Register now for Gratiot Lake Conservancy's Dragonfly, Aquatic Plant workshops

GRATIOT LAKE -- A few spots are still available in two August workshops sponsored by the Gratiot Lake Conservancy (GLC): the Aug. 13, 2011, Dragonfly / Damselfly Workshop and the Aug. 20-21 Aquatic Plant Workshop. Advance registration and payment are required to reserve a place.

Dragonfly / Damselfly Workshop

Click on photos for larger versions. (Photo © and courtesy Jim Hay of Gratiot Lake Conservancy. Reprinted with permission.)

A Beginners' Workshop on Dragonflies and Damselflies will be led by amateur odonotist Bob Marr from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, at GLC's Noblet Field Station and nature sanctuary, Gratiot Lake.

Learn identification, safe capture and release, and observation of these "winged dragons" and "neon toothpicks."

The class will be held mostly outside. The workshop is suitable for adults and children 11 and older accompanied by an adult.

Advance registration and payment are required to reserve a place. Click here to fill out the Enrollment Form and please send with a check for the $20 fee ($15 GLC members) made out to "Gratiot Lake Conservancy" to Gratiot Lake Conservancy, P.O. Box 310, Mohawk, MI 49950.

Aquatic Plant Workshop

Are you a fisheries biologist, botanist, environmental consultant, biological technician, aquatic biologist, extension agent, college student, etc., who would like to improve your knowledge of aquatic plant identification? If so, be sure to sign up for GLC's two-day Aquatic Plant Workshop to be led by botanist Janet Marr from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, and Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011, near Eagle Harbor, Mich.

Botanist Janet Marr (foreground) leads an Aquatic Plant Workshop in 2007. (Photo © and courtesy Gratiot Lake Conservancy. Reprinted with permission.)

This class will also be useful to volunteer monitors or lake association members interested in learning how to identify aquatic plants and invasive species in order to protect healthy ecosystems in inland lakes.

Space is limited and advance enrollment is required. The fee for this two-day workshop is $70 ($55 for Gratiot Lake Conservancy members). To enroll, complete the enrollment form and send with a check made out to "Gratiot Lake Conservancy" to Gratiot Lake Conservancy, PO Box 310, Mohawk MI 49950.

Click here for more details on the Aquatic Plant Workshop.

A Janet Avery Scholarship is available for each of these workshops To apply, email Bonnie Hay at belh@verizon.net. Please put the name of the workshop in the subject line. In the body of the message include your name, contact information, affiliation, why you would like to attend the workshop, and how you intend to use what you learn in your work, studies, or teaching.

Eaglet at Gratiot Lake

2011 Gratiot Lake Eaglet in early June. (Photo © 2011 and courtesy Jim Hay of Gratiot Lake Conservancy. Reprinted with permission.)

Eagles have returned to the nest on Gratiot Lake once again, and an eaglet now resides there. Photos and videos are now available on the GLC Web site.

In early June, there always seemed to be an adult in the nest or on a tree limb next to the nest. Now, although one of the adults can usually be heard nearby, the eaglet spends hours on its own watching, sleeping, preening its fancy new feathers, flapping its quickly developing wings, or crying to be fed. Early in June the eaglet seemed to spend much time sleeping, and it could be seen napping in various locations in the nest.

Click here for Jim Hay's great photos and videos of the eaglet (You can even watch the eagle feeding the baby!) and more info ...