We have a second chick on Squam! Another chick hatched last Friday and the chick from the first hatch continues to do well-all fantastic news! Many thanks to those of you participated in Loon Chick Watch over the past holiday week, I really appreciate your help protecting these loon families! The new chick is in a particularly busy part of the lake, so it would be great if we could have more people helping to protect both of these families. Plus, we have another hatch expected this week! For more information or to sign up for Loon Chick Watch, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program. With this new chick and a new nest that started in the past week, we now have two chicks on Squam Lake and three active nests. The nest is still active at Little Squam; but, sadly, it is looking increasingly doubtful that that nest will hatch.
If anyone was out at Yard Islands on Sunday, July 1st, I’m hoping you can help me out. It appears that a chick hatched at Yards that day but immediately disappeared. When I was there in the afternoon, the loon pair was extremely agitated and distressed, calling repeatedly. The pair had still been incubating contentedly on Saturday evening, so the hatch must have occurred overnight or Sunday morning. If anyone saw anything that might explain what happened, please let me know. Did you see a chick in the morning or early afternoon of the 1st? Did you see anything that might explain how the chick disappeared (eagle swooping down on loon family, splashing that might indicate underwater predator like snapping turtle or large fish, etc.)? There were numerous boats at Yards when I was there in the afternoon, so I’m hoping someone saw something. I’d be very grateful for any information. Thank you!
Loon Preservation Committee’s annual Loon Festival was on July 21st 2019 from 10:00-2:00! This free event celebrates “all things loon” and is a fun day for the whole family! Hope you were able to join us!
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet of the Loons of Squam,” in which we’ll pay a visit to the oldest banded loon on Squam! As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or reports, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to Loon Preservation Committee at 603-476-5666.
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”: Five Finger Point-This week, let’s head up to Five Finger Point to check in on the oldest banded loon on Squam, the female of the Five Finger pair! She is paired with an unbanded male, so we don’t know anything about his history-but she has quite a history, so let’s dive in!
She was originally banded at 5 Finger in 1998 as an adult with chicks. Banding studies have shown that, on average, loons don’t get a territory and start nesting until they are 6-7 years old, so she is now at least in her mid-20’s. Those first several years after she was banded were her golden years: from 1998-2002, she nested every year and hatched 7 chicks of which 3 survived, all from 5 Finger Point. But then things started to slip for her. She was not seen on the lake in 2003, did not nest in 2004-2005, and was again not observed from 2006-2008. It is quite a puzzle as to where she was during those years.
But in 2009 she was back, paired that year with a unbanded male with an injured wing. We kept a close eye on that male throughout the summer; but, fortunately, as the summer wore on, his wing got stronger and stronger, and he was fortunately able to leave the lake on his own in the fall. Needless to say, with that sort of injury, nesting was out of the question. By the next year, she was ready to make up for lost time and made quite a splash when she nested in 2010 right next to the boathouse at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps (RDC)! I am still very grateful to everyone at RDC for their consideration and concern for this nest and everything they did to protect the loons. If the female wanted a place in the spotlight after several years of obscurity, she certainly got it! Unfortunately, it all came to nothing-the nest was near a muskrat den. The loons had spent their days on the nest watching a muskrat swim back and forth in front of them, occasionally taking a jab with their bills at the supremely unconcerned muskrat. Just days before the nest was due to hatch, a mammal ate the eggs. Whether it was the resident muskrat or something else, I’m not sure-but I’ll always remain suspicious about that muskrat.
The following year (2011), she took over the Mink Island territory and produced her first chick since 2002. Sadly, that chick disappeared when it was less than two weeks old. But she tried again the next year, again producing one chick. She very nearly had two; but, unfortunately, the second chick died while breaking through the shell. Happily, however, her other chick survived, and Loon Preservation Committee captured her and her mate for banding. She weighed nearly 12 pounds-up a pound from the last time we had captured her back in 1998! However, the mate caused us considerable concern-he was extremely lethargic when we captured him and he remained lethargic for the remainder of the summer. The female stepped up and managed to successfully raise the chick. Considering the male’s condition, it was very fortunate that the male wasn’t kicked out of the territory-which would have resulted in the death of the chick. It was not surprising when his body was discovered up on shore the following summer. At that point, little remained of the carcass, so the necropsy was inconclusive.
