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Loon Committee

5/16/2020

"Gavia immer" is the name scientist use for the Common loon. The Loon committee's objectives are to monitor,  protect and promote the loons on Ten Mile Lake. Loon committee members are responsible for maintaining the artificial nesting platforms. This includes placing platforms on the lake after ice out – removing the platform in late summer & building and repairing it for the next season.

Co- chairs: Erin Adams and Sheryl DuCharme

Members:

   Bob Horn

   Mary Brandt Layton

   Pat & Bill Nelson

   Jim Byers

   Bob Nagel

   Suzanne Larkin

Members, along with all TML residents, are actively involved throughout the season with observing & sharing loon information with the chair person. No formal meetings are held. 

The chair person is responsible for: collecting and recording & sharing data with the DNR & TML residents.....

Counting & collecting number of & dates of nests built - number of territorial/nesting pairs- number of chicks hatched and location- number of chick survival until October- number of dead loons- dates & places of large groups of loons gathering called aggregations or rafting as well as noting other loon behaviors observed.

Written reports are completed and sent in to the DNR at the end of every nesting season. Dead loons are collected and delivered to the DNR for necropsy .

Awareness & education is provided via newsletters & at the Annual meeting each year. Comparisons to previous year's data is provided.


This March 2019, the DNR sent a letter to inform their 300 volunteers that they were discontinuing their “Minnesota Loon Watch Survey” after 40 years. They no longer want any loon statistics, records or information from us. They are no longer accepting or studying dead loons. The DNR has formally closed its loon study & survey in MN.

Since I enjoy learning about our loons, their behaviors, their nesting and their population.... I plan to continue monitoring and keeping records of our Ten Mile Lake loon population.

Our cool spring and late ice out, made it difficult for good breeding. We were fortunate to have our normal 5 to 6 nesting pairs. Here are the results for 2019:

Flower Pot Bay

One chick born

Did not survive

South Causeway

One chick born

Survived

North Causeway

No nest

-

Kenfield Bay

Two chicks born

One survived

Mouth of Long Bay, Boone Point side

One chick born

Survived


Total 5 hatched, 3 chicks survived
Please watch for loons while boating. Watercraft are a significant cause of loon mortality.
Check out the loon pictures in the website photo album!!


As of June 2018

Loon nesting platforms have been taken out of the lake and will be redeployed next spring along with an additional platform built by Bob this year. This year’s hatch totaled 7 chicks hatched 5 of which are still countable. The board was also advised that loons do not raft as we thought.  The politically/ornithologically correct term is AGGREGATION.  Cormorants raft – loons do not.


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