Hello Members,
Just a quick note to let you know that ice out on Six Mile Lake happened about 10 days ago and within 24 hours our first pair of loons arrived on the north end of Six Mile. A couple days later a lone loon showed up on the southern part of the lake and we were treated to a few nights of loon song before another loon arrived and the ‘two became one’. Kelly and I have received several calls, texts, and emails and, rest assured, the north platform will go in by this next weekend. We put the southeast platform in Wednesday night. That one is easier to do because we use a paddle boat and we can monitor that one very easily. The north platform requires that we put our boat in (a month earlier than normal), then take it back out again after setting the platform, which means that we must rely on others to monitor the north platform. We are putting the platforms in early again this year so no one worries however there is always a risk of a Canada goose pair taking a platform which happened last year on the southeast platform. We had to remove the platform for about a week until the geese decided to nest elsewhere.
Loons generally court for about a month before they nest permanently on a platform. However, they lay claim to it by swimming around it, climbing up and getting off, and staying in the general area of the platform. Six Mile Lake is unique in that our loons nest earlier than most other loons on the Chain and so our chicks are born about a month early which makes them quite large when Common Coast comes to band in August. Once up on a platform look for the chicks about 28 days later. Once we get word that the loons are permanently on the platform we put the loon buoys in and hope that for the next month or so everyone stays a respectable distance away from the platform and outside of the buoy area.
I hope this post answers your questions and concerns and you can always call or text if you need further information.
Until next time,
Cherie