The female was back in Mink in 2013, ready to try again, but she was driven out of the territory early in the season and remained a single loon through 2015. I often saw her in the Mink territory-she obviously still hadn’t given up on it! But 2016 saw her back in her old territory of 5 Finger and ready for her place in the spotlight again! She spent several days sitting on top of an old beaver lodge near the RDC boathouse-this loon clearly has a taste for celebrity! In the end, the pair opted for a more secluded nesting spot, which ended up getting hit by a mammal again. Last year, she was a single loon once more. This year, she was a late arrival on the lake and I was getting concerned about her. She eventually returned, much to my happiness, but she has struggled to hold on to the territory and dealt with numerous intrusions from another female. It appears her age is starting to catch up with her, but she is a survivor and I hope she manages to hang on!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
https://loon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Loon-Preservation-Committee-Logowhitetextnb-300x300.png00Tiffany Gradehttps://loon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Loon-Preservation-Committee-Logowhitetextnb-300x300.pngTiffany Grade2018-07-09 18:57:532020-07-17 06:12:23And then there were two! Meet the loons from Five Finger Point.
Great news, Squam Lake has its first chick of the year! The chick hatched on Wednesday and the parents are very busily taking care of it, trying to convince the sometimes reluctant chick to eat all the minnows they bring! Unfortunately, the family seems to be struggling to find a quiet spot away from boating activity to brood the chick. More nests are expected to hatch this coming week, so it is very important to remind neighbors and lake users to keep an eye out for chicks, boat slowly and carefully, and give the loons plenty of space. Thanks for your help with this, and please consider volunteering for Loon Chick Watch to help protect the loon families! (https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program)
In another piece of good news, two more pairs went on the nest this past week! But life for loons on Squam is, sadly, always a rollercoaster. One of those pairs already abandoned their nest for reasons that are not entirely clear. And another pair lost their nest in a truly appalling set of circumstances. One of the signs protecting the nest was tampered with, causing the protective ropes/signs to drift in close to the nest. People were seen close to the nest at the time this occurred. Not surprisingly, the incubating loon flushed off the nest, and the eggs were subsequently eaten by an avian predator. It is very upsetting, sad, and disturbing that this happened. Given the challenges Squam’s loons are facing, it is appalling that a nest would be lost in this way. Let’s all work together to help create a culture of respect for loons on Squam.
The current tally for the Squam Lakes are 1 nesting pair on Little Squam, 1 chick on Squam, and 3 active nests on Squam. As of last night, an additional nest on Squam appears to be in jeopardy. I will be checking on its status today and let you know in my next report whether it made it or not. The spate of recent nest failures has certainly changed the prospects for the potential number of chicks on Squam this year, but I am hoping the remaining nests will hatch successfully and that some of the pairs that failed will re-nest.
As we head into a busy week on Squam, please also remind your neighbors and other lake users about the dangers of lead fishing tackle to loons, and don’t forget to clean out the old tackle boxes in your garage or boat house! Sadly, in the past week, the Loon Preservation Committee picked up two loons from lakes elsewhere in the state that died from lead tackle ingestion. Please dispose of old lead tackle safely-The Loon Center, Squam Lakes Association, and all New Hampshire Fish & Game offices are collection points for safe lead tackle disposal. Let’s make our lakes safe for loons and other wildlife and get the lead out!
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet the Loons of Squam,” and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or reports. As always, please call Loon Preservation Committee to report any sick, injured, or dead loons (603-476-5666). Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons, and have a safe, happy, and loon-safe 4th of July!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”-Moultonborough Bay: This week we’ll pay a visit to Moultonborough Bay (M’boro), a territory that historically had fairly reliable chick production but has struggled in recent years with an influx of loon intrusions-and high contaminant levels in loon eggs. In many ways, M’boro has been the poster territory in recent years for some of the key problems facing Squam’s loons in recent years. But let’s back up and see what the loons have been up to.
