{"id":11410,"date":"2026-04-24T03:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/?p=11410"},"modified":"2026-04-24T12:43:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:43:38","slug":"apr-23-on-sandy-lake-spring-lakewatcher-sampling-pair-of-loons-sighted-23apr2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/2026\/04\/24\/apr-23-on-sandy-lake-spring-lakewatcher-sampling-pair-of-loons-sighted-23apr2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Apr 23 on Sandy Lake: Spring LakeWatcher sampling, pair of loons sighted 23Apr2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A mass of mussel shells by the shore<\/strong>
Click on images for larger versions<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

I wasn’t looking forward to conducting the spring limnological observations<\/a> today on Sandy Lake; rain, cool temps and winds were forecast.<\/p>\n

However, it turned out to be a near ideal day. There was no wind – that really helps when we’re trying to stay in one place; and no rain. Even the sun came out for a short period.<\/p>\n

Where we – the “Sandy Lake Volunteers” – set our boat into the west side of\u00a0 Sandy Lake, there was a mass of mussel shells in the shallows; they’re likely the work of otters<\/a> which are often seen on the lake.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Van Dorn Bottle just coming into the boat<\/strong> with a sample of water from near the bottom<\/p><\/div>\n

Ed G. took us to the deepest spot – he’s ‘the guy’ to do that as he mapped the lake bathymmetry<\/a> back in 2006. The measured depth where we stopped was 20.3 meters. (The maximum depth is circa 21 m)<\/p>\n

The surface temperature was 7.6 deg C, the temperature at 20 meters depth was 5.4 deg C. So temperature stratification is just developing. View Data<\/a><\/p>\n

We began conducting observations on Sandy Lake in 2017. Since 2022, the sampling equipment has been provided by and we report the data to the Halifax LakeWatchers program<\/a>.\u00a0 A total of 72 lakes in HRM are currently being sampled under this program which began in 2022, more than half of them by volunteers.<\/p>\n

Just as we began our observations,\u00a0 a pair of loons landed near the shore where we had launched the boat.\u00a0 I got a pic of one of them after they moved to the east of us, but closer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Loon on Sandy Lake on April 23, 2026<\/strong>. Click on image for larger version\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Derek S told me that two years ago there was a pair of loons whose chick (s?) disappeared, while last year there was only one loon, probably a male based on it size; it disappeared around August and the lake was “loonless” after that.<\/p>\n

He said that “when there are no loons, I really miss them, and their calling, and the lake seems deserted.”<\/p>\n

So we were very happy to see that pair today, some good news for a change.<\/p>\n

Let’s hope there is more good news to follow – some loon chicks, and a healthy lake to support them!<\/p>\n

Post-Script<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Intimate association of Yellow Birch and Eastern Hemlock<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

On shore I viewed a patch of Old Growth hemlock-yellow birch forest, including some instances of the Wabanaki Forest Love Affair<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And some well eaten Varnish Fungus<\/a> which grows on decaying hemlock.<\/p>\n

I looked for signs of Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, reported on the other side of the lake last year<\/a>, but none here.<\/p>\n

So more good news. If only it can keep up.<\/p>\n

As matter stand, the province remains determined to accommodate circa 16000 residents in a new development<\/a>\u00a0 in an area of concentration of wetlands abd\u00a0 headwaters for Sandy Lake.<\/p>\n

Lots about it on this website – and the refusal of the province to recognize our limnological observations<\/a> as legitimate including those obtained from 2022 onward under the LakeWatcher’s program.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hemlock Varnish Fungus<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wasn’t looking forward to conducting the spring limnological observations today on Sandy Lake; rain, cool temps and winds were forecast. However, it turned out to be a near ideal day. There was no wind – that really helps when … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16,22,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation","category-natural-history","category-sandy-lake","category-water-quality"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11410"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11456,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11410\/revisions\/11456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}