What’s the Score! Flashboards__ Breach ___

If you go back and read comments sent in by readers and my responses, you gain a bit more insight into the game, the complexity of it and the ever-evolving plan. I can tell you that this past month the game has gone from a slow moving football-type game of delays and postponements to a rousing game of ping pong with the ball change hands repeatedly this week alone. New info may be out there that I am not yet aware, but here’s a few answers for today… Are the flashboards in? Could be – I haven’t heard or driven by yet today. Sutton Conservation Commission (SCC) ordered them in so that historic levels could be maintained. 1-0 The 10 day waiting period has passed earlier this week so now we will see compliance or enforcement. Did the dam owner appeal to DEP because they didn’t like the SCC ruling? Sure they did – at the last “hour” so to speak – for more delays. I will tell you now that the MPA discussed appealing the decision to DEP before it came out if SCC ruled anything less than historic – last year we had a major fish kill at …

Horse-Keeping Seminar Scheduled – April 25th

How about a Mass Aggie Horsekeeping Seminar ! In cooperation with UMass Extension and the MPA’s 319 Grant educational program, a horse keeping seminar will be held Saturday April 25th, 2009 in the Sutton Town Hall. All are welcome! Here’s the agenda: 10 a.m. BASICS OF PASTURE MANAGEMENT – Dr. Stephen Herbert Well managed pastures can furnish high-quality, nutritious feed at a relatively low cost. Dr. Stephen Herbert will discuss the basics of pasture establishment, and managing pastures for horse and livestock. 11 a.m. WEEDS AND POISONOUS PLANTS IN PASTURES – Randall Prostak Many weeds in pastures are actually quite palatable and nutritious if the pasture is maintained in a vegetative state and not allowed to become too mature. Both, horses and livestock usually avoid eating poisonous plants as long as quality hay or pasture is available. However, faced with no pasture or hay, an animal might decide to sample one of the poisonous weeds. An overview of weed management in pasture and hay fields will be discussed. 12:00 p.m. Lunch provided 12:30 p.m. EQUINE AND LIVESTOCK BARNYARD MANAGEMENT – Dr. Masoud HashemiSpring rains may result in manure and mud runoff threatening water quality. Dr. Hashemi will discuss managing nutrients …

Noteworthy Quote

“In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy.” Nature Conservancy’s John Sawhill

A Word of Thanks to the MPA Board of Directors

A message of appreciation to the MPA Board of Directors from an MPA Member, received April 3rd: “Many thanks for your regular updates to the blog and for the emails… I do miss the days of Fuddy stopping by my house and telling me about the flashboards and/or how many inches he had the gate open. As a relatively new property owner on the lake I really appreciate all the time and effort the MPA board has put into this and the professional approach from all. Thanks again-“

Manchaug Wildlife: Woodpeckers of all kinds!

Through it all, we are finding new friends who share our love for the lake and the quality of life offered by the area – and who appreciate the forum offered by the MPA. This photo and message were submitted this week from a new friend in the watershed. “Thank you for all the background information about the pond and ramp. I have seen that you enjoy reporting about the birds and wildlife in the watershed. Last week I observed 5 different kinds of woodpeckers in my back yard. Male and female downy woodpeckers A male hairy woodpecker Male and female red-bellied woodpeckers A northern “yellow shafted” flicker and a pileated woodpecker (see photo attached) Thanks, again.” What a great photo Dick! Last summer we often hear three pileateds calling to each and their distinctive drumming resonating through the nieghborhood. They are huge, loud birds! My daughter in the Douglas woods has quite a few new holes in the oaks in her yard. No small damage! We’ll have to see if we can find where they nest. Thanks for submitting!

April 18th MANCHAUG POND ANNUAL CLEAN-UP

SATURDAY, April 18th beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the State Public Boat Ramp, in cooperation with the Town of Sutton Highway Department and enhanced by our DEP 319 Non Point Source Pollution Grant… MPA members and friends will hit the pavement with gloves and garbage bags in hand to clean the roadsides, break the waves with small boats and long arms to clean the shoreline and take to the turf with rakes to spruce up the ramp all in a Manchaug Pond/watershed-wide cleanup event! So mark your calendar, call out your Boy and Girl Scout Troop, grab the neighbor and relatives and get out here and join us! Come early, stay late! Come late, leave early! Just come :)) Rain or Shine! Bags and the dump truck will be provided but you should bring your own gloves, rake, etc. We’ll ask the treasurer to pick up a few refreshments. The educational exhibit made possible by our DEP 319 grant will provide info on lawn and landscape maintenance in a watershed, septic system maintenance, rain gardens and more! Free handouts. Check the archives for photos of our past spring and fall cleanup events! Check DEP’s site: http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/319rfr09.htm Section 319 of the …

Plenty of the Eagle but NO Flashboards

This afternoon the eagle spent quite a bit of time on the old causeway (high and dry) eating a fish. Crows came in to join in the feast, but annoyed – he/she flew off. I watched him fly about two feet above the water, across the lake – the large, powerful wings solidly and deliberately working to bring the eagle decidedly on Blueberry Island. Photos – none. Sadly, I stood on shore amazed at the beauty but empty handed wishing I could capture at least one photo to share with you – but there my youngest daughter stood front row center at the channel’s edge watching it all with my Canon PowerShot G9 in her hand – but no photos. Ugh. No flashboards today either. April 1 was the deadline date for flashboards to go in. The dam owner did not come through for us nor for the environment here on Manchaug Pond. April 2nd puts other wheels in motion. We have had meetings, emails and phone calls just in case our dam owner didn’t pursue other options. Like the eagle’s wings, we will continue to work consciously and deliberately to achieve the short term goal of getting the flashboards …