The current pair in M’boro is an unbanded male and a female who was banded in the territory in 2012, the year she had the only chick she has produced in the territory. At that time, she was paired with the Grand Old Male of Moultonborough Bay. He had been banded in M’boro as an adult in 1999, moved up to the Yard Islands in 2002-2004, but returned to M’boro in 2005 and spent his remaining years there. He was a calm and serene presence in the Bay, and it was very sad when he did not return in 2015. He hasn’t been seen since, and I presume he is dead after a long and productive life. From the time he was banded, he produced 7 chicks in M’boro and Yards, which is just about right on average for a loon in New Hampshire. Since that time, the male in M’boro has been unbanded, so we do not know his history.
Since the female arrived and produced a chick in 2012, her fortunes have taken a downward turn. In 2013, her eggs were inviable; and, in 2014, the nest was just days away from the expected hatch date when the female evicted from Sturtevant Cove in 2010 and the female evicted from the Yard Islands in 2013 teamed up to drive the M’boro female from the territory. This is the only time I have ever seen same-sex loons team up to chase a rival from her territory! Needless to say, only one female loon could have the territory, so the ex-Sturtevant and ex-Yards female then turned on each other once the M’boro female was gone. The ex-Yards female won the battle handily. In an interesting twist, the ex-Yards female had been paired with the Grand Old Male of Moultonborough Bay from 1999-2007, so it looked like the old pair was going to be back together again. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The male did not return in 2015; and, while the ex-Yards female won the battle, she lost the war. The ex-Sturtevant female was the territorial female in M’boro in 2015.
But that didn’t last for the ex-Sturtevant female either. The M’boro female was back on territory in 2016 and 2017, after spending the summer of 2015 as an unpaired loon. Just as in 2014, her nest attempts in those years ended after intrusions from other loons. To make matters worse, LPC tested one of her eggs from both 2013 and 2016. These eggs showed high levels of contaminants, particularly for PCB’s. While obviously LPC has only tested eggs from a relatively small number of loons in the state, we still have tested nearly 80 eggs statewide; and, based on these tested eggs, the M’boro female is carrying the heaviest contaminant body burden of any loon in the state.
So in many ways, M’boro typifies the problems Squam has been facing. Many nest failures in the territory have resulted from the “social chaos” that has overtaken the Squam’s loons, apparently as a result of high rates of adult mortality, resulting in frequent loon intrusions. Unhatched eggs from the territory have tested for high levels of contaminants. And lead poisoned loons have died in the territory in 2007 and 2017-this is not to say they acquired the lead tackle in the territory, but it adds to the picture of the challenges facing Squam’s loons being encapsulated by what has happened in the territory in recent years. Obviously, Loon Preservation Committee is working hard to help Squam’s loons overcome these challenges, and we are working for the best for the M’boro pair-and all of Squam’s loons!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
https://loon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Loon-Preservation-Committee-Logowhitetextnb-300x300.png00Tiffany Gradehttps://loon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Loon-Preservation-Committee-Logowhitetextnb-300x300.pngTiffany Grade2018-07-02 18:58:472020-02-09 17:17:30We have a Chick! Meet the loons from Moultonborough Bay
It’s been another busy week on the Squam Lakes! I’m delighted to report that we have two new nests on Squam! On a sad note, however, we did lose one nest that was attacked by a mammal. This brings the number of active nests to one nest on Little Squam and 5 nests on Squam Lake! There are several other pairs showing interest in nesting, so hopefully they will settle down soon!
It’s hard to believe but the first nest is due to hatch next week already! As we head into chick season, please remind your neighbors and other lake users to give the loon families (and, of course, the nests!) plenty of space. We ask people to stay at least 150′ away from loons and loon families so the loons can focus on the hard work of raising loon chicks without being stressed or disturbed. Also, please remind people to boat slowly and carefully in coves or areas of the lake marked with LPC’s orange “Caution: Loon Chick” signs and to keep an eye out for chicks. The chicks are small, dark, and can be hard to see on the water; and, sadly, boat/jetski collisions are the second-leading known cause of death for loon chicks. Please remind everyone to be careful so that doesn’t happen!
