Hello all!
Good news!! We have four new loon chicks on Six Mile Lake…two on the north platform and two on the south platform. This year an amazing first happened!! Both pairs got up on their respective platforms on the same date…May 3rd and both pairs hatched their chicks one day apart. The Faas reported the north pair had their chicks yesterday and this morning the south pair had both their chicks. The north pair is the same pair we banded in 2014-15 and they have returned faithfully all these years. In total 24 loon chicks have been fledged on Six Mile Lake and left in the fall as young adults headed to Florida waters to stay for the first three years of their lives. Once they reach breeding age the males return to the area where they were born and the females return to new territories to hopefully find mates and have chicks of their own.
Both pairs are currently using their platforms to rest with the chicks. We will remove the platforms and buoys as soon as the loons no longer are utilizing the platforms.
Isn’t this great news?? Let’s hope that this is the year four new loons will grow up here and leave healthy and unharmed by boats or predators.
Cherie Hogan
Communications/Membership