Osprey Nesting Pole
Osprey, the sharp-eyed, crooked-winged, fish-eating raptor, was once plentiful in the northern lakes region of Indiana, but the species, like the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon, suffered from chemicals in the environment that diminished their ability to reproduce. Osprey are not endangered on a national level, but they are considered endangered in Indiana. Biologists are aware of only five nesting pairs in the state.
Tri-county Wildlife Area at Syracuse is the closest release site to Lake Maxinkuckee. While the birds may have been released in Syracuse, the young birds choose where they will nest. With an 1854 acre lake and an adjacent 80 acre wetland, the Lake Maxinkuckee area has prime habitat to attract the osprey and now with a nesting pole we have made it that much more attractive.
We may not see osprey right away because it is believed the juvenile birds migrate to South America for a year or so and then return, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking for them. Please call the LMEC office if you spot one. They usually return to this area around April.
Wier
The long awaited construction of the new weir for Lake Maxinkuckee was completed on January 22, 2004.
The old weir was a linear design and after 50 years had deteriorated so it no longer maintained the average level (733.12 msl) of Lake Maxinkuckee. Water passed around the ends of the weir as well as through the fallen plates in the middle, allowing the lake level to drop below the legal level during the summer boating months. The new weir is a rectangular shape and is designed to better maintain the average level of the lake during summer boating months, while allowing flow to Lost Lake.
Appropriately maintaining our legal lake level will help reduce turbidity, or churning of the lake bottom. Churning of the lake bottom re-suspends phosphorus into the water, making it available for plant and algal use. Resuspension of phosphorus is a serious issue for lakes and is a significant factor in restoration efforts.
Wetlands
The LMEC has been raising funds and forming partnerships with area landowners to build three constructed wetlands on the three major inlet ditches to trap the sediment and nutrients flowing into the lake from the watershed. Before these wetlands were built, these three ditches contributed 59% of the phosphorus entering the lake. The wetlands have at times removed up to 85% of the phosphorus, but catastrophic events (such as a 100 year rain event within a week of planting new vegetation) at times have impaired the different wetlands abilities to remove nutrients. Continued stewardship of these areas to keep them functioning has been a priority of the LMEC.
Wilson Wetland
The 2.2 acre Wilson Wetland is the first of the three wetlands. It was constructed in 1987 on Culver Academies land and is the first constructed wetland in the State of Indiana. The wetland filters water approaching the lake from the northeast through the Wilson Ditch, adjacent to pastures used by horses of the Black Horse Troop.
Curtiss Wetland
The 12 acre Curtiss Wetland was the 2nd to be completed. This was constructed in 1990 on an area east of the lake. This was similar to the Wilson Wetland in that it originally was not a wetland, but pasture land along the Curtiss Ditch. The DNR’s Lake Enhancement program provided $10,589 for design and $60,000 for constructions. The balance of the $112,000 cost was raised locally by the LMEF.
Kline Wetland
This is the largest and possibly most successful of the three wetlands. The Kline diverted water from an artificial channel at the southeast end of the lake. In the first two wetlands native plants were introduced. In the Kline, returning water brought back natural wetlands vegetation. This 76 acre site was sold to the DNR, becoming the Maxinkuckee Wetland Conservation Area.