Loon Preservation Committee is once again partnering with the Squam Lakes Association for Loon Chick Watch this year! Loon Chick Watch is a wonderful way to volunteer and help protect Squam’s loons! For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-volunteer-sign.
In this week’s edition of “Meet the Loon of Squam,” I’ll introduce you to a new mystery loon on the lake–please see the P.S. below to learn more! As always, please do contact me with any reports, questions, or concerns, and please call the Loon Preservation Committee to report a sick, injured, or dead loon (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons! Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”–Kimball Island:
Kimball Island’s have been a something of a mystery for many years, but the mystery only deepened this year. There has not been a banded loon in that territory since 2009. The banded female, who was on territory in Kimball in 2009, decided to take over Sturtevant Cove in early spring 2010; since then, Kimball has been occupied by unbanded loons, so we really don’t know the history of these loons. The Kimball loons have had several nesting attempts over the intervening years (in 2010, 2013, and 2015); but none of these nesting attempts were successful, so we were unable to band them and begin to learn about these loons.
But the mystery surrounding Kimball has just gotten that much deeper! Much to my surprise, the female in Kimball this year is banded–but it is only a single silver band, so I have no idea who she is! The silver bands (well, actually aluminum, but it’s easier to call them silver!) are the official bands issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Every banded loon gets one of these, and they have a number on it that is the official identifier of each loon. Of course, unless you have the loon in the hand, there is not a good way to read these numbers. This is why we put the unique color combination of lightweight plastic bands on the loons, so we can easily recognize them while looking through binoculars and keeping a safe and respectful distance. Given that this female only has a silver band, we will have no idea who she is or where she came from until we can capture her! You might be wondering why she only has a silver band. There are several possibilites–sometimes the plastic bands become loose and fall off. Also, if a loon has been with a wildlife rehabilitator, they are sometimes only given a silver band. Or she may have only been given a silver band originally, for whatever the reason.
You may recall from our “Meet the Loons of Squam” last year that there is a male in Rattlesnake Cove in the same situation. Here’s hoping that both of these loons will nest successfully and have chicks–most importantly, so that there will be more loon chicks contributed to the population. But also so we can capture these adults and begin to solve the mystery of these loons!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
https://loon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Loon-Preservation-Committee-Logowhitetextnb-300x300.png00Tiffany Gradehttps://loon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Loon-Preservation-Committee-Logowhitetextnb-300x300.pngTiffany Grade2018-06-22 19:00:012020-02-09 17:17:30Two new nests, one nest lost. Meet the loons from Kimball Island.
And then there were two! Meet the loons from Five Finger Point.
We have a second chick on Squam! Another chick hatched last Friday and the chick from the first hatch continues to do well-all fantastic news! Many thanks to those of you participated in Loon Chick Watch over the past holiday week, I really appreciate your help protecting these loon families! The new chick is in a particularly busy part of the lake, so it would be great if we could have more people helping to protect both of these families. Plus, we have another hatch expected this week! For more information or to sign up for Loon Chick Watch, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program. With this new chick and a new nest that started in the past week, we now have two chicks on Squam Lake and three active nests. The nest is still active at Little Squam; but, sadly, it is looking increasingly doubtful that that nest will hatch.
If anyone was out at Yard Islands on Sunday, July 1st, I’m hoping you can help me out. It appears that a chick hatched at Yards that day but immediately disappeared. When I was there in the afternoon, the loon pair was extremely agitated and distressed, calling repeatedly. The pair had still been incubating contentedly on Saturday evening, so the hatch must have occurred overnight or Sunday morning. If anyone saw anything that might explain what happened, please let me know. Did you see a chick in the morning or early afternoon of the 1st? Did you see anything that might explain how the chick disappeared (eagle swooping down on loon family, splashing that might indicate underwater predator like snapping turtle or large fish, etc.)? There were numerous boats at Yards when I was there in the afternoon, so I’m hoping someone saw something. I’d be very grateful for any information. Thank you!
Loon Preservation Committee’s annual Loon Festival was on July 21st 2019 from 10:00-2:00! This free event celebrates “all things loon” and is a fun day for the whole family! Hope you were able to join us!
