Todd Massey, who has taken over for Jim Ward, emailed the following message:
“All roads including the 32-00-0 road will be closed as of this Friday, March 12, due to spring mud season conditions. Roads will be reopened as soon as mud season ends and roads improve. Thank you for your cooperation.”
We will post again when he notifies us that the roads are open again.
That’s been the question of the day—well, actually the week. All of a sudden, I have had quite a few folks wondering about ice conditions. After emailing a few camp owners, one replied that he and his family were at the lake from the 18th to the 22nd. He said that they had fished both Nicatous and Sabao and the ice at that time was from 18″ to 20″ thick. He reported that snowmobile trails were borderline. He did say that ice skating was great on the lakes as they were clear of snow.
He also had spoken with his camp neighbor that was at the lake last weekend. He fished both Nicatous and Duck and the ice was still thick but snowmobile trails were pretty bare.
This entire week we had daytime temps of around 40° and yesterday we had we had a lot of rain. PLEASE, be careful if you choose to go on the ice.
The camp owner that emailed me also mentioned that with the roads bare, it will not be long before the frost starts to come out of the roads. Last year, the paper company gated the roads until the frost came out of them. They indicated that closing the roads during mud season was going to be an annual event.
The folks that emailed me were kind enough to share this wonderful photo that was taken at the lake during their stay. Note the ice on the lake and the skates while their daughter plays in the sand that has been warmed by the sun. You just have to love Maine!!
Here in Maine, that could be the Great Dooryard Bird Count — but we will save the dooryard for another post. 
The Great Backyard Bird Count is coming soon. The next count will be February 12 — 15, 2010.
What is the Great Backyard Bird Count? The website of the same name, tells us that it is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds. We’ll be adding updated GBBC materials for the next count as they become available.
Last year was my first year at this count and I found it enjoyable. Coppertop, my friend at My Maine Backyard Treasures, suggested that I might enjoy it and she was right!! I get quite a few birds around here but not a lot of different kinds but they are still fun to watch. This year, I have a new camera and hopefully will get some good photo’s.
The GBBC website has all the information that you will need to become a counter. They also have buttons for your web sites, a printable poster, a kids page, and a photo contest.
What do you need to do? Click HERE to go directly to the “How Do You Participate” page for instruction. Then get out your binoculars and get ready to count. Get the whole family involved. This is a wonderful way to interest the kids in birding. Have fun and happy counting!!
Winter is here, but as winter’s in Maine go (at least in our part of the state)—this one has not been too bad. I guess it is all relative though because if I still snowmobiled, I would be hoping for lots more snow than we have. I haven’t heard too much from anyone about ice fishing or ice depth at the lake. We had some warm, rainy weather this winter but also a lot of really cold weather so I imagine that the ice is pretty thick. If anyone has a report on the ice, fishing or anything else about the lake, please use the contact form on this site and I will report it here.
I did just hear from Ron Pelletier who snowmobiled the area a few days ago. He said that the Stud Mill road is plowed all the way and that the 32-00-0 road is groomed for snowmobiling. He reported that the trails are not all that good with some icy and bare spots. He and his fellow snowmobiler’s had lunch at Nicatous Lodge, so if anyone is in that area, it is good to know that food and gas are available.
Thanks to those who have commented on the site changes. It’s nice to know that folks are visiting the site and like the new look. 
I still have plans for a forum and a photo gallery and hope to get a chance to work on those soon. If anyone has a photo to share, it is now possible to upload them on the contact page. I will add your photo’s to the photo page when it is done. Remember, too, that this is a blog-style page now and if you would like to make any comments to this post (or any other), just click on “Leave a comment” that appears under each post.
Well, you may notice a change to the site. I had a computer crash and decided to buy a MAC instead of another PC. That meant my old site building software didn’t work anymore. I am familiar with WordPress to build sites so I decided to give it a whirl on this one. I think it looks pretty good! What do you think??
With this site, you will be able to add comments to anything that I write on the news page. I am also going to put a forum up in the next few days where all of you will be able to put your two cents in, with topics like road conditions to recipes. Stay tuned…
Anyone want to take over the site??
If there is anyone at the lake that would like to take on this website, please let me know. Steve and I plan on doing some traveling for the next few years and will probably not be able to keep up with all the Nicatous news. Contact me via the contact form if you are interested.
By the way, please note that anyone can leave a comment to any of the posts that I do by going to the bottom of the post and clicking where it says “Leave a comment:.