I am privileged to be able to go out on and paddle the lake on a regular basis and am lucky to see the emergence of this wonderful ecosystem in the spring. I start paddling in April when the ice is out and there is essentially nothing moving, yet I watch weekly. The plants begin to emerge, I begin to see the offspring of fish and loons arrive and how the turtle’s behaviours are changing. Just being able to see this system come alive each spring is amazing and the change from last year to this in the lake is also impressive. Last year, the lake had a green tint to it and this year it is much more clear and I believe this is due to the drier spring and less phosphorus runoff into the lake. It has been quite a transformation to watch the lake from fall to spring and experience that progression again this year.

I had not been on this particular lake often previous to May 2015, and honestly the lake was a bit boring. There was so little, basically just sand and marle, yet I love to paddle so that aspect was enjoyable at Round Lake. As the water began to warm, the plants began to sprout and the fish begin to emerge, the lake became so fun because I was discovering new things every morning. On one particular morning I saw a spherical school of black fish, each about two inches long with very frilly fins and very cool to watch as they swam. I knew it was a school of fish but as it moved through the water it maintained that perfect sphere shape.

I came to Round Lake because of a change of route to my work. My son had to go to a summer camp and I took a different path to work and stumbled upon Round Lake and began to use it as my daily morning paddle spot.

It is just amazing to watch these changes in this ecosystem and I would love to take a picture each day to document these changes.