Author Archives: George Fergusson

10 July 2021: Hurricane Elsa Delivers Much Needed Rain [UPDATED]

July 2021 Precipitation as of 7-10-21

On its way up the New England coast yesterday, Hurricane Elsa dropped over 3″ of rain on Clary Lake. While this won’t end our drought, it will go a long ways towards replenishing ground water supplies, and it brought the lake up enough for water to flow over the top of the dam again. For the month of July we’re now at 5.35 inches, well above the average of 3.54 inches. For the year we’re now only (only?) 4.97 inches short of normal for this date.

[UPDATE]: As of this morning and for the FIRST TIME this year, the lake level is +0.08 feet ABOVE the High Water Mark having risen 7.08 inches since yesterday morning. Plenty of water flowing over the top of the dam as the picture at left shows. What a treat to have such high water this time of year!

08 July 2021: Great Loon Video

Here’s a great video about Loons with fantastic photography. No word on whether Clary Lake’s loons are nesting this year. They probably are and we just haven’t discovered where they’re doing it. If they do successfully hatch out some chicks, we should know soon.

Maine Lakes 2021 Spring Newsletter

A little late but better late than never, Maine Lake’s Spring 2021 newsletter is now freely available on line and is well worth perusing. The Clary Lake Association has been a long time member of Maine Lakes (formerly the Maine Lakes Society). Among other things, Maine Lakes administers the award winning LakeSmart program: “LakeSmart is an education and reward program that helps lakefront homeowners manage landscapes in ways that protect water quality. The program is free, non-regulatory, and voluntary.” The Clary Lake Association is considering participating in the LakeSmart program in the near future.

June 2021 Water Level Chart Archived

June 2021

I have archived the June 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). The drought deepens. We were shy 5.20 inches of rainfall at the end of May, now we’re shy 6.76 inches of rainfall at the end of June. We received a total of only 2.15 inches of rain in June, fully 1.58 inches less than normal. This brings us to 14.1 inches for the year to date. Our drought is nowhere near as severe as they’re experiencing in the western half of our country and especially in the southwest, but that is small consolation: this deficit will have a profound impact on our environment and ground water supplies for the rest of the year, and it’s not over. It’s so dry that even when we received a significant rainfall of 0.99 inches on the 22nd of June, the lake level only came up 1/3 of an inch. Lesser rainfall amounts during the month had almost no measurable effect on the lake level. There are two reasons for this: The primary explanation is that the ground around the lake is so dry that when the lake receives rain, the rising water is quickly wicked off into the surrounding dry shoreline. The other reason is that at this lake elevation, adding more water to the lake mostly makes the lake bigger, not deeper. Continue reading →

Kenneth Sperry Rapp August 22, 1945 – June 22, 2021

Ken and Dedi Rapp have been Clary Lake shore owners and Association members for as long as I can remember. The family camp, originally built by Ken’s parents Bill & Catherine Rapp on property purchased from Paul MacDonald in 1967, is over on the northeast shore of Clary Lake, next north of Thomas & Delph Gillette. Ken’s daughter Jennifer Rapp Goyet reached out to me this morning to inform me of her father’s passing. Here is Ken’s Obituary:

Kenneth Sperry Rapp August 22, 1945 – June 22, 2021

Kenneth Sperry Rapp, 75, passed away peacefully on June 22, 2021 with his wife by his side. Ken was born in Pensacola, FL and has lived in Virginia Beach since 1988. He was the son of the late VADM William T. Rapp and Catherine A. Rapp, and was also preceded in death by his brother Richard Rapp. He was a proud veteran of the USMC, and served as a Marine Embassy Guard throughout various countries. After his military service he started out in banking as a Foreign Exchange Trader, then later became a Real Estate Broker. Continue reading →

15 June 2021: Trapping Browntail Moths

How to tell male from female Browntail Moths.

While killing Browntail moth caterpillars is easy and may make you feel better, it’s problematic for a variety of reasons. First, it gives you the sense that you’re doing something to rid yourself of the Browntail problem when in reality you’re probably not making a dent at all in the caterpillar population. If you just spray them with soapy water, sure it kills them, but then you’ve got dead caterpillars with their toxic hairs laying around your yard. I did that last month, fanatically wandering around my deck and yard with a spray bottle of soapy water in each hand, shooting caterpillars like some madcap wild west gunslinger. Of course, I got the rash on my arms and neck. Then I put aside the spray bottles and took up a tin can with some soapy water in it and kitchen tongs and went around picking the caterpillars up and dropping them in the can. More rash. Now that the caterpillars have begun pupating, I’ve been searching for the nests, cutting down those that I can reach with my tree pruner, and soaking them in a bucket of soapy water. Is this helping? I sure hope so, but I have my doubts. Continue reading →

Browntail Moth Hell [UPDATED]

Browntail Moth Caterpillar

If you’ve managed to avoid getting a Browntail Moth rash so far this summer, congratulations- and be careful, the summer isn’t over yet. Many of us haven’t been so lucky, myself and my wife (and most of my neighbors) included. My house is surrounded by large Red Oak trees that hang over my yard and deck. Last year we were still somewhat oblivious to the caterpillars and the risk they pose with the result that we got extensive rashes over large portions of our backs, necks, and arms. This year we’ve been more cautious and have avoided hanging out on our deck and in our yard, with the result that the rashes we’ve developed haven’t been as bad or extensive as they were last year, but they have still been very unpleasant. Both my wife and I have had a few sleepless nights so far this year. Even now as I type this, my hands are itching. Continue reading →

