Tag Archives: Common loon

The Loon twins are thriving

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loonbabies_lowresFour weeks ago, to the day, these two twins weren’t yet hatched. Last weekend they were viewing under the surface just like their parents and doing the foot waggling thing that loons do. They stray a bit away from their parents and we think they are fishing on their own. They are growing fast. Compare. Hopefully, they have grown enough that they don’t seem like a tasty morsel for a big snapping turtle. Eagles are likely still a threat, though. We’ve watched the vigilant parents diving, coming up with tasty little fish, and feeding them to the twins.

Look for the family at the entrance to Ghost Bay, on the east side of Belly Button Island, and where the waters from the narrows spills in to the big lake. They are also feeding near the big weed pile that’s sprouted this year in the first bay north of the narrows on the east side.

Twins!

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On Saturday morning, June 15th, one loon was on the nest tucked near the water on the west side of Belly Button Island. On June 16th, Father’s Day, we saw tiny brown puffs riding on a parent’s back. We weren’t sure if there was one chick or two.

This is the scene near the entrance to Ghost Bay one week later on June 23rd. One of the twins is the back seat driver and the other is trailing behind. We watched the chicks “viewing” underwater, with their heads nearly submerged. They’re learning to fish already. The second parent flew in a few minutes after this photo was taken. For a loon, he made an exceptional landing. Showing off for the kids, I guess. There was not the usual hard braking and skidding and splashing.

OK Long-lakers. We need to watch out for this little family during the upcoming 4th of July activities on the lake. Last year we lost one chick, somehow–maybe to a Bald Eagle or big snapping turtle or illness (and hopefully not a power boat). Let’s keep our fingers crossed that these two make it to their October loony adolescence.

Please also keep our fishing lines free of lead sinkers. The sinkers, especially split-shot, can easily end up on the lake bottom. Loons need to eat small pebbles from the lake bottom to aid their digestion. But if loons eat lead instead, it doesn’t take much for them to die of lead poisoning.

As of this past weekend, no sign that the second nest has been successful yet. The second pair is nesting in the lower lake, on the tiny island on the west side.

2013 loon pair

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They’re back. This pair wasn’t nesting as of the first weekend in May. But they are clearly “an item,” calling back and forth to one another. We think, but can’t know for sure, that this pair was on the lake last year. They seemed very acclimated to us and to our kayaks. They approached quite close. For awhile they seemed to be following us as we headed to Ghost Bay.

If past is prologue, there will be two loon pairs on the lake, one nesting on Belly Button Island and the other nesting in the lower bowl of the lake, likely on the island. We wish them calm, undisturbed nests. Come early July, we hope to see four tiny loon chicks riding on their two sets of parents’ backs.

No loon chicks this summer

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That’s me paddling with five, yes five, loons.

We had no loon chicks hatch on the lake this summer. Early rumor was one hatched, but we think not. We know at least one pair was nesting on Belly Button Island when a major tornado-like blow blew through. Shortly after, the nest was abandoned. It is so cool to watch the chicks grow to the point where they are ready to head south in early October, but it was not to be.

Instead, our lake seemed to be a loon party lake of some sort. We saw gatherings of 5 or 6 loons several times. They fished, chortled to one another, and sometimes did the vulture pose thing. But mostly they quietly swam around the lake, sticking pretty close together.

At the moment, we have one somewhat confused adolescent loon still living on Long Lake. He appeared about six weeks ago and still hasn’t left. We’ve seen the adolescent fly around so he shouldn’t be with us much longer now. He’s been flying north, but hopefully he gets it that those are just his practice flights. We wish him a safe passage. South.

October Adolescence

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They made it to October!  There were four eggs in two nests this year. All hatched but one baby was never seen. These twins were born in late June in the south part of the lake. The twins and their parents were the more approachable of the two loon families. Sometimes they swam toward my kayak, as I sat still and quiet. Once they were so close I heard their soft chortling to their parents. The adults left in September. These two were still on the lake as of October 10th. That is the loon way. The parents take off and leave the young ones behind. They should have already practiced flying, though we haven’t seen them have a go at it yet. It was unseasonably warm, in the 70’s, the day Steve took this photo. They weren’t fishing.  They were very busy vocalizing.  Lots of very quiet yodels.

The twins have thrived.

But we are concerned about the lone chick born on Belly Button Island. He seems a bit runty. Hopefully, he’s got the proper feathers to fly. And the necessary stamina because it’s a long trip south. He was doing a lot of fishing and diving this day. Bulking up for the trip? We gave him the wide berth he prefers.

The loon genders look alike, though sometimes the females are smaller.  So, the runt’s gender is unknown. To me, anyway.