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet of the Loons of Squam,” in which we’ll pay a visit to the oldest banded loon on Squam! As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or reports, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to Loon Preservation Committee at 603-476-5666.
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”: Five Finger Point-This week, let’s head up to Five Finger Point to check in on the oldest banded loon on Squam, the female of the Five Finger pair! She is paired with an unbanded male, so we don’t know anything about his history-but she has quite a history, so let’s dive in!
She was originally banded at 5 Finger in 1998 as an adult with chicks. Banding studies have shown that, on average, loons don’t get a territory and start nesting until they are 6-7 years old, so she is now at least in her mid-20’s. Those first several years after she was banded were her golden years: from 1998-2002, she nested every year and hatched 7 chicks of which 3 survived, all from 5 Finger Point. But then things started to slip for her. She was not seen on the lake in 2003, did not nest in 2004-2005, and was again not observed from 2006-2008. It is quite a puzzle as to where she was during those years.
But in 2009 she was back, paired that year with a unbanded male with an injured wing. We kept a close eye on that male throughout the summer; but, fortunately, as the summer wore on, his wing got stronger and stronger, and he was fortunately able to leave the lake on his own in the fall. Needless to say, with that sort of injury, nesting was out of the question. By the next year, she was ready to make up for lost time and made quite a splash when she nested in 2010 right next to the boathouse at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps (RDC)! I am still very grateful to everyone at RDC for their consideration and concern for this nest and everything they did to protect the loons. If the female wanted a place in the spotlight after several years of obscurity, she certainly got it! Unfortunately, it all came to nothing-the nest was near a muskrat den. The loons had spent their days on the nest watching a muskrat swim back and forth in front of them, occasionally taking a jab with their bills at the supremely unconcerned muskrat. Just days before the nest was due to hatch, a mammal ate the eggs. Whether it was the resident muskrat or something else, I’m not sure-but I’ll always remain suspicious about that muskrat.
The following year (2011), she took over the Mink Island territory and produced her first chick since 2002. Sadly, that chick disappeared when it was less than two weeks old. But she tried again the next year, again producing one chick. She very nearly had two; but, unfortunately, the second chick died while breaking through the shell. Happily, however, her other chick survived, and Loon Preservation Committee captured her and her mate for banding. She weighed nearly 12 pounds-up a pound from the last time we had captured her back in 1998! However, the mate caused us considerable concern-he was extremely lethargic when we captured him and he remained lethargic for the remainder of the summer. The female stepped up and managed to successfully raise the chick. Considering the male’s condition, it was very fortunate that the male wasn’t kicked out of the territory-which would have resulted in the death of the chick. It was not surprising when his body was discovered up on shore the following summer. At that point, little remained of the carcass, so the necropsy was inconclusive.
The female was back in Mink in 2013, ready to try again, but she was driven out of the territory early in the season and remained a single loon through 2015. I often saw her in the Mink territory-she obviously still hadn’t given up on it! But 2016 saw her back in her old territory of 5 Finger and ready for her place in the spotlight again! She spent several days sitting on top of an old beaver lodge near the RDC boathouse-this loon clearly has a taste for celebrity! In the end, the pair opted for a more secluded nesting spot, which ended up getting hit by a mammal again. Last year, she was a single loon once more. This year, she was a late arrival on the lake and I was getting concerned about her. She eventually returned, much to my happiness, but she has struggled to hold on to the territory and dealt with numerous intrusions from another female. It appears her age is starting to catch up with her, but she is a survivor and I hope she manages to hang on!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
We have a Chick! Meet the loons from Moultonborough Bay
Great news, Squam Lake has its first chick of the year! The chick hatched on Wednesday and the parents are very busily taking care of it, trying to convince the sometimes reluctant chick to eat all the minnows they bring! Unfortunately, the family seems to be struggling to find a quiet spot away from boating activity to brood the chick. More nests are expected to hatch this coming week, so it is very important to remind neighbors and lake users to keep an eye out for chicks, boat slowly and carefully, and give the loons plenty of space. Thanks for your help with this, and please consider volunteering for Loon Chick Watch to help protect the loon families! (https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program)
In another piece of good news, two more pairs went on the nest this past week! But life for loons on Squam is, sadly, always a rollercoaster. One of those pairs already abandoned their nest for reasons that are not entirely clear. And another pair lost their nest in a truly appalling set of circumstances. One of the signs protecting the nest was tampered with, causing the protective ropes/signs to drift in close to the nest. People were seen close to the nest at the time this occurred. Not surprisingly, the incubating loon flushed off the nest, and the eggs were subsequently eaten by an avian predator. It is very upsetting, sad, and disturbing that this happened. Given the challenges Squam’s loons are facing, it is appalling that a nest would be lost in this way. Let’s all work together to help create a culture of respect for loons on Squam.
