In the Northwoods of Oneida County, Wisconsin

  
  
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                Older News

  11/15/14=ice-up        4/12/15 ice-out

NO NO NO THIS WAS *NOT* ON LAKE MILDRED - But it IS and example of what could happen if you drive on the ice this year.  Terribly unsafe ice conditions for mid-January.  Be careful & be safe!

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

  JANUARY 15 - SNOWY AND WHITE ON LAKE MILDRED - And frozen too, but actually far less ice on the lake than usual for this time of year.  And unsafe for vehicles YET.  A very strange year all around, you could say.  Even the Eagle River ice sculpture was cancelled due to lack of ice and unsafe ice conditions.

  JANUARY 1 2019 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  DECEMBER 25 - MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL

  NOVEMBER 22 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING - The colder-than-normal weather has continued, and the lake as stayed iced over since November 14.  In fact, a few days ago we witnessed an 8-point buck chase 2 does across the lake and the ice did not break; it's getting thick fast with the cold weather we've been having.

  NOVEMBER 14 - LAKE FREEZES OVER - Mighty early; but will it stay frozen?  Time will tell.

  OCTOBER 10 - PLENTY OF RAIN AND COLD, BUT THE COLORS ARE FABULOUS  - The lake temperature is falling as fast as the air temp these days, and the rain has been falling regularly, putting the lake level back near its all-time record-high levels.  But the colors are spectacular!

  SEPTEMBER 15 - CLEAR LAKE REALLY IS CLEAR!  Stan Strub reports that his recent Secchi Disc reading shows Clear Lake water clarity at 10 feet.  Just like last year!
  Lake Mildred is also clearing now - and no wonder - the lake temp is dropping quickly and the bugs are mostly gone, including the tiny creatures that live in the water and are the food source for many small fish - who are also mostly gone to deeper water.

  AUGUST 20 - LAKE MILDRED MONITORING TESTS - Yesterday our Lake Mildred "Citizens Lake Monitoring Network" volunteers Sandy & Dave Ebben performed their monthly tests on Lake Mildred at the location of maximum lake depth.  Water clarity was excellent with a Secchi disc able to be seen with the naked eye at 24 feet (gotta love clear water!) - which is very good for August.   Gamblers would like the water surface temperature of 77.7 degrees; at 9 feet the temperature was still a comfy 76.8, and at 15 feet it was 72.5.  BUT then you hit the thermocline where the water temp starts to plummet.  At 25 feet the temperature dropped to a chilly 49.8.  And at the bottom of the lake in 45 feet of water is a cool 42.4.  In photo at left, Dave Ebben holds the Secchi disk.

  AUGUST 19 - COULD LOONS VANISH FROM WISCONSIN?  - Dr. Piper from The Loon Project writes a captivating article that is nominally about loons but also about climate change and human near-sightedness.  http://loonproject.org/2018/08/19/could-loons-vanish-from-wisconsin/
  Editor's Facetious Note -  Remember: 'Climate Change' could be a huge Chinese hoax perpetrated by an incredible worldwide conspiracy of nearly all reputable scientists. 

  AUGUST 14 - A LOON MOM TEACHES HER CHICK TO FLY - Becky Schultz sends us this great photo of two of our 'Loon Family', with the mom (or dad?) seemingly teaching the chick how to fly.  And notice how the chick has grown, even starting to get adult loon colors.

  AUGUST 14 - GREAT SWIMMING!  - A local meteorologist in Rhinelander says that this summer has been so warm that yesterday the temperature rose near 90 degrees for the 13th time this summer!  The lake surface has been almost 80 degrees (about as warm as this lake ever gets) for many weeks.  The result: wonderful swimming.
     It really makes one appreciate how wonderfully clean and clear this lake is.  Clean water is a lot like truth, in that it is SO easy to take for granted UNTIL it is gone.   Fortunately there are many folks keeping an 'eagle eye' out for ANYTHING that would endanger the lake. 

