Hello LSC.

We have some exciting news to share with you this evening. 

The LSCA will be working with loon biologist Eric Hanson from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies to place a loon nesting platform in the Channel - tentatively scheduled for Sunday, April 7th, beginning at 9 AM.

Last spring, Channel resident Dawn Smith-Pliner observed and recorded loons appearing to perform nesting activities. Eric confirmed this was the case, and came down to Lake St. Catherine with 'Loon Nesting Area' signs. But, after visiting the site, he could tell that they would not be successful in building a nest - so we did not place the signs at that time.

However, because of this activity, Eric believes that these loons are now a 'Territorial Pair', and will return this spring, to the same spot, to attempt to nest again.

So, Eric is planning to be here at 9 AM on Sunday, April 7th, and we'll work to build and place the nesting platform for the loons at their selected spot in the Channel. Our hope is that they will discover it, and use it to make their nest. The platform will look similar to this:

Loon Nesting Platform - Photo: Vermont Center for Ecostudies

We hope these efforts will lead to scenes like this on LSC:

Common loon and baby - Photo: Jeff Nadler, from VCE's website

We may need some extra hands, so we are putting a call out for volunteers. We may also need a boat (to be determined) which might get a little dirty from transporting materials for the platform. If you would like to help out, please let us know by emailing us at info@lakestcatherine.org.

We'll keep the lake community informed about this exciting project as it progresses!