June 18 – 24, 2021Vol. 23, No. 2

Two loons (right) confront an "intruder" on Long Pond (2021). Photo courtesy of Dick Greenan.


On the Cover

25 Years Ago: A Season of Celebration

The Town of Belgrade turned 200, the Conservation Corps was born, Pine Island Camp celebrated a one-year "Victory Over the Fire" and Maine's Great Ponds Task Force held a public forum in Belgrade. It was a summer of parades and parties and people mingling, celebrations and concerts and crowds everywhere. It all seemed ageless and timeless and just plain wholesome fun. More

Call of the Loon

The Foot Waggle

Did some duck just spear our loon with an extra leg? Did our loon suffer a collision with a boat or just an angry mate? Is he/she merely waving to us as we float by? Or is this just another example of strange but normal loon behavior? Yes, it is very normal and is called the foot waggle! More

Conservation Too

How to Manage Those "Ditches" We Call Driveways

Here in Maine, and particularly in and around our lakes and ponds, we frequently need to travel on and frequently are responsible for a gravel camp road or our own gravel driveway. Those road surfaces often collect and direct runoff into our lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands. More

Dams Report

Levels Up, Ponds in Great Shape

Except for Messalonskee and Salmon Ponds, our ponds are still in great shape. Great Pond's Village Dam is currently 0.84″ above full pond. Long Pond's Wings Mill dam is 1.56″, also above full pond. Salmon/McGrath is now 1.8″ below full pond. Our neighbors on Messalonskee are down 4.08″ below full. More

Barkley On Books

The Overstory

Richard Powers's novel about trees won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. What could be better for a Belgrade Community Read than a gripping story of scientists, some fictitious and others for real, working to preserve ancient forests and their necessary health to our daily lives? More

Take It Outside

Crepuscular Fishing

So far this has been a cool and windy transition to summer, with some occasional very hot days. The fishing has continued to be productive, especially early in the morning and late in the evening. I love fishing these crepuscular periods when the lake is typically dead calm, and it is easy to spot fish feeding on or near the surface. More