Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Canadian Lakes Loon Survey - 2010

This year was quite a different year for observing loon activity on our lake. It was different in that there were times when it appeared that there were no loons to be found! We believe that because there was a total of five Double-crested Cormorants on the lake that their presence somehow affected the lake's loon activities. The Double-crested Cormorants are competition for the loons in that they too eat a lot of fish. It is reported that a loon will eat upwards of 750 pounds of fish a year, and a Cormorant isn't too far behind! The Cormorants did not nest this year and we hope they don't return next year.

We had a total of nine "official" days spent observing loons but there were many other days of searching while out on the lake canoeing or fishing. There were no young loons born this year and we did not find an active nest. One nest that had been used for several years and which had been repaired once was actually found damaged beyond repair. We believe the damage was done by the high water levels maintained during the nesting season. If we have a couple more years of no young being born on the lake, we will seriously consider building floating nest platforms.

As of today, there are a couple of loons left on the lake that are busy fishing and waiting to fly south for the winter...

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