The current tally for the Squam Lakes are 1 nesting pair on Little Squam, 1 chick on Squam, and 3 active nests on Squam. As of last night, an additional nest on Squam appears to be in jeopardy. I will be checking on its status today and let you know in my next report whether it made it or not. The spate of recent nest failures has certainly changed the prospects for the potential number of chicks on Squam this year, but I am hoping the remaining nests will hatch successfully and that some of the pairs that failed will re-nest.
As we head into a busy week on Squam, please also remind your neighbors and other lake users about the dangers of lead fishing tackle to loons, and don’t forget to clean out the old tackle boxes in your garage or boat house! Sadly, in the past week, the Loon Preservation Committee picked up two loons from lakes elsewhere in the state that died from lead tackle ingestion. Please dispose of old lead tackle safely-The Loon Center, Squam Lakes Association, and all New Hampshire Fish & Game offices are collection points for safe lead tackle disposal. Let’s make our lakes safe for loons and other wildlife and get the lead out!
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet the Loons of Squam,” and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or reports. As always, please call Loon Preservation Committee to report any sick, injured, or dead loons (603-476-5666). Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons, and have a safe, happy, and loon-safe 4th of July!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”-Moultonborough Bay: This week we’ll pay a visit to Moultonborough Bay (M’boro), a territory that historically had fairly reliable chick production but has struggled in recent years with an influx of loon intrusions-and high contaminant levels in loon eggs. In many ways, M’boro has been the poster territory in recent years for some of the key problems facing Squam’s loons in recent years. But let’s back up and see what the loons have been up to.
The current pair in M’boro is an unbanded male and a female who was banded in the territory in 2012, the year she had the only chick she has produced in the territory. At that time, she was paired with the Grand Old Male of Moultonborough Bay. He had been banded in M’boro as an adult in 1999, moved up to the Yard Islands in 2002-2004, but returned to M’boro in 2005 and spent his remaining years there. He was a calm and serene presence in the Bay, and it was very sad when he did not return in 2015. He hasn’t been seen since, and I presume he is dead after a long and productive life. From the time he was banded, he produced 7 chicks in M’boro and Yards, which is just about right on average for a loon in New Hampshire. Since that time, the male in M’boro has been unbanded, so we do not know his history.
Since the female arrived and produced a chick in 2012, her fortunes have taken a downward turn. In 2013, her eggs were inviable; and, in 2014, the nest was just days away from the expected hatch date when the female evicted from Sturtevant Cove in 2010 and the female evicted from the Yard Islands in 2013 teamed up to drive the M’boro female from the territory. This is the only time I have ever seen same-sex loons team up to chase a rival from her territory! Needless to say, only one female loon could have the territory, so the ex-Sturtevant and ex-Yards female then turned on each other once the M’boro female was gone. The ex-Yards female won the battle handily. In an interesting twist, the ex-Yards female had been paired with the Grand Old Male of Moultonborough Bay from 1999-2007, so it looked like the old pair was going to be back together again. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The male did not return in 2015; and, while the ex-Yards female won the battle, she lost the war. The ex-Sturtevant female was the territorial female in M’boro in 2015.
But that didn’t last for the ex-Sturtevant female either. The M’boro female was back on territory in 2016 and 2017, after spending the summer of 2015 as an unpaired loon. Just as in 2014, her nest attempts in those years ended after intrusions from other loons. To make matters worse, LPC tested one of her eggs from both 2013 and 2016. These eggs showed high levels of contaminants, particularly for PCB’s. While obviously LPC has only tested eggs from a relatively small number of loons in the state, we still have tested nearly 80 eggs statewide; and, based on these tested eggs, the M’boro female is carrying the heaviest contaminant body burden of any loon in the state.
