 

"Katie Hein, the scientist who has been analyzing our lake level data, wrote an incredibly interesting article in the most recent publication of Lake Tides."

UWSP/UW Extension Lakes    You can find the newsletter at this site. You can also subscribe to the newsletter and receive it whenever it is published.

Emily is also our contact at the Discovery Center for the lake level monitoring. Here's a link to the Discovery Center that explains the procedure.

Discovery Center Citizen Lake Monitoring

Every spring they come out and install a gauge right off the shoreline. The gauge is calibrated so that readings from day to day and year to year can be compared.

This is a photo of the most current page in the monitoring booklet. On May 11 the zero point was calibrated at 305.3. You add the reading (65) to the zero point and the initial reading for 2019 was 370.3. If you add the 305.3 to the reading from today (56), you'll come up the actual level of 361.5.

At the end of each month, we submit a photo of the current month and we receive a chart (see below) that shows the lake levels for that month added on the past data.

This year Emily asked if there was one year for which she could do a graph showing the change in levels. I think 2014 is an interesting year. It started out at the highest level and, in five weeks, they had to come out and re-install the gauge in deeper water. They installed the gauge on 5/13/14 and the actual elevation was 395.7 (333.7 + 62 cm). On June 21 the actual elevation was 343.7 (333.7 + 10 cm).

As you can see from the graph, the water level kept falling throughout the summer and started climbing around August when the rain started coming again. The other interesting thing about 2014 is we had 4" of snow on October 31, a day before they took the gauge out.

The highest point since 2014 was last summer when all the docks started floating away.

There's another change this year that should be interesting. A few weeks ago they came out and did a reading that will enable them to compare our lake level to sea level and to lakes around the world. As soon as we get some information I'll post it on the blog.

Winchester Library and Town Events - June

I received an email from the Betty at the Winchester Library with a long list of events going on at the library and in town throughout the month of June. Thought I'd post it on the blog in case you're up here and need something to do.

 Summer Library Hours are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays 10-3; Thursday 9-6 and             Saturday 10-12. Copying and faxing are available during those times.

            

June 3 – Town Board meeting at 7 pm, Town Hall

June 4 – Lions Board meeting at 6, Library

June 6 – Jasmyn Schmidt addresses questions and answers about Composting and Recycling at 2, Library

            

June 8-Rainbow Lake Association meeting at 9, Library

            

June 9 – Legion Auxiliary meeting at 5, at Legion Post/Bingo

June 12-15- Our Annual Book Sale; $1.00 a bag on Saturday

June 17-Book Club – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, here

June 18 – Kid’s Programs start; Picnic, Worm Race and Litter Pick up From 11-12, Library

June 19 – Garden Maintenance begins at 9 in Memorial Garden, here

June 20- Free Lunch – a Cook Out at 11:30; then Susan Corrieri, Vilas County Elder Specialist, will speak on the ABC’s of Medicare and answer questions at noon, Library

June 21 – Basket Weaving 10-3, Dianne Mockler, Library

June 22-Hiawatha Lake Picnic and Meeting, 8:30, here

June 25-Container Gardening for Kids, 10:30; Jaime Martindale from UW-Madison on Visualizing History Through Aerial Photography  at 2, Library

June 27- Attorney Long from Sturgul and Long Law Office in Hurley addresses Elder and Trusts issues at 4.

June 28 – Basket Weaving with Dianne Mockler, 10-3, here

Lost Swim Raft

This raft floated up on Jay and Helyn's dock today (May 21). If this is your raft, you can contact them at the phone number in the Birch Lake directory or at jhwoolf (at) gmail.com.

2019 Field Trip Guide & Annual Meeting Information

Here's Bobbie's latest email with a link to field trips all around the state of Wisconsin.

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin has shared its 2019 Field Trip Guide offering remarkable Field Trips for you and your family to enjoy throughout the state of Wisconsin. I have attached a few of the trips taking place in the Vilas County area you may be interested in attending. Check out the entire guide at: 

https://www.wisconservation.org/field-trips/guidebook/

If you enjoyed John Bates' presentation at our Annual Meeting a few years ago, he will be leading Field Trip #172 Old Growth Forest Hike in Iron County in August.

If you plan to renew your membership at the Annual Meeting on May 25th, please bring along a completed Membership form to turn in with your payment. This will guarantee your entry in this year's Association Directory. 

May 1st??????

Lake Level Monitoring

Spoke to Bobbie a couple days ago about the monitoring of the lake level. We started in 2010. Here's a link to the Discovery Center page that describes the program. After the level is installed this spring, I'll post the water level on the blog.

Lake Level Monitoring -- Discovery Center

Original Lake Level Monitoring information sheet -- This is an old link that shows the process of installing the gauge and reading the levels. I think you should be able to zoom in on the print and make it easier to read.