Weds-Public Hearing; Thursday – April Showers; Friday – Longing for Flashboards

Wednesday – A Public Hearing has been scheduled by the Sutton Conservation Commission for tomorrow evening. I read about it in the local newspaper, seems it’s just some housekeeping/updating/ tightening up of some language and the addition of a definition with the local wetland regulation. No need to attend. I understand they have photos like these three below on file. This is the inlet of Manchaug Pond as it is today. Typically at this time of year the water is high, the land is under water. Without the flashboards being in, the lake is drying up. You can see the bank at the edge of the woods. You can see the docks in the distance. The area is usually water not field and stone. Holbrook’s Cove is famous for great turtle hunting, bullfrogs, those singing peepers, ducks, herons, dragonflies and a whole host of creatures. Our three oldest children and their cousins used to take the canoe in to hunt for snapping turtles – They’d come back to camp with some so big they’d struggled to lift him! (Don’t worry it was all catch and release – just for the sport of it!) A lake is a great place to …

MORE DEAD: Clam Shells Litter State Boat Ramp

Update April, 2009: Mass DCR confirmed identification as Asian Clam, a new infestation localized at the state boat ramp. 14 Massachusetts lakes have been identified as having Asian Clam.  Correct timing of the winter drawdown of the waterlevel can be employed as a successful, no-cost method of control for this young infestation of the exotic, non-native invasive species. Posted March 30, 2009. Reports of shells at the state ramp came in from a fisherman and from a member of the Manchaug Pond Association Board of Directors who lives a few houses up from the State Ramp. Upon further investigation, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny empty shells appeared on the shore and in the shallow water aside of the launch area at the State Boat Ramp on Torrey Road, Sutton. Photos below, taken March 20 and 22, 2009, show teeny tiny shells – open and empty. Perhaps Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminca)- Since we have not encountered before, clearly not the larger native mussel common to Manchaug Pond, and the location found is the state boat ramp strongly suggest it was brought in from a visiting boat from another lake which has the exotic invasive species. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and …

Still Painting… the Flashboards and the Gentleman’s Agreement

Here’s the Manchaug Pond Dam as it looked Friday. Looks good doesn’t it! That’s the “spillway.” The light gray of the new mortar provides good contrast against the blue lake, not to mention the starkness of the trees. Dam owner Interface Global/Guilford of Maine/Manchaug Reservoir Corp tells us in the August, 2008 Sutton NOI (Notice of Intent) that the dam “is a composite rubble masonry and earth-filled structure approximately 330 feet long and 28 feet high. The upstream face is of stepped rubble masonry construction. Originally built in 1854, the dam was reconstructed in 1960 when earthfill at a slope of 2 to 1 was added to cover the downstream surface of the dam. There are two outlet control devices: a spillway and a low level outlet. The spill way, a concrete box culvert, 9.35 feet high has a fixed crest width of 10.0 feet at elevation 515.90. The crest has slots to accommodate 2.70 foot high flashboards. The low level outlet, located near the right abutment, is equipped with a mechanical hand-operated gate which has an opening 2 feet by 2 feet.” (see page 10 of Operations Plan for Low Flow Augmentation Program, Mumford River, East Douglas, Mass.) Further, …

Today’s Painters: Eagles Visiting Manchaug Pond!

Things are looking up today…. Two eagles were spotted on Manchaug Pond this morning: an adult and an immature. The adult is easy to spot with its white head and tail feathers while the young lack the white feathers. Mary Griffin, Commissioner of the state Department of Fish and Game reported seventy eagles were spotted during the one-day survey held this past January. If you remember from January through March of 2007, eagles were a common sight on Manchaug Pond: 1 adult and two young spent months fishing and soaring over Manchaug and Steven’s Ponds.Check the blog archives to see what we reported in 2007! They are a magnificent sight – and paint a majestic picture! (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/ file 2008) For more information:http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/wildlife/index.php?subject=Birds:%20Species&id=51 http://www.firstlightpower.com/eagles/eaglevid.asp The first photo is courtesy of First Light Power Resources

Today’s Picture: State Public Access Boat Ramp

One lone bass boat is fishing this side of the causeway. Lots of rocks in Manchaug. Rocks where you launch, rocks in the channel, and rocks around the shore. Actually, they’re boulders. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/pab/pab_schedevents.htmScroll down….. does your club have a tournament next month on Manchaug Pond? 2007 the MPA compiled a list of 25 clubs with a combined membership of over 430 members who scheduled weekend events on Manchaug Pond from the state Public Access Ramp. Big bass clubs aren’t the only organized groups but also canoe and kayak clubs. This year the season starts April 19 with the Lip Rippers Bass Club with 16 members and the Bass Pigs with 20 members on the 26th. Just a quick scan through the list shows a lot of new clubs we didn’t record in 2007 – I mean just the first two are names you don’t forget! That alone is a lot of people accessing Manchaug Pond through the ramp – not to mention the recreational boaters skiing, tubing, etc who don’t belong to clubs, and all those that come during the week without a permit. Here’s photos from 2005, of a few of the many members of a RI canoe/kayak club …