  AUGUST 4 - A DRONE'S-EYE VIEW HIGH ABOVE LAKE MILDRED - Robert Mullins sent us this photo of Lake Mildred taken over the July 4 weekend while he was staying at his family's vacation home on Lake Mildred.  Robert also sent a link to a video taken from the drone.  It's very cool, and you can see the video by CLICKING HERE.

  JULY 31 - LOON RESEARCHERS ON LAKE MILDRED TODAY - DR. PIPER WRITES FASCINATING STORY ABOUT MILDRED LOONS - At his blog on LoonRearch.org, Dr. Piper writes about Lake Mildred's current loon family, and the history of the current female.  And last week, the researchers actually captured the female, the male and the chick, all of which were tagged or re-tagged.  Read their story at the researcher's blog with this link -- https://loonproject.org/2018/08/01/back-in-the-game/

  JULY 17 - CLEAR & CLEAN WATER - Our Lake Mildred Citizens Lake Monitoring testers (Dave & Sandy Ebben) did their usual monthly water tests on Sunday, and the preliminary results are fantastic - the water clarity as measured by Secchi Disc was 26 feet - in July!   The surface temperature 3 feet down was 79.3 degrees, and the temperature at 12 feet was still 76.1 degrees.  So it's great swimming, with the water being so clear and clean and warm.

  JULY 13 - THEY GROW UP SO FAST! - The old cliche is just as true (or even truer) of loon chicks as it is of children.  Lake Mildred's loon chick has grown a lot, and besides being much larger is also very active.  Today a loon researcher was keeping a close and studied eye on the loon family - you may have seen the researcher in her red solo canoe.

  JULY 8 - ILLEGAL JET SKIING & BOATING - Well it's that time of year again, when a very few people operate their jet skis or boats illegally and/or obnoxiouxly, and in the process ruin other folks' vacations or time on the water.  One violation that has occurred many times in the past few days relates to jet skis ignoring the slow-no-wake rule that applies to jets skis within 200 feet of shore.  The lake association has generated maps for over 10 years that show the areas where jet skis are not allowed to operate faster than slow-no-wake, yet some people feel that they are above the law.  If you witness a violation, you can report it in 2 ways:
1) You can call 800-TIP-WDNR (800-847-9367) where you can leave anonymous tips/complaints to the DNR, or
2) You can call the Oneida County Sheriffs Department 715-361-5201.
>>>  And remember: the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" - the more people who report these violations as they are occurring, the more likely it is that law enforcement can spare the valuable manpower to respond to violations.  And, it's best to call while the violations are happening.

  JULY 4 - RECORD HIGH WATER & DROWNING TREES - if you've been on the lake lately, you've seen some dying pine trees at the water's edge, such as the one on the left, above, which is at the South end of Bearpaw Island.  But look closely and you'll see that there are many other much older pines dying also.  Then look even more closely along the shoreline at the very large 100+ year-old white pines whose branches are starting to yellow (altho some are still green but are becoming very light green) and you realize that some of our most majestic trees at the water's edge are starting to die.  Above you will see 2 different photos taken on Lake Mildred on July 4; the largest is a large white pine on the northern end of Pine Island; there are many others that are even larger and over 100 years old.  This would suggest that the current lake level is the highest the lake level has been in over 100 years.  Or far far longer.

  JULY 4 - HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

  JULY 3 - THE HARD & DANGEROUS LIFE OF A LOON - Just this morning, Dave Ebben witnessed a taste of the perils that a loon with a chick faces each day.  The "mother" (presumably) loon was teaching her chick the tricks of being a loon, when she & her chick were dive-bombed twice by an eagle who came within a few feet of the chick.  Well mother loon made quite a show and scared off the eagle.   So all was good right?  NOPE!  Just a couple minutes later the mother loon was chased around the lake by an invading loon, which are well known to kill their target's chicks.  This episode ended well and everyone survived......today.

  JUNE 24 - CUTE BEARS!  Richard Nelson sent us this picture of 2 bear cubs in a tree along Pine Grove Rd near Hook Lake a couple days ago.  Mom was in the underbrush nearby, no doubt keeping a close eye on her youngsters.  REMEMBER - CLICK PICTURES TO SEE THEM FULL SIZE.

