Milford Millpond

Wet snow during past 24 hours and currently falling lightly...about 3 cm on the ground. Ice off in the test area and river feeding into the pond from the waterfalls, which have been flowing strongly for most of the past few months. Water is crystal clear now and I can see 6 dead frogs at the bottom of the pond where we do our tests.

Ice covering much of the millpond still but open water at our test site under the bridge where water flows from river below waterfalls.

No rainfall in past 24 hours. Very calm and overcast day. Can hear the waterfalls on the roadway above us as they feed into the river and millpond. Beginning to see some thin ice forming now along the edges of the pond. Picked up plastic bottles, containers and pop cans left on the bridge by a common species called “ Slobs “ .

Sunny with mild winds . Finally had 20 mm rainfall during past week after over a month of drought. No water flowing over the waterfalls nearby. Some weeds under the surface of the pond but not much on surface now compared to past times testing. Had seen suckers swimming under the bridge when walking here last week but none visible today. Lots of geese swimming on the pond and flying about in flocks. Dragonflies and water bugs and can hear many birds calling.

Sunny day with some clouds and little winds. No rainfall for many days. Large grey water snake in the rocks along shore. Many waterbugs & dragonflies seen and can hear the crickets singing away. Couple of hawks circling above and Mourning Dove on the wires. Weeds and algae bloom much greater than a month ago. Spoke at length with a neighbour out walking her dog who asked what we were up to. Informed her about Water Rangers and directed her to the site and some other resources ( Quinte Conservation, Dept of Health, Ministries, campers associations, etc ) where she could follow up on a concern she had about issues on a lake near Belleville where she was going to send her kids to a camp.

Overcast with calm winds. Water very still. Waterfalls can still be heard a bit. Lots of green algae pond scum accumulating now along shore and working its way out into pond. Picked up some cans and plastic garbage at the site. Can hear some birds and saw Grey Heron fly overhead across the pond. Spoke with 2 fishermen who were fishing off the bridge, talked about Water Rangers and the testing we do and they were quite interested. They have been catching some bass, carp and pike here regularly.

A number of Canada Geese swimming nearby , other birds can be heard and waterfalls still flowing hard enough to be heard easily. During past week have had 103 MM rainfall in Milford and lightly raining now.

Sunny day with thin layer of clouds forming. No rainfall in past 24 hours. Water snake and frog swinning in water. Flock of geese overhead landing on millpond. Other birds can be heard and waterfalls quite loud too. Green algae bloom visible on rocks along bottom of pond and some floating on surface along shoreline.

Since May 1st we have had approx 135 mm of rainfall in Milford and this has been causing some localized flooding across PEC, especially along the shores of Lake Ontario. Many farm fields are water laden. Water levels all high in all locales. Nearby waterfalls are roaring and strong current at our test site. Today just light misty rain, cloudy and calm winds. Some ducks and Canada Geese on pond and seagull and red winged blackbirds overhead. No pond scum along waters edge as there was at previous testing but just some frothy material floating under the bridge from the rapids further upstream.

Sunny & calm. Can still hear waterfalls softly. Lots of songbird sounds & activity. No rain past 24 hrs. Lots of brownish/green scum forming and floating along edge of pond. ( see photos to follow soon ) Some small plastic garbage at test site which we took for recycling.