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Madge Lake Loon
Count Survey Submitted by YFBTA member, Doug Welykholowa, chairperson
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| All photos in this article: Doug Welykholowa | ||||||
| We did our 3rd count of the year on 1 July. Only 3 chicks
observed, but we are still hopeful that more will be observed over
the summer. This is based on our seeing single adults staying close
to where we think are the nesting areas. Unsuccessful adults are
usually spotted in pairs, either feeding or preening. the single
birds may indicate another still sitting on a nest, or keeping young
chicks in areas that we cannot easily observe into. We are noticing
a significant increase in boating activity this year due to the warm
weather; this may have an impact on the number of birds observed.
The number of territories remains about the same as last year, with
about 10% change in location. Our observations over the summer
should confirm this.
I have attached some pics of preening adults and loons with
chicks. Note that it was very smoky that day, so the colouring
has a extra red/brown tone.
Doug Welykholowa
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| We found one new chick during the 10 July count
(see image of chick on back of adult below), and we may have lost
one of the others. As previously mentioned, we are still hopeful
that more will be found eventually, based on the behaviour of some
of the birds in the known territories (see my comments in the
previous email.
Observed results for 10 July: Adults - 46, chicks - 3
Below are some photos of preening adults, the new chick riding
on the back of its parent and adults feeding the chicks a
crayfish.
Doug Welykholowa
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