Category Archives: Paw Paw Lake

When the snow falls and the lights blink out

The first lake effect snow this year was early, wet and heavy. It was not surprising when the generator roared to life around midnight, reminding us its fresh battery was a good purchase. By mid-day the power was restored, the site of outage again in the 90-year old easement through the Woodland Conservancy neighbor of the Bluecircle. Within days this round of snowfall had melted away and it was time to investigate.

Snow-shattered cottonwood


The cottonwood felled by the show was at the eastern edge of the Conservancy. On a closer look it had sustained old central trunk damage and the collapse was probably predictable. This easement area was last visited by power company tree crews more than 5 years ago and is a recognized “trouble spot”.

Cottonwood trunk damage


This mass of broken branches fell into a former trail in the Conservancy, but in the absence of trail maintenance these paths are now overgrown. The deer who pass regularly through this area will not be impeded and a new Bluecircle trail along the boundary is now open.

Looking South along the new and leafcovered boundary walking trail

August greening

After reaching moderate drought the winds of late August have finally delivered moisture and broken a hot, dry season. Paw Paw lake, “enriched” by fertilizer runoff and low water levels is a poster child for eutrophication in the recent landsat.com aerial image reproduced below.

The Blue Circle has a pair of 8-year old Paw Paw trees that first produced fruit last year. Paw Paws grow wild by the nearby Paw Paw River but only specimen trees have survived at lake properties.

The Paw Paw’s leaves are relatively large and conceal the ripening fruit. This image from earlier this month shows grass bleached by heat and drought. The trees required well water.

Immature Paw Paw fruit, about 3 inches long and pale green as they ripen.

Eagle-eyed visitor

Winter storms are seldom boring. Our most recent brought more rain than snow, plenty of wind to prune a few weak maple limbs, and a surprise visitor to our lake bluff.

His/her visit was announced by crow calls from nearby branches – I just had time to find the camera before a gust and wings carried this eagle downwind and away.

Our fox’s red furry trail

The bite of the first wood tick and a glimpse of new red fox kits were clear signs of Spring on the Bluecircle this week.  Patches of fleshless groundhog fur and a fresh limb in the middle of the farm showed the young were being nourished by their ever-watchful mother.

Few rabbits have survived the fox’s nightly inspection of the woods and hillsides.   The groundhogs have not been spared but are not missed since their excavated mounds and burrow openings can sink an ankle or a wheel.

Threads of green are restoring color to the field but for a few more weeks the dead grass and leaves will provide scant cover for our hungry mother’s prey.

Spring shivvvers

The calendar says Spring.  Frosty ground that crunches underfoot and ice-glazed puddles argue otherwise, backed by a stiff north wind.  Hat, coat and gloves are still required these March mornings, and even later unless you find shelter in the sun.  Or better yet, in a warm porch or car.poplar twigs

It’s the season of poplar cuttings, set indoors with one brown bud just above the potting soil.  Fewer are needed now than in years past, but these rapid-growers tolerate Michigan clay and hot summer days better than any of the other plantings.  Orders for a few dozen more walnut and norway spruce seedlings are placed; bright pink flags where they will be planted wave in the breeze.  Tiny sugar maples and sycamores will fill gaps here and there in the existing pine and spruce plantings to provide eventual diversity.

Neither grass nor weeds have broken the bonds of Winter.  On the other hand, the 7 Bluecircle hens are laying eggs again.  Their first hours in the run beyond their coop were filled with scratching, pecking and happy cackles.

Paw Paw Lake was flooded and ice-free weeks ago but lake-effect snow squalls from the big lake have lingered.  The afternoon sun dims and shines moonlike on the icy water, longing for April warmth.

Lake effec 18