  JUNE 16 - ALMOST 4 INCHES OF RAIN IN PAST 2 DAYS - and the lake is rising back to where it started the year.  Too high!

  JUNE 15 - 'LOST KAYAK' FOUND FLOATING - Jan and Mark Jacobs found this kayak floating loose on the lake, and it is now resting comfortably on shore.  Hope the owners find it!

  JUNE 3 - THE AIR FORCE HAS ARRIVED!  HOORAY!  Yesterday there was a huge hatch of dragonflies - it was NOT a good day to be a mosquito near Lake Mildred.  This dragonfly hatch was a bit later than usual buit WOW altho it lacked in timing it came in huge numbers!

  MAY 28 - HOT HOT HOT - Lately the weather has been unseasonably warm near 90 degrees for days, and this is warming the lake up very quickly.  However we have still not seen a large hatchy of dragonflies - and that is just what we need now to eat the mosquitoes.

  MAY 20 - THE LAKES ARE WARMING FAST - Lake Mildred is now up to 64 degrees, which of course brings more of the lake critters back to activity.  We could use some rain, but on the plus side, due to the lack of rain, the lake level seems (for now) to have 'topped out' and has fallen a little since last fall. 

  MAY 6  7:00 PM - ICE-OUT NOW COMPLETE - Lake Mildred was 95% ice free by the end of the day.  Three cheers for that!  We'll call today as the official ice-out day for 2018.  And this sets a record as the latest ice-out we have recorded in the past 41 years we've been tracking it. 
  LOONS & GEESE & WOOD DUCKS & MERGANSERS - As if the cheer on the ice out progress, Lake Mildred was a noisy place at 5 AM as  pairs of loons & Canada Geese & Wood Ducks and Mergansers all paraded on the lake to the musical accompaniment of loon yodels and geese honking.

  MAY 5  8:30 AM - LOONS!  A pair of loons are back on Lake Mildred!    That's the good news; the bad news is that the wind died last evening, and the rotten ice covering 85% of the lake is still there, with  nary a ripple on the open water as the winds remain calm.

  MAY 4  2:50 PM - ICE-OUT IS HAPPENING NOW!  The wind we needed to push out the ice just happened to kick up about noon, so the process of ice-out is happening right now.  The ice is going fast in some places, as Dave Ebben reports that there is about 100 feet of open water in front of their house, and that is expanding quickly as the wind and water 'eat' at the rotten ice.

  MAY 3  6:00 PM - LAKE STILL ICED OVER - BUT the ice is black and very poor, practically 'floating slush' - the first good wind should blow the ice out.  OR absent a good wind, the ice will simply melt.  Either way, our guess is that the lake should be mostly clear of ice in the next day or 2.

  MAY 1 5:00 AM - MAYDAY!  AND 3 BIG SIGNS OF SPRING TODAY! - The suddenly warm weather these past couple days has been melting the huge snow piles and the lake ice - the LAKE ICE is now getting quite black and rotten, and should "go out" within a couple days.   AND THE BEARS ARE OUT OF HIBERNATION, having struck and destroyed our bird feeders last night.  And the third big sign of Spring this morning is that minutes ago we heard LOONS FLYING OVER AND CALLING.  Word is that the loons "stage" on the open Wisconsin River nearby, regularly scouting over the lakes for open water.  Soon! 

> SEEING A LOT OF THESE SIGNS
AROUND LAKE MILDRED & CLEAR LAKE
Everyone who joins LMPOA receives
one of these blue signs and the bolts
to mount it on the fire number pole. 
  Joining LMPOA is a great way to help
protect and preserve Lakes Mildred
and Clear for future generations.

  2019 LAKE MILDRED HOMES FOR SALE - You can see the latest listings at the "Real Estate for Sale" page, or by clicking HERE.

  GANGS IN THE STREET - This photo is from last year, but we still love Bonnie Draeger's photo of a large bear family checking out a house that was for sale near Lake Mildred.

>To see the News that previously appeared here, click on Older News<

-> Re-organized Menus and info   
-> New & Updated Fishing and Lake Plan Pages
> The new Photos pages have *many* more photos

Copyright 2017 David Ebben