So in many ways, M’boro typifies the problems Squam has been facing. Many nest failures in the territory have resulted from the “social chaos” that has overtaken the Squam’s loons, apparently as a result of high rates of adult mortality, resulting in frequent loon intrusions. Unhatched eggs from the territory have tested for high levels of contaminants. And lead poisoned loons have died in the territory in 2007 and 2017-this is not to say they acquired the lead tackle in the territory, but it adds to the picture of the challenges facing Squam’s loons being encapsulated by what has happened in the territory in recent years. Obviously, Loon Preservation Committee is working hard to help Squam’s loons overcome these challenges, and we are working for the best for the M’boro pair-and all of Squam’s loons!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
Two new nests, one nest lost. Meet the loons from Kimball Island.
It’s been another busy week on the Squam Lakes! I’m delighted to report that we have two new nests on Squam! On a sad note, however, we did lose one nest that was attacked by a mammal. This brings the number of active nests to one nest on Little Squam and 5 nests on Squam Lake! There are several other pairs showing interest in nesting, so hopefully they will settle down soon!
It’s hard to believe but the first nest is due to hatch next week already! As we head into chick season, please remind your neighbors and other lake users to give the loon families (and, of course, the nests!) plenty of space. We ask people to stay at least 150′ away from loons and loon families so the loons can focus on the hard work of raising loon chicks without being stressed or disturbed. Also, please remind people to boat slowly and carefully in coves or areas of the lake marked with LPC’s orange “Caution: Loon Chick” signs and to keep an eye out for chicks. The chicks are small, dark, and can be hard to see on the water; and, sadly, boat/jetski collisions are the second-leading known cause of death for loon chicks. Please remind everyone to be careful so that doesn’t happen!
Loon Preservation Committee is once again partnering with the Squam Lakes Association for Loon Chick Watch this year! Loon Chick Watch is a wonderful way to volunteer and help protect Squam’s loons! For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-volunteer-sign.
In this week’s edition of “Meet the Loon of Squam,” I’ll introduce you to a new mystery loon on the lake–please see the P.S. below to learn more! As always, please do contact me with any reports, questions, or concerns, and please call the Loon Preservation Committee to report a sick, injured, or dead loon (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons! Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”–Kimball Island:
Kimball Island’s have been a something of a mystery for many years, but the mystery only deepened this year. There has not been a banded loon in that territory since 2009. The banded female, who was on territory in Kimball in 2009, decided to take over Sturtevant Cove in early spring 2010; since then, Kimball has been occupied by unbanded loons, so we really don’t know the history of these loons. The Kimball loons have had several nesting attempts over the intervening years (in 2010, 2013, and 2015); but none of these nesting attempts were successful, so we were unable to band them and begin to learn about these loons.
But the mystery surrounding Kimball has just gotten that much deeper! Much to my surprise, the female in Kimball this year is banded–but it is only a single silver band, so I have no idea who she is! The silver bands (well, actually aluminum, but it’s easier to call them silver!) are the official bands issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Every banded loon gets one of these, and they have a number on it that is the official identifier of each loon. Of course, unless you have the loon in the hand, there is not a good way to read these numbers. This is why we put the unique color combination of lightweight plastic bands on the loons, so we can easily recognize them while looking through binoculars and keeping a safe and respectful distance. Given that this female only has a silver band, we will have no idea who she is or where she came from until we can capture her! You might be wondering why she only has a silver band. There are several possibilites–sometimes the plastic bands become loose and fall off. Also, if a loon has been with a wildlife rehabilitator, they are sometimes only given a silver band. Or she may have only been given a silver band originally, for whatever the reason.
You may recall from our “Meet the Loons of Squam” last year that there is a male in Rattlesnake Cove in the same situation. Here’s hoping that both of these loons will nest successfully and have chicks–most importantly, so that there will be more loon chicks contributed to the population. But also so we can capture these adults and begin to solve the mystery of these loons!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.