Scugog Lake Stewards

06/01/2026

ANOTHER POST REQUESTING COMMENT! We have had a report of greater than usual numbers of invasive mussels (Dreissinids), both Zebra and the slightly larger Quagga mussels. What have you found?

These non-native mussels are hyper-efficient filter feeders; filtering out regular single cell good algae (phytoplankton) but spitting out blue green algae (BGA). This dramatically increases the lake's water clarity, but also enables greater concentrations of toxic BGA in the water column.

In addition, the Increased water clarity allows sunlight to the bottom enabling another new and nasty invader, starry stonewort (a stringy, billowy plant-like algae) to grow abundantly at even deeper depths and other invasive 'weeds'

A mature female can lay up to 1,000,000 eggs per year which when fertilized turn into free floating VELIGERS. Veligers are microscopic, so they can wind up in your bilge water, in your live well, bait bucket and live for several days without your knowledge; to then be dropped off into another location possibly. Although they like hard infrastructure like the brick below, they also can thrive on the structure of starry stonewort or other strong aquatic plants. So be sure to CLEAN, DRAIN, DRY YOUR BOAT AND EQUIPMENT.

Let's hear your experience of mussel quantities this year. It will tell us a lot about the lake!

05/31/2026

SEEN RECENTLY ON THE SHORES OF LAKE SCUGOG! A NORTHERN WATER SNAKE ---SOME FIND THEM FASCINATING, AND OTHERS HATE THEM! However, there is really nothing to hate, other than the jolt we get to see something we might not understand.

Although they are completely harmless to humans, their dark, patterned appearance may lead you to mistakenly identify them as the venomous Massasauga Rattlesnake which is NOT found in this area. FUN FACT: Unlike many timid snake species, Northern Water Snakes are known to be quite curious and may swim near swimmers or fishermen, though they are quick to flee when approached on land.

We would love to hear if you have encountered one of these NORTHERN WATER SNAKES around the shores of our lake and the Nonquon River. They are supposedly common across southern Ontario. They will not be found in built up areas.

https://ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/northern-watersnake/

05/26/2026

INVASIVE ENEMIES OF OUR FORESTS! Now is a great time to search your urban gardens, woodlots, trails and semi-shaded fence lines for this pretty, but mean-spirited invasive, non-native plant ... GARLIC MUSTARD. It will be flowering soon, and it is a great time to recognize it and to rip it out by the roots. Dispose of it in a black garbage bag and leave in the sun to decompose. Garlic mustard has a very distinctive leaf (see below picture), garlic smell, and comes out really early in the spring to flower in May, early June.

WHY IS IT SO BAD! Garlic mustard aggressively outcompetes native flora, stealing the sunlight and nutrients. Worst of all garlic mustard releases toxic chemicals into the soil. These allelopathic chemicals destroy the beneficial mycorrhizal (fungi) essential for native trees and plants. Because local wildlife rarely eats it, it quickly forms dense, impenetrable monocultures.

Garlic mustard prevents native seeds from germinating, and saplings from maturing especially maples. It directly crowds out and endangers vulnerable native wildflowers like trilliums, trout lilies, bloodroot, hepaticas and American ginseng. They alter the forest floor's natural decomposition cycle which destroys natural habitats for amphibians and ground-nesting birds.
See Youtube for the whole story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQxIGBfH6X4

05/25/2026

Fascinating!

