In the midst of Pleasant Pond in Francestown is a small, floating platform, covered with mud and greenery. Upon it, is the nest of a common loon.
The common loon – the only type of loon found in New Hampshire – is distinctive in its black and white pattern, the white band around its neck, and its high, haunting call.
Maria Hackett, of Dunbarton, has long loved the loons on Pleasant Pond in Francestown, where she and her husband have a summer home.
“We’ve always watched the loons. They’re so pretty, and their call is so beautiful,” Hackett said.
The couple even took steps to become involved with the Loon Preservation Committee, which as its name suggests, works to monitor and preserve the state’s existing population.
Along with helping with loon counts and notifying the Committee of when the pond has a breeding pair or successfully hatches chicks, for the past several years, the Hacketts have also put out a floating nesting site for the pond’s pair.
This year was the first time they’ve taken advantage of it, Hackett said.
“I was surprised because it’s been quite a few years. But I was very excited. I think it’s a much safer option for her,” she said.
The floating nest area isn’t automatically a better option than a natural nesting ground. If the raft is more exposed than a well-hidden nesting ground, it can be counterproductive. However, it can also become a haven from some common problems that lead to non-viable eggs.
Caroline Hughes, a staff biologist and volunteer and outreach coordinator for the Loon Preservation Committee, said loons have been a threatened species since the 1970s – a status they retain to this day.
When the Loon Preservation Society was started in 1975, New Hampshire only had about 100 known nesting pairs. Today, that number has increased to about 309 – a slow but positive success.
One of the reasons population rebuilding is so slow, Hughes said, is that loons are not a prolific species. Pairs only breed once a year, and typically produce only two eggs at a time. And of those eggs laid, only one every two years may survive to adulthood.
“They’re a long-lived species, but their reproductive success is pretty low,” Hughes said. “Our goal is to get as many of these eggs to hatch as we can every year.”
The floating rafts have become a crucial part of that strategy. In 2018, of the 224 chicks hatched that the Loon Preservation Committee monitored, 53 were hatched on floating platforms – about 24 percent.
The platforms, while anchored, have enough give to allow them to fall and rise with water changes. Loons nest very close to the shoreline, as their bodies aren’t made for walking on land. But the close proximity to the water means that a high water level can swamp the nest, chilling the eggs or leaving the nest unusable.
In addition to that, shoreline predators, including snapping turtles, snakes, raccoons, skunks, weasels, fish and even other birds, could all pose a danger to the eggs. While a floating nest doesn’t eliminate all predators, a decent gap between the shore and the nest does discourage some of them.
Hackett said she’s watched the loon pair on Pleasant Pond loose several eggs over the years to predators. One year, she said she heard a commotion on the shoreline in the night, and later discovered the nest, with two eggs still intact, had been abandoned.
Another year, she found the nest with the eggs broken.
With loons only producing about two eggs a year, each loss is a blow to the species.
“We have had years where there were chicks, but the water level is difficult for them, and there have been years where predators got them,” Hackett said. “The floating nests just seemed to make sense.”