# Oakland CO. Loon



## hillbillie (Jan 16, 2011)

Today driving past Lake Sherwood near Milford I spotted a Loon.Last year I seen one on Big Fish Lake and my buddy had one on his pond.Both in Lapeer Co.
Do they nest here or just passing through?


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

To the best of my knowledge they are just passing through. About 15 years ago we used to get them on Lake Fenton about this time of year. They are so picky about their nesting sites, I don't think we have anything around here that really suits their needs.


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

were once prevalent on almost every little pond or lake in the state. Development along shorelines has been very detrimental to loon populations. And jet boats and jet skis have been worse. 

Or so we thought...then, about 25 years ago, someone around here on Antrim County's Chain of Lakes realized that one of the reasons the loons weren't successful in nesting most years was because their preferred nest locations would get flooded out almost every spring-and the nest would be submerged long enough for the eggs to die. Loons don't re-nest like other bird species. 

If the nest did survive high water and storms, it faced competition from geese and swans that wanted that location for a nest-and if it made it past that, there was all those predators to contend with that back in historic times were not present up here in large numbers-possums, skunks, *****, mink, owls, hawks, eagles. 

So....fewer and fewer loons every year, with most populations in the UP and in Canada. We had a few breeding pairs, but they never did anything. 

Then someone came up with the idea of a floating nest platform for them-at first, made with wood and sheets of insulation with straw on top, very heavy to haul out and put out, and navigation hazards for ignorant boaters. 

Along came PVC piping...and the nesting platforms, or ANI's, as they are called by the loon community, took off. 

On my lake, Intermediate Lake, last year, we had three platforms out and three nesting pairs of loons that produced six chicks that fledged last fall. That was the 10th year of a very successful project that has produced, to date, 32 chicks. 

This year, the school got involved for the second time, and 6th graders got together and built four more platforms, giving the loon folks a total of six platforms on this lake, two more for other lakes. The loons came back successfully from the south, we think from the Gulf of Mexico, two weeks ago and are nesting now. They love the new platforms. 

We have had some issues with competing swans and geese-the DNR gave us permission to chase off the swans, so loons are now on all but two of the ANI's, one of which is occupied by geese, the other is empty. 

There's also ANI's out on Clam, Elk, Skegemog, and Lake Bellaire, as well as new ones on Six Mile and Wilson Lake on the upper chain. There's also ANI's being used all over the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the UP.

Once the chicks hatch, the family leaves the nest, and goes into secluded "nursery" areas in quiet coves and bays to spend the summer raising the chicks-and the ANI's and buoys are removed. Usually by mid-June. 

Two weeks ago, on this lake, when the loons first returned, we counted no less than 10 adult loons in a sweep of the lake and last year counted a pod of 12 adult loons that were staging in late August prior to migration. 

Loons are a neighborhood project in this region, and we are very protective of them-ask any jet skiier who zooms too closely to the platforms, despite the warning buoys we have out. Our Sheriff's marine patrol is very cooperative. 

There's lots and lots of information on this on the web, and I have thousands of photos taken over the years. I have an occupied ANI on my lakefront. 

Anyhow, that loon on that Oakland County lake was probably just passing through, but it's not impossible that it was one of the younger loons that hatched from one of the ANI's that is now looking for its own breeding territory...and at one time, like I said, there were loons on every lake in the state. 

It's all a matter of development, pollution, and what the loons will tolerate and how much people are willing to give them a hand. 

Last summer, after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, we had a noted scientist on our lakes, and with his direction and supervision, we tagged approximately 20 adults and four juveniles, and took blood samples that we hope to compare with samples that will be taken this summer when the scientist returns to see how much of a toxic load they acquired in the Gulf last winter. 

That's if they winter in the Gulf-on at least six of the loons, we may finally have the answer to that, too, after chips on six geo-archival locating tags are removed and read. 

In the meantime, it's an exciting event up here when the loons return, nest and finally, around Memorial Dy (it will be later this year), hatch out two fluffy little chicks...we hope. 

There's an article on our Antrim Review website right now about the kid's platform project at the school, and lots more reading on that site and hundreds of others...

www.antrimreview.net

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/loon1.jpg


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## J-Lee (Jul 11, 2000)

Thanks Linda, that is very good news for one of my favorite birds.:coolgleam


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

Until about 8 years ago I thought loons were neat birds, but I didn't realize exactly how neat they were until we started camping at Shupac lk. Every year we have at least one nesting pair. I have since found that they have some of the funniest behaviors. I spend a significant amount of time every summer just watching them.


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

are very smart birds. 

This sounds crazy, but those of us who are out there working with them and watching them constantly actually believe that they recognize us.


They definitely recognize the nesting platforms, two weeks ago one of the local loon enthusiasts was putting out an ANI on Clam Lake, and the loons were circling his boat the entire time he was fluffing up the straw, putting the anchor line down, etc. As soon as he backed away from the ANI, they took turns climbing up on it-right in front of him.

I'm told that the Anishnabe call loons "brother"


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Ah memories of my childhood. Something peaceful about beginning or ending a beautiful day to the sound of a loon.


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## FishMichv2 (Oct 18, 2004)

Ranger Ray said:


> Ah memories of my childhood. Something peaceful about beginning or ending a beautiful day to the sound of a loon.


amen to that. fog rising from the water on a pike fishing morning with the loons calling in the distance has got to be the coolest friggin thing ever. we get them from time to time this time of year here in oville but most of my experiences with them are from up north.


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