🚨 BREAKING: Satellite imagery over the Great Lakes is showing something absolutely unreal happening where Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, rivers, currents, sediment, and changing weather systems collide across Michigan’s coastline. 🌊🛰️😳
From space, you can literally see giant swirling patterns twisting through the Great Lakes like Michigan accidentally stirred half the freshwater on Earth with a giant Faygo bottle overnight. 😭
And the wild part?
This isn’t pollution or some weird camera glitch.
This is the Great Lakes constantly moving, mixing, and reshaping themselves in real time.
As currents, wind, storms, river runoff, temperature shifts, and sediment move through Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Saginaw Bay, the Straits of Mackinac, and along the mitten-shaped coastline… massive swirling water boundaries become visible from space — turning Michigan into what looks like a giant freshwater marble painting. 🌎✨
And Michigan wildlife follows it too.
Salmon, trout, walleye, perch, baitfish, birds, and entire ecosystems react to these moving water lines because temperatures, oxygen levels, nutrients, and currents all shift where the waters collide. 🐟🦅
Basically: the Great Lakes become a giant underwater highway system surrounding Michigan.
And honestly? Seeing Michigan from above makes the state feel alive.
From rocky Lake Superior shorelines… to dunes along Lake Michigan… to shipping lanes in Detroit… to the Mackinac Straits where two Great Lakes collide… Michigan isn’t just forests, beaches, and small towns.
It’s one giant moving freshwater machine powered by storms, currents, wind, sediment, ice, and the largest freshwater system on Earth. 🌊⚓
People standing on the beach see calm waves.
But from space?
Michigan looks like the Great Lakes are actively stirring themselves with a giant spoon. 😭🌪️
Michigan really said: quiet shoreline… absolute freshwater chaos offshore. 🌊💀

05/23/2026

TO JUMP IN OR NOT TO JUMP IN! What do you think about the lake and what do you think should be our priorities when we develop our next Strategic Plan this fall, .... or what we should research in the coming years. The Scugog Lake Stewards are looking for your comments on their 2026 Lake Survey. IT WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW MINUTES BUT THE INFORMATION IS VITAL TO US: www.LakeScugogSurvey.ca (To be statistically correct we need a minimum of 500 responses, so let's get going ... right now! Big smile!)

05/22/2026

WHAT AN EASY TO UNDERSTAND EXPLANATION OF THE REASONS FOR THE INCREASING RISK OF BLUE GREEN ALGAE BLOOMS IN OUR LAKE AND WORLD-WIDE! Flavia Breje, a doctoral student in the Biology Lab. at Ontario Tech. University who has worked on our lake for many years, presented the results of her research to date on the subject at our recent Science Social, Tuesday, May 19. Flavia will be working on our lake and Lake Simcoe for one more year. We were pleased to have Mayor Wotten and Councillors Coyne and Wright in the audience.

Nathan Rajevski, Water Resource Technician with Kawartha Conservation also explained their Community Science Program that the Lake Stewards are funding. Citizen Scientists from 5 locations around the lake collect samples from their docks testing for E.coli, chlorides, phosphorus, nitrate, water temperature and conductivity 5 times per year. This year we will be funding 3 additional sites that look specifically at difficult Port Perry stormwater outlet water conditions. https://www.kawarthaconservation.com/learn-and-get-involved/citizen-science/

05/21/2026

SHORELINE OWNERS! HOW TO DE-GEESE YOUR LAWN ... REALISTICALLY AND HUMANELY! https://www.ducks.ca/stories/iwwr/how-do-you-deter-geese-from-your-yard/ No more goose p**p to clean up!

While actively grazing, a goose can produce a dropping every five to ten minutes. Conservative estimates suggest an average adult goose may defecate approximately 28 times over a 24-hour period; that means between one and two pounds of wet f***s daily. These droppings hold E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter, but they will also probably hold parasites such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium and
Roundworms. So discouraging them from your lawn is a really good idea.

Also, the 3 to 4 week moult for geese is coming in June/July, during which time they won't be able to fly so they will be hanging around on your shoreline even more than usual. For the betterment of the lake, the Lake Stewards recommend the installation of deep rooted native plant, 15 ft. wide minimum buffers along the lake edge.

P.S. HAVE YOU FILLED OUT OUR LAKE SURVEY YET! IT WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW MINUTES BUT INFORMATION IS VITAL TO US: www.LakeScugogSurvey.ca

05/20/2026

REPORT, MAY 20, 2026 FROM OUR REGULAR DAM AND LOCK 33 REPORTER.
The lake level’s been rock solid at 250.2 since they started putting logs back in. Probably higher today due to heavy rains last night but it’ll level out.
Currently there’s one log out on the lock side, all in otherwise. The water is flowing nicely over the spillway just the way we like it.
Thanks Tom Murray.

05/18/2026

LAST CHANCE: Science Social - Toxic Algae Blooms - https://mailchi.mp/scugoglakestewards/next-science-social-toxic-algae-blooms-12897486

05/17/2026