Pickerel Lake

By Anonymous -
Pickerel Lake

My notes:
     Pickerel Lake is a modest lake, with camping spots and some housing around the shoreline. It is relatively small and quiet and is tucked into the southeastern corner of Kalkaska County, Michigan. It is presumably named for its population of walleye (also known as pickerel). The lake is stocked with bluegill, bass, pike, walleye, and yellow perch (Michigan Sportsman). Pickerel Lake is known to the locals as a decent fishing spot with large pike, but the fish are notoriously “wily” and easier to catch when it’s iced over (Michigan Sportsman). Covering over 100 acres, Pickerel is about 72 feet deep toward the middle parts (Pickerel Lake Map). The shorelines are relatively undisturbed, providing an important habitat for many birds, amphibians, insects, and aquatic plants.
Our entomology class got to the Pickerel in mid-morning, around 9:00am. The air was cool, about 70 degrees F and rising, and the sky was clear. After we scouted out where we wanted to take aquatic samples, we came back to the van for our waders and tubs and nets. We put our waders on and, after a few initial bug catches in the grass around the Au Sable van, Prof. Hoekman led us through the conifers and hardwoods by the shore. As we wandered down the path we collected some beetles (tiny members of Families Lampyridae, Gyrinidae, and Coccinellidae) off of the tree bark around us. It was a calm morning and the air was still. The mosquitos kept to the trees, and didn’t bother us very much. Eventually arriving at the shore, we waded into the water to collect samples. What caught my eye were the enormous blue Odonates (probably Libellula vibrans, the Great Blue Skimmer) zooming by over the rushes, presumably feeding. They glistened bright blue and I hoped to catch one, but turn-by-turn their aerial agility and speed was too much for either me or my net. It is funny to me that somehow their “ancient” wing design is still efficient enough and flexible enough to let them travel almost up to 45 mph, as well as execute many complex aerial maneuvers (Marshall p. 32).
An aside:
     Dragonflies belong to order Odonata (“toothed one”) in reference to their mouths, which can snap up prey items at a distance, similar to a chameleon or frog. The lower lip (labium) is attached to the head by a double-hinged joint, and this is what shoots out to bring in prey items. While we couldn’t see the specimens on Pickerel Lake using this incredible machinery, there were certainly fewer mosquitos near where we were (as dragonflies are voracious consumers of mosquitos and blackflies) (Marshall 2006 p. 32).
The only dragonfly I was able to catch that day ended up being a naiad which had crawled up the stem of a reed to molt. After Brooke accidentally knocked it into the water with her net, I grabbed it and put it in a vial for later. What I didn’t realize was the poor timing of my capture, because by the time I got back to the classroom and looked at the day’s catch, it looked like I had two organisms in the vial. It turns out that my dragonfly had molted during the transit! Its wings were crumpled and soft, and I felt pretty awful for having imprisoned it. Unsure of what to do, I left it in a bigger jar overnight, and by the time I came back the next day it had actually filled its wings out. Then I suffocated and pinned it for Science.
     While the dragonflies were exciting, our time at Pickerel Lake actually afforded us more opportunities than usual to see vertebrates, and we saw many exciting ones that day. Everywhere we waded into the water, Green Frogs (Rana clamitans melanota) jumped ahead of us. Across the pond, a family of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) waddled about the dock. In the sky swallows flew everywhere, darting through the air almost as acrobatically as the shimmering dragonflies below. While he was looking up, Professor Hoekman spotted a Bald Eagle soaring above! My heart swelled with patriotism at this sight, and I plunged back into my sampling, reinvigorated.
Using the aquatic net, Brooke and I collected samples from the bases of the rushes while Bekah chased the Green Frogs. Inside we found the typical assortment of Damselfly, Dragonfly, Mayfly, and Stonefly larvae. Pickerel Lake, in spite of the few houses around its banks, seems to be a healthy waterway, and a reliable fishing spot by all accounts.
     Pickerel Lake’s good quality as a wilderness area was also indicated to us by the resident Common Loon (Gavia immer). Scientists and fishermen have long used Loons as indicator species of healthy, relatively undisturbed aquatic ecosystems due to their very particular nesting requirements (Strong, Vermeer).
 
"Anyone Fished Pickerel Lake in Kalkaska???" Michigan-Sportsman. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2016.

"Common Loon." , Identification, All About Birds. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2016.

Strong, Paul. The Suitability of the Common Loon as an Indicator Species. Wildlife Society Bulletin (1973-2006). Vol. 18, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 257-261

"Pickerel Lake Map Kalkaska County Michigan Fishing Michigan Interactive™."Pickerel Lake Map Kalkaska County Michigan Fishing Michigan Interactive™. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2016.

Vermeer, Kees Some Aspects of the Nesting Requirements of Common Loons in Alberta. The Wilson Bulletin. Vol. 85, No. 4 (Dec., 1973), pp. 429-435

 "Weather History for KGOV - May, 2016." Weather History for Grayling, MI. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2016.

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