Monitoring loons and
determining the factors that affect their presence and breeding success
are the core activities of the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey. However, the
Survey is involved in many other activities promoting understanding and
preservation of loons. For more information about the work of the CLLS,
please contact Kathy Jones aqsurvey@bsc-eoc.org.
Presentations
Findings of the Survey are
presented to naturalist clubs and cottage associations. We believe that
an educated public is the most effective way to safeguard loon
populations in Canada. In addition to these talks, we make formal
presentations at conferences and workshops. Data Sharing The CLLS shares
its data with other associations, government bodies, and university
students engaged in researching loons in Canada.
Collection of Loon Eggs and
Carcasses
The CLLS asks that volunteers
who find dead loons or unhatched loon eggs submit them to appropriate
centres for analyses. Dead loons are sent to the Canadian Cooperative
Wildlife Health Centre for necropsies and toxicological analyses.
Unhatched eggs are submitted to the Canadian Wildlife Service. Results
of these analyses are made available to federal and provincial wildlife
agencies, and tissues from carcasses and eggs are stored in the CWS
Specimen Bank (a national archive of biological specimens) for future
research. Dead loons are often not discovered due to their sparse
distribution, somewhat secretive nature and fondness for less developed
areas of the country. However, when found, they are our best source of
information about factors causing loon mortality. This is a first step
in decreasing human-induced loon deaths.
To participate please download
the Loon Mortality Survey
reporting form and contact the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife
Health Centre office prior to sending the package to them. To submit a
loon egg please download the egg collection form and contact Dr.
Scheuhammer's office at the Canadian Wildlife Service prior to sending
the package.
Signs and Fact Sheets
Depending upon available
funding, the CLLS distributes "Loon Nesting Area" and
"Loon Alert" signs free of charge to Survey volunteers. Other
conservation/education fact sheets are also available to volunteers and
the public on request .
Floating Loon Nesting
Platforms
In an effort to ameliorate the
effect of water level changes, the CLLS provides plans to build floating
nest platforms. This is one way to help loons deal with changing water
levels, or shoreline development that displaces them from traditional
nesting sites. Building and placing nest platforms is labour-intensive
and platforms are not an ideal solution to the problems facing nesting
loons. However, when used selectively they can help loons cope with the
consequences of some of our activities. Does your lake need a Floating
Loon Nesting Platform? Ask yourself this question "Do I see chicks
on my lake?" If you answer yes then a platform will not improve the
breeding success of loons at your lake. If you answered "NO"
you may want to review the plans and consider building and maintaining a
platform. To download the platform instructions please
click here.
