Thorn Lake (Jackson County) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is confusion about this Jackson County lake because of several factors. (1) There is a (smaller) Thorn Lake in *Washtenaw* County only a mile away (north and slightly east, just south of Austin Road). (2) The lake is called Watkins Lake in the DeLorme Atlas for Michigan but Thorn Lake on the Jackson County map from the Jackson County Road Commission. It is called Thorn Lake in the Mapbook of Michigan Counties*. (3) No map shows the lake as being bisected by Arnold Road, which it is (as of 2000). (4) There is no east-west road north of the eastern portion of the lake as shown on the Jackson County map. (5) There have been claims that Thorn(/Watkins) Lake straddles the county line with birds west of Arnold Road being in Jackson County and the birds east being in Washtenaw. This *may* some years be just barely true as all maps show the lake to be within Jackson County but tangent to the county line. *Michigan Natural Resources Magazine Mapbook of Michigan Counties (MMC) (1984) -------------- From: "Bruce M. Bowman" To: Allen T Chartier Date sent: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 13:08:32 -0500 Subject: Re: Where is Thorn Lake? Copies to: birders@umich.edu,lckcdajc@umich.edu,santners@karmanos.org Priority: normal [snip] The Washtenaw County map does NOT show any of Jackson County at the edge, but close examination shows a short blue arc tangent to the county line and to the left (west) just where Thorn Lake is located in southeast Jackson County. The arc is not identified in any way (except that the blue color implies water), but it's the Jackson County Thorn Lake. Washtenaw County's Thorn Lake [which can be found on the Wastenaw map a mile north] is smaller than the lake in Jackson County and may be viewable by looking south from Austin Road four and a half miles west of downtown Manchester. It's a fifth of a mile east of the county line. To get to Jackson County's Thorn Lake, take I-94 to M-52. Go south to the village of Manchester. Go west on Austin Road 3 1/2 miles to Noggles Road (a birdy road). Turn left (south) at Noggles (a birdy road) and go 1.3 miles to Herman Road. Turn right (west) on Herman and go 0.9 miles to a fork, which is right at the county line. Herman Road ends there. If you go left (south) at the fork, you'll be on Watkins Road. But you want to go right (west) at the fork. This is Horning Road. Go west on Horning for about 0.2 miles to Arnold Road and turn right (north). You're there! [When you turn onto Arnold Road from Horning Road, you can see Thorn Lake from the intersection. ... For best viewing drive slowly along the road, and you will be able to bird both sides of the road, with water coming up to the road on both sides. Roy Dane] Bruce -------------- To: bbowman@umich.edu, birders@umich.edu Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 10:13:53 -0500 Subject: Where is Thorn Lake? From: Allen T Chartier Bruce, On Sat, 4 Mar 2000 you wrote: > According to my map Thorn Lake is just inside Washtenaw County. It > is five miles straight west of Manchester. and Lathe Claflin wrote: > Thorn L (Wadkins L in DeLorme) in western Jackson co had the > following: This confusion has been occurring for at least 2-3 years now that I've seen. There have also been claims that Thorn/Watkins Lake stradles the county line with birds west of Arnold Road being in Jackson and the birds east being in Washtenaw! Lathe has mis-spoken regarding the lake's location in the DeLorme atlas. It is in SOUTHEASTERN Jackson County, with the eastern edge of the lake just touching the Washtenaw County line(pg. 31, D7). Who's map should we go by? My recommendation is that we concede the superiority of DeLorme and report Thorn/Watkins Lake sightings as Jackson County. (For what its worth, my copy of Mapbook of Michigan Counties published by Michigan Natural Resources Magazine - 1984 - also shows Thorn Lake clearly within Jackson Co., though does not show Arnold Rd. as bisecting the lake). Is this really that important? Speaking from the perspective of a seasonal compiler of bird sightings for the state, it makes it easier if sites are consistently reported for the same county rather than for two counties. Further, this list is monitored by the folks at Northbirding.com and a database compiled for the seasonal compilers (mine had 4800 entries for last fall). So, if sightings are listed only for the appropriate county then errors are less likely to be propagated. I might further suggest we consistently refer to it as Watkins Lake, also based on DeLorme, but Thorn Lake is in such wide usage (based on the older DNR maps) that this may not be necessary. (Has the name of the lake officially changed over the years?) Just my opinion. Allen Chartier 1442 West River Park Drive Inkster, MI 48141 amazilia@juno.com -------------- Date sent: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 10:29:08 -0500 To: birders@umich.edu From: David Sing Subject: Thorn Lake Location Y'all; Many requests for directions to Thorn Lake, so.... From Ann Arbor, there are two basic routes (that combine into one): Either take 94 west to M-52 and go south to Pleasant lake Rd., or take Pleasant Lake rd. from Wagner or Parker rd - go west on Pleasant Lake past 52. The road will make a big left turn - this is Sharon Hollow rd., follow it south. (Turn right here and then another left and your on Easudes rd., heading for the Sharon Hollow Conservancy Land.) The next intersection is Sharon Valley rd.; jog left (east) ~200 feet and turn right (south), again on Sharon Hollow rd. Continue south past Austin Rd.; the pavement then sweeps right (west) and becomes Herman rd. You'll encounter the big cattle ranch, where Herman turns into Watkins and Hourning rd. heads right (west). Take Hourning west ~150yds. to Arnold rd., turn right again, and once on Arnold, you'll be in Thorn lake. Stick to the road; as you'll see there's no need to cross any fences (or get out of your car for that matter) as Arnold rd. crosses Thorn lake as a causeway. In summer, the swampy southwest corner is a haven for herons and egrets - the Little Blue Heron seemed quite at home. The eastern half is where most