Loon Survey - Past results
See how the loon numbers have changed from 2007.....
Loon Survey 2007-2023
Cliff Bennett presented the following results and summary for the 2017 Loon Survey that was conducted for the MLA by the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN):
An orientation meeting was held in May at the MVCA Gatehouse with 19 persons present.
Four teams of two, plus boat drivers, conducted surveys on four different sections of the lake, 3 times during the summer; end of Jun., end of Jul. and end of Aug.
All sections of the lake recorded an average number of adults over the summer but the maximum number of chicks counted was much lower than last year (17-9)
There were no chicks found in the Lower Lake.
Nine chicks in all were found in June; nine in July but only six were found surviving by the end of Aug. (same as last year).
MVFN would like to do the count again next year
Survey report submitted to Bird Studies Canada.
There was some discussion about the survey results and the low number of chicks this year compared to last year. Factors that may contribute to the lower number of chicks include high water levels during nesting, prediction and the impacts of human population. Cliff indicated that the loon chick survival rate for Eastern Canada is 10%.
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