Putting out the Platforms and Checking the Nests

  1. Placing the nests early in the season is critical. We always set the nest the first weekend after ice out.  The loons will be back in the area before ice out and you will hear them fly over the nesting areas every day looking to see if the lake is open.  Often times they will land in their nesting bay even when the lake is froze.  The male returns first and stakes out the nesting territory ahead of the female.  This may include fighting off young males who try to take over a bay. If the nests are not set early, the returns pairs may move on looking for a new area.  Returning pairs can use the same nest for over 10-years.  The nests need to be vegetated before they are placed.  We usually buy a couple bales of hay and hand stuff the screen.   4 people can vegetate and place the 7 nests in about 5-hours. (You can look at the ice-out records to get a feel for timing of placing the nests).
  2. Checking the nests on a near-daily basis for the first couple weeks is essential to discourage muskrats and otters from taking over the nests as feeder houses.  This season we set nests on Saturday April 8 and then Sunday morning I flew to China for a 2-week trip.  When I got home 5 of our 7 nests we being used by Muskrats.  I’ve been cleaning the nests each day trying to discourage the rats and let the loons start nesting.  Once the loons are sitting they will be able to drive the rats away.
  3. Eggs are usually laid the first week of May and chicks hatch 25-days later.  Once the chicks are hatched they are in the water within 24-hours.  The loons and chicks never return to the nest.  We usually remove the nesting platforms a couple weeks after hatch.
  4. We currently have 7 active nest platforms.  They can last a long time but do require regular maintenance.  We usually end up making a new platform every year and they cost about $200 in materials.
  5. Throughout the summer the progress and survival of the loon chicks is monitored and tracked.   The information collected is submitted as a part of a larger tracking program.