of the action happens this time of year. You should see rafts of waterfowl. There is a nice snag at the northern edge of the lake that offers a perch for larger visitors (raptors, gulls, cormorants). On Thursday 11/18 the geese, including the Snowies, took to the fields to the north and west of the lake, hundreds of geese wandering the hills. There's always an interesting gull or two, and the resident kingfishers should announce your arrival. Check out the signs relating a brief history of the location, once Watkins Center, a railroad stop. And keep the eyes up as well, raptors seem plentiful and Thorn is a 'traditional' (read: it has happened) spot for Golden Eagle. Cheers DBS Chelsea MI P.S. Despite the ominous signage around the ranch (Cattle Rustlers, Beware!) the ranchers are birder-tolerant and seem used to folks stopped along Arnold rd. The land all around Thorn is private and patrolled (for rustlers, not naturalists). --------------- Date sent: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 12:19:36 -0500 To: Birders@umich.edu From: David Sing Subject: Re: Private land/Thorn Lake Folks; Jacco points out a misleading missive in my recent post about Thorn lake. Do not wander upon any lands that are posted 'No Trespassing,' including those around Thorn lake. Thorn is excellent for its geography, allowing folks to see the entire lake from the road. And the residents, while touchy about cow theft, don't mind folks parking and staring into their property. So, get out there and check it out, it's a local jewel, and don't hop any fences, you'll see it all from the road. Cheerio and Happy Holiday DBS >Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 08:09:37 -0800 (PST) >From: Jacco Gelderloos >Subject: Re: Thorn Lake Location >To: David Sing > >> P.S. Despite the ominous signage around the ranch (Cattle >> Rustlers, Beware!) the ranchers are birder-tolerant and seem used >> to folks stopped along Arnold rd. The land all around Thorn is >> private and patrolled (for rustlers, not naturalists). > >Dave, does this mean that it is possible for birders >to wander into the fields to get a better look at the >birds on f.e. the northeast shore without being >"treated as a rustler"? > >Jacco -------------- Date sent: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 18:52:11 -0500 (EST) From: Matthew Konen Hysell To: birders@umich.edu Subject: Thorn Lake I also made the trip out to Thorn Lake and indeed it was impressive. There were probably 1000 ringnecked ducks, 500 ruddys, 300 canvasbacks, 100 hooded mergansers as well as a handfull of redheads, greenwinged teal (one female really had me puzzled for a while), widgeon and a black duck scattered about. Some of the Canadas were tagged with orange neck bands. Is there some internet listing of banding programs? I wrote down the numbers. Unlike the trumpeters i've seen in Ann Arbor, none of the 3 swans i saw standing on shore had leg bands. At one point a bicycle flushed a ton of hte geese (with a sound that i thought was a car coming) and put up 7 snow geese and one blue. After the Canadas landed the snows circled once more before putting down in a field NW of the ponds. The 2 white fronted geese were still there but i couldn't turn any of the snows into a Ross's. All in all though, 2 state birds and one lifer made for a pretty good afternoon. matt ann arbor -------------- From: "Bruce M. Bowman" To: birders@umich.edu Date sent: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 11:22:51 -0500 Subject: Thorn Lake (Jackson County) Priority: normal I went out to Thorn Lake (southeast Jackson County) late yesterday afternoon. The lake is still full of Canvasbacks. I found the following: Pied-billed Grebe (2) Canada Goose (many) Mallard (a few) Canvasback (850) *************** Ring-necked Duck (50) Lesser Scaup (6) Hooded Merganser (4 - all females) Common Merganser (10 - five pairs) Ring-billed Gull (1) Mourning Dove Belted Kingfisher (1 - male) American Robin European Starling Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle (2) Bruce bmb@biosci.umtri.umich.edu -- +++++++++ I'M FOR THE BIRDS ++++++++++ -------------- Date sent: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 22:49:14 -0500 To: birders@umich.edu From: David Sing Subject: Thorn Lake (redundant; non-bird) Y'all; My two cents: historically, Thorn lake is the lake mentioned in recent postings as the smaller lake just north and east of Watkins lake, which is now commonly called Thorn Lake. The 'actual' Thorn lake is inaccessable from public roads. Watkins/Thorn lies in Jackson County. Thorn/Thorn is in Washtenaw. The line runs down the eastern shore. The causeway is a remnant of a rail line. I've always (opinion) considered Watkins/Thorn to be in Jackson County. For the sake of sanity I vote for calling the larger, accessable lake Thorn. It's mentioned in Keilb, Swales, Wolinski 'Birds of Washtenaw County' as being Thorn lake and in Jackson county. To me, this is sort of the recent paradigm for our little postage stamp in the birding world, and for the sake of sanity I suggest keeping the adopted (if technically incorrect) name. Place names change constantly everywhere, for a myriad of strange and seemingly irrelevant (read: human) reasons. Watkins is probably the proper name for many good reasons, including the information on the large sign at the lake that briefly describes the history of the location as a rail station during the height of agriculture. But Thorn is in the birding mindset. Last year I was out watching the little blue heron mingle with the usual egret/great blue/ kingfisher gang, and a birder pulled up who had seen the great white heron earlier in the day, and so was pulling off the great white/ little blue trick in Michigan in a single day (a review of the archives can determine the date this happened). He refered to the lake as Thorn. The place has entered the ephemeral and anectdotal lore of birding as Thorn lake. I like Bruce's idea, it's the Jackson co. Thorn lake. Call it a cultural effect. Cartographers can call it Watkins, as historians should as well. Among the featherheads, Thorn lake works, it has a nice ring to it, it's worth the drive, see you there tomorrow. Cheers DBS Chelsea