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> for This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------DD2538644FED4B838AD7FC55 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hi Donna and All, I agree that moderation and balance should guide manipulation of wildlife populations. The eagle story stopped being positive decades ago. Artificially increasing the population of a large mobile predator is bound to impact their prey. Also it is ironic that activities now frowned upon, collecting birds eggs, provided the key to recovery of the eagle. The large collection of eggs at the London Museum enabled the study of change in shell thickness over time and this fingered DDT as the probable cause. YT, DW, Kentville On 7/23/2019 9:44 AM, Donna Crossland wrote: > > It's nice to read additional loon observations. Loons remain an > indicator of lake and fish population health, so observations of a > loon pair with offspring is reassuring in this period of rapid > change. This species has been nesting on our lakes since the lakes > began to hold fish. That being said, I wonder if anyone has > observations of their population responses to invasive fish. The > invasion of chain pickerel in lake systems is a sobering game > changer. I have read a paper that concluded that loons can respond > positively to invasion of small mouth bass, taking advantage of high > bass numbers, but I am not so sure they will thrive under a chain > pickerel invasion. Stories of chain pickerel consuming loon chicks > are sobering. Fishermen recount some horror stories from > investigating the stomach contents of chain pickerel; they eat nearly > anything. > > Loons were late nesting last year on a number of lakes, presumably > from unusually high waters. It will be interesting to learn of final > outcomes by summer's end. > > Kevin's observations between eagles and loons is a concern, having > heard many reports in recent years of loon chicks preyed upon by a > growing population of eagles. As we know, young loons are flightless > on their natal lakes until autumn, and so they are of limited capacity > to thwart continual attempts at predation by resident eagles, > exhausted from diving to escape the eagles, they finally succumb > despite some protection from the parent loons. Just this week, I > heard from a lady who said that whenever she and her husband heard > their resident loons vocalize loud distress calls, they would > immediately respond by paddling their canoe into the lake. The loon > pair would apparently swim closer to the canoe and stay near them > until the eagle stopped hunting. Loons are smart and they have very > individual personalities, so perhaps they really had made an > association with this canoe as 'safety'. One can imagine the dilemma > of loon parents, particularly if raising a chick on a small lake with > few places to hide, their options are limited for protecting the chick > when eagles decide to nest nearby. The resident eagles know the chick > is there and it is a question of time before it succeeds at predation. > > All of this would be a more easily accepted part of nature if not for > the ~350-400 food-supplemented eagles residing around large industrial > farm operations each winter in the Annapolis Valley that presumably is > the source of increased eagle numbers nesting near Nova Scotia's many > inland lakes. This unnatural population stems directly from human > activity that has upset the natural balance. Apparently a growing > number of incidences of eagle predation on loons and herons, and > likely other species, is also becoming a problem in the US, as > recently recounted to me by Dr M. Hunter. I haven't had time to read > about this further, but it is concerning. PEI has similar reports of > growing eagle populations causing issues, possibly from our NS > food-supplemented eagles. (This would be interesting research.) > > The solution seems simple enough, send dead animals from industrial > farm ops to the local rendering plant, rather than throwing them in > fields to feed raptors. Consider holding the popular 'eagle watch' > tourism events with ~ 40 birds instead of 400. Forty eagles in one > small area is impressive. Four hundred eagles is a sign of something > gone wrong, and people should be aware of potential impacts to other > species. Tourism that is marketed toward the haunting call of the > loon and only an occasional soaring eagle seems the best approach. > > Balance; a lofty goal for all. > > Donna Crossland > > On 2019-07-21 2:07 p.m., Kevin Lantz wrote: >> >> There was a late nesting last year on one of the lakes near Lunenburg >> (possibly a second attempt) Incubation started on July first and the >> nest produced one chick first seen on July 29^th and last seen in mid >> October when it seemed to be feeding entirely on it’s own. >> >> This year incubation started on May 18^th , 2 young were produced but >> I haven’t seen any Loons on the lake since June 26. At that time only >> one chick was left and an eagle was making low passes over the lake >> to wailing complaints from the adult Loon. >> >> What I have noticed is that eagle sightings at the lake seem to drop >> off in early July, possibly because their young have fledged. >> Whatever the reason the decreased eagle presence through summer and >> fall seemed to help last year. It was the only success the loons have >> had since the eagles took up residence. >> >> Kevin Lantz >> >> Front Centre >> >> *From: *Donna Crossland <mailto:dcrossland@eastlink.ca> >> *Sent: *July 21, 2019 11:30 AM >> *To: *naturens@chebucto.ns.ca <mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> >> *Subject: *Re: [NatureNS] Loon platform success so far >> >> Hi Nancy: Your update on the loon platform is of interest. I believe >> >> it may be only the 2nd occurrence of a loon nesting platform being >> >> occupied by loons in NS. It's interesting that the Canada Goose 'broke >> >> it in' a bit. Maybe that helped instill confidence. MTRI has had a >> >> project of producing loon platforms, but so far occupancy has been >> >> limited to just one lake. I