Lake Management Plan -




Clearwater Lake Loons

• Clearwater Loons
• Nesting Project
• Tracking History
  

• Why are Clearwater Loons Important
• Loon Cam 2017
  

Loon babies have hatched.


PLEASE Boat and Jet Ski with care.

Loon Tracking

Nine (9) platforms were placed
on the lake May 2, 2024.

The loons are back within
days of Ice Out! 
How do they know?

Turns out they "hang out" on the Mississippi doing daily flybys.  They can land on a small amount of water, however they must have a good stretch to to take off.  Once they see they have enough water to take off they come home to us.

Clearwater Lake Loon Data
Year	Loons Back on the Lake	Eggs Laid	Chick to survive to Fall
2000	April 10	-	-
2001	April 21	-	-
2002	April 17	-	-
2003	April 14	-	-
2004	April 16	-	-
2005	April 11	-	-
2006	April 7	-	-
2007	April 23	-	-
2008	April 25	10	7
2009	-	9	4
2010	-	12	10
2011	April 21	13	6
2012	-	16	9
2013	May 8	14	7
2014	April 27	12	7
2015	April 7	12	3
2016		13	7
2017	April 2	14
2018	April 28	17
2019	April 23	21	11
2020	April 16	18	9
2021	April 2	18	11 as of 6/11
2022	May 2	18 laid / 13 hatched	7
2023	May 2	9 eggs	5
2024	Early April	19 eggs, 11 hatched Chicks
2025	April 6

Loon Eggs

Loons usually lay 1 or 2 eggs per season. The normal incubation period is 26 - 29 days. The eggs are brown with dark splotches.  

It is not common to have 3 eggs in a nest. It has been recorded 6 times with the Clearwater Loon Project.  In 2024 is we had a platform with 3 eggs that all hatched.  This is the first year for triplets since tracking began in 2000.

Loons DO leave the nest to feed, so do not assume the nest has been abandoned and NEVER take the eggs!  

If the eggs do not hatch and go rancid, Jeff has permission to remove the eggs so they can be sent in for toxicology testing.