03 June 2021: All’s Well That Ends Well

Canoe in tow

My wife Margaret and I had just settled down on our dock the other day to take in the afternoon and have coffee when I got a call from our President, Dave Knight. He had been on his way home when a man had flagged him down, saying that he and a friend had been out fishing on Clary when their canoe capsized. He had swum to shore and then hiked a quarter of a mile out to the main road to look for help. He told Dave his friend couldn’t swim and he had left him over an hour ago, without a life preserver, clinging to the upended craft. Continue reading →

May 2021 Water Level Chart Archived

May 2021

I have archived the May 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). The dearth of precipitation which has plagued us all winter continued through the month of May. At the end of April we were 3.50 inches short of normal for the year and today, on the last day of May, having received an underwhelming 1.91 inches for the month (normal for May is 3.71 inches), we’re now worse off at 5.20 inches short of where we would be in a normal year. It would have been even worse but for the 0.93 inches of rain we received on Memorial Day, the last day of the month. The timing was lousy but the rain itself was very much needed and I’m glad we got it. It also seemed like a fitting end to a long cold weekend that had me burning wood in my stove again; I’m OK with putting on a sweater in the house but I draw the line at wearing gloves at dinner! The three day weekend also marked the start of our Courtesy Boat Inspection program and unsurprisingly, we didn’t inspect any boats entering or leaving the lake. It was not the 3 day weekend you were looking for! Continue reading →

25 May 2021: Rough Water on Clary Lake

Early Sunday afternoon on May 23, 2021, a strong cold front blew in from the north. Behind it were high winds that lasted all afternoon and into the night. We took it on the nose on our location on the south shore of Clary Lake. For a while I thought my boat would ride it out OK but it was taking a beating and I decided to move it over into a protected cove… It made for a pretty hairy ride, I wish I’d had the foresight to do it sooner!

Here are a couple of webcam pictures from that afternoon. Continue reading →

23 May 2021: Relax, It’s Tree Pollen!

Tree Pollen on Clary Lake

While this looks similar to the end stage of an intense algae bloom, it’s really only plant pollen. One telling difference is the color: this stuff is decidedly yellow whereas dead cyanobacteria is bright green. I suspect it’s pollen from White Pine though I’m not sure. In any case, it’s a natural phenomena and there is no reason to believe pollen has an impact on water quality though for a short time it can impact lake water transparency. While it looks ugly, it is of a short duration and will eventually disperse into the water column and sink. Another difference between pollen and algal blooms is the timing: pollen events happen in the Spring whereas algae blooms are typically a mid-to-late Summer and early Fall phenomena. Here are a couple of pictures of cyanobacteria on my shoreline taken in October of 2013. The color is decidedly different:

The more you know!

MDIFW 2021 Spring Program Series

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife are putting on a series of programs this Spring. This is something new they’re trying and I applaud their outreach efforts. Some of these programs are geared more towards children but they’re all interesting. Past programs are available as recordings. Continue reading →

21 May 2021: Rumor of Big Fish in Clary Lake Confirmed!

Dinky Fish

The rumor that there are big fish in Clary Lake has been confirmed! I don’t usually post fish pictures on the website but I’m happy to make an exception for this beauty, sent to me the other day by CLA member and friend Steve Viti. At 5 pounds, I’ll bet that was exciting to catch on the light tackle that Steve uses! Steve of course threw this fish back to grow some more. These big Bass are valuable breeders and should be returned to the lake as quickly as possible. If you’re looking for something to eat, harvest a small bass or two or have your fill of all the Black Crappie and White Perch you want- there are plenty of them in Clary Lake! In Maine’s Southern Zone, there is a 2 fish bag/possession limit for Large & Small Mouth Bass with no length limit, but only 1 may exceed 14 inches.

Get out there and catch something!

The 2021 Spring/Summer Newsletter Is Posted!

Wild Rice (Zizania palustris) is making a comeback in the marshes around Clary Lake. Photograph by George Fergusson

I’ve added the 2021 Spring/Summer Newsletter to our Newsletter Archive. It went in the mail less than one week ago and how gratifying it is that membership checks are already coming in! A little more information about the newsletter: we call each issue the “Spring/Summer” issue but really, it’s the only issue we publish during the year so that term may change in future issues. It is a throwback to when we actually did try to put out two newsletters a year, an initiative that turned out to be a lot like work. With email and our website, we found we really didn’t need two newsletters a year to stay in touch with out members. The last year we published two newsletter was in 2012, we haven’t done since, and we probably won’t do it again unless (or until) circumstances change. As for the name the “Clary Lake Clarion” that came from a small local newspaper that my father Stuart Fergusson and Paul MacDonald published back in the summer of 1931. I found a couple of copies of in an old closet a few years ago (see post “The Original Clary Lake Clarion“). Appropriating the name for our newsletter just seemed… appropriate! Here’s the newsletter: Continue reading →

The Newsletter is In The Mail!

No really! It’s in the mail which means the Clary Lake Association’s 2021/2022 Membership drive has begun! Traditionally, it begins with the mailing of the Summer newsletter which went in the mail a few days ago. Most of you should have it in your mailbox by now, or will have shortly (I’ll post a digital copy here in a few days). Unofficially our Membership drive begins on April 1st which is the date we start accepting dues for the upcoming year. In reality, it’s never too soon or too late to join or renew your membership in the Association. We’re always ready for new members! Dues are $25 per person per year and Membership is open to all. I’ve added a page to the site to keep track of who has signed up for the Upcoming Year. At the time of this writing there are already six people who have renewed their memberships. You’ll find the list under the Current Membership List, under the Membership Menu. Continue reading →

Clary Lake 4th of July Boat Parade!!

Clary Lake
4th of July Boat Parade!!