The first week of February brought with it the first loon rescue and release of 2021. During the February 2nd Nor'easter, a juvenile loon crash landed and became stranded at McDaniels Marsh in the Sunapee region. Thankfully, a team of concerned onlookers, including Ann and John Donnery and Cynthia Bruss, were able to relay the loon to Maria Colby at Wings of the Dawn Wildlife Rehabilitation. After an exam at Weare Animal Hospital and a consultation with veterinarians who are experts on loons, it was decided that the best course of action was to release the loon back into the wild as soon as possible. The loon was banded by LPC Senior Biologist, John Cooley, and released directly onto the ocean at Odiorne Point.
We're not entirely sure where this loon came from—relatively small, it may have been a straggler migrating from breeding grounds in Quebec or Ontario, where loons tend to be smaller in size. Or it may have been hatched on a lake in western New Hampshire, and lingered on remaining open water in the Connecticut River a little too long, honing in on McDaniels Marsh as a possible haven in the storm. Regardless, the Marsh was a lucky crash landing site for this loon, a place where helpful humans were close at hand. With a safe release at Odiorne, LPC staff and the dedicated network of rehabilitators like Maria Colby can now, with a little more confidence, hope that this first release of 2021 will be followed by a true mid-winter break from rescues, and that the lakes will be quiet—as far as loons go—until ice out in April.
|
|
LPC Senior Biologist, John Cooley, observes the juvenile loon post-release. Photo courtesy of Maria Colby. |
|
As you may be aware, loons face a variety of challenges when they're on our lakes that pose a threat their survival and reproductive success. LPC's intensive monitoring of New Hampshire's loon population helps us to recognize threats as they emerge and develop management strategies to help loons succeed in spite of their challenges. LPC currently employs many management strategies, including floating nest rafts to help loons deal with water level fluctuations, predation, and lack of adequate nesting habitat as well as floating signs and ropelines to help protect nesting loons from human disturbances. This management has made a difference—in 2020, 32% of the loon chicks hatched in New Hampshire came from LPC's rafts, and 59% of the chicks hatched in New Hampshire came from nests that were protected by signs and/or rope lines. |
|
LPC's 2020 Conservation Intern, Emily Zubieta, retrieves a sign from a loon territory on Lake Winnipesaukee. The two loon chicks that hatched from this territory benefitted from two forms of LPC management—they hatched from a raft, and their nest was protected with signs. |
In spite of this intensive management, over 40% of loon nest attempts fail each year due to various causes. In recent years, LPC has become concerned about one potential cause of nest failure in particular: flooding due to the large waves generated by wake boats. Wake boats are boats that are equipped with ballast tanks, bags, compartments, or other devices that alter or enhance the wake produced. These boats are designed to create significantly bigger wakes than other motor boats.
Because their bodies are adapted for swimming, loons cannot walk well on land. This means that they tend to build their nests very close to, if not right at, the water's edge. As a result, loon nests are vulnerable to flooding or destruction due to wave action. Waves generated by boat wakes can wash over loon nests, in some cases causing them to fail.
It is difficult to definitively attribute a nest flooding event to boat wakes unless a biologist happens to be present at the time that the flooding occurs and witnesses the event. However, LPC does suspect that boat wakes have caused loon nests to fail in New Hampshire, especially on bigger lakes where the small islands favored by loons for nesting are close to busy boating channels. These same lakes are places where wake boat use may increase the risk to vulnerable nests. Even loons nesting on our rafts, which are designed to rise and fall with water levels, are not immune to the impacts of boat wakes—please see the video below, recorded on LPC's Live Loon Cam, for an example of the potential impact that boat wakes can have on loon nests.
Because wake boats are a relatively new fixture on our lakes, LPC has not yet been able to undertake a rigorous analysis of their impact on nesting loons; however, we are working on it—LPC field observations have been refined in the last two years to record wave action as a separate cause of nest failure, distinct from flooding with increased lake level, so that we can better track the impact of storm-or boat-induced waves.
|
|
A loon nest is rocked by the wake of a passing boat. Boat wakes have the potential to flood loon nests and cause eggs to be swept into the water. |
|
In addition to potential impacts on nesting success, wake boats may also impact loons via shoreline erosion and subsequent changes in water quality. Loons are visual predators that rely on clear water to be able to catch fish. The potential for wake boats to increase shoreline erosion, disturb the lake bottom, and increase water turbidity is a concern for loons.
LPC is committed to investigating the impacts of wake boats on loons. From September 2019 through June 2020, the New Hampshire Commission to study wake boats met several times. LPC presented to the commission on potential impacts of wake boats on loons and answered the questions of commission members. You can read the Commission's final report here. Additionally, LPC has helped fund a Minnesota study that will test the size, force, and impact of boat wakes.
Other organizations, including many lake associations and NH LAKES, have raised many other concerns about the use of wake boats on our lakes. Their concerns include shoreline erosion, property damage, disturbances to the lake bottom, and the potential for spreading aquatic invasive species. Click here for a document from NH LAKES, which summarizes these concerns.
Recently, House Bill 229 has been introduced to the New Hampshire State Legislature. If passed, this bill will define wake boats in New Hampshire as “any boat that is equipped with ballast tanks, bags, compartments, containers, plumbing, or similar devices or systems that are designed to alter or enhance the characteristics of the boat's wake, and is also known as a ‘ballast boat.’"
|
|
In a few months, loons will be back on our lakes! Photo courtesy of Jen Esten. |
|
The loons will return to our lakes in just a few short months. While we wait for them, please join us for a series of presentations all about loons and the challenges that they face. LPC has partnered with the Lakes Region Chapter of New Hampshire Audubon to present a series of loon talks, which will be live-streamed on our YouTube Channel on the third Thursday of every month (February—May) at 7 PM. Our first presentation, which will be held on February 18th at 7 PM, will be co-presented by me and LPC's Executive Director, Harry Vogel. This presentation will cover loon biology, life history, and the work that LPC is doing to support loons here in New Hampshire.
Though we hope you will be able to join us live, don't worry if you're unable to make it to a particular talk—we will be recording them and posting them to our YouTube channel! Stay tuned—a full list of presentation topics will be included in my next E-Newsletter.
|
|
Wishing you all the best,
Caroline
Caroline Hughes
Volunteer/Outreach Biologist
Loon Preservation Committee
|
|
Loon Preservation Committee | 603-476-LOON (5666) | www.loon.org |
|
The Loon Preservation Committee is dedicated to restoring and maintaining a healthy population of loons throughout New Hampshire; monitoring the health and productivity of loon populations as sentinels of environmental quality; and promoting a greater understanding of loons and the natural world. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
