What a week it has been on the Squam Lakes, full of highs and lows—all I can say, the Squam loon rollercoaster is going full force. First the(very!) good news: we have 3 new chicks on the Squam Lakes!! Two chicks hatched on Little Squam and we also have a new chick on Squam Lake! The nest that hatched on Squam Lake was 3 days beyond the expected hatch date, so I was starting to be afraid the egg wouldn’t hatch—but it did, and I could not be happier about it! The totals on the Lakes right now are 2 chicks on Little Squam and 4 chicks between 3 families on Squam Lake. In addition, there are still 2 active nests on Squam Lake, so hopefully there will be more chicks to come!
Now for the bad news: a dead loon was collected last Sunday. The loon was unbanded; but we were able to determine, both through circumstances and through the necropsy, that it was the incubating female at a nest near where the loon was collected. Needless to say, the nest failed as well–sadly, the nest had been due to hatch this past week. This was a devastating series of events. We are still awaiting the results of further tests associated with the necropsy to determine the cause of death of this loon, but I will let you know when we have more information. Many thanks to the people who reported and collected this loon—it is so important for us to get these mortalities and understand the causes of death for these loons.
With more loon chicks out on the lake, please remind your lake friends and neighbors and other lake users how important it is to look out for these chicks and give them plenty of space (at least 150’–no wake distance—or more if loons show signs of stress). This distance applies to both motorboats and kayaks/canoes/paddleboards—many people think they can get closer if they are in a “quiet boat,” but please remind them that the close approach of a kayak is just as stressful and potentially harmful to loons and chicks as that of a motorboat. It is also important to ask them not to boat between the shoreline and the loons if the loons are in towards the shore and that this also applies to both motorboats and kayaks/canoes/paddleboards. Going between the loons and shore can push the loons away from shore and into more open water that is less protected for the chicks from wind and wave action and where there is greater risk of collision from motorboats or water skiers/inner tubes/jetskis. Instead, please ask them to go around the loons at a safe distance. Also, please ask them to boat slowly and carefully in areas marked with Loon Preservation Committee’s orange “Caution: Loon Chicks” signs. Please remind them that the loons may be anywhere in a cove or bay marked with these signs and to look carefully because loon chicks are small, dark, hard to see on the water, and may be alone on the surface if both parents are diving for food. Thank you very much for helping to spread the word about safe boating practices around loon families and helping to keep the loons safe! Also, please consider signing up for Loon Chick Watch, a partnership between Loon Preservation Committee and Squam Lakes Association. For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program or email Melissa Leszek at melissaleszek@squamlakes.org.
Last week we wrapped up our “Meet the Loons of Squam” series, which will return next summer as we revisit Squam’s territorial pairs and catch up with them. We will be starting a new series for the remainder of this summer; but, this week, the P.S. feature will take a hiatus as I work on the Squam Lake Loon Initiative annual Progress Report, which you will receive with the next e-newsletter. As always, please contact me with any questions, reports, or concerns, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to Loon Preservation Committee at (603) 476-5666.
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 Grade2019-07-14 18:45:232020-02-09 17:17:29Squam Lake Loon Report: More chicks! But also…
It was another very busy week for the loons on the Squam Lakes, highlighted by the hatching of another chick on Squam! We also gained another nesting pair on Squam Lake but also had two nest failures (1 nest failed due to a mammalian predator, 1 nest was abandoned). So this brings us to the totals for the week of 1 active nest on Little Squam and, on Squam Lake, 3 chicks in 2 families and 4 active nests.
As we head into 4th of July week, please remind your lake friends and neighbors, renters, and other lake users to be respectful of loons, loon families, and nesting loons. Please ask them to stay a minimum of 150’ away from loons and loons with chicks and to move further away if loons show any sign of stress. Please ask them to stay back from roped and signed nesting areas and to slow down, boat carefully, and keep an eye open for chicks in areas marked with Loon Preservation Committee’s (LPC) orange “Caution: Loon Chick” signs. Please remind them that loons with chicks may cross coves, that they will not only be by the orange loon chick signs, and loon chicks may be alone on the surface if the adults are diving for food. And please remind them to fish only with non-lead fishing tackle to keep loons and other wildlife safe. I’ve attached a poster with information on LPC’s lead tackle buyback program, which we are working on in partnership with NH Department of Fish and Game. Please feel free to distribute to friends who may live elsewhere in the state, so they know their local tackle shop participating in the program, and remember that Squam Boat Livery is our local participating shop. Let’s encourage everyone to clean out those old tackle boxes and get the lead out!
With the chicks coming out, we are looking for volunteers to help with Loon Chick Watch, LPC’s partnership with the Squam Lakes Association (SLA)to protect loon families on the Squam Lakes during the busy summer weekends and holidays. This is a wonderful way to help loons, and what could be more fun and rewarding than spending an hour or two with a loon family while working to protect them? For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program or contact Melissa Leszek at the SLA (melissaleszek@squamlakes.org).
Please see the P.S. below for our final “Meet the Loons of Squam: The Singles’ Edition,” in which we’ll meet a loon who was the ultimate Squam single but is now giving hope to single loons everywhere. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, or reports, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to the Loon Preservation Committee (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons, and have a safe and happy 4th of July! Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam: The Singles’ Edition”–The Ex-Sturtevant Female: The ex-Sturtevant Bay female was Squam’s ultimate single, which is not to say that she was happy about it and it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying to get a territory on her part. But her history is remarkable quite apart from her single life, if only because she is sharing Squam Lake with her mother! She hatched in 1998 at Five Finger Point, and both she and her mother were banded that year. Her mother is now the oldest banded loon on Squam Lake, the venerable Five Finger Point female. Given that loons don’t nest on average until they are 6-7 years old, the Five Finger Point female is at least in her late 20’s! Her chick apparently decided life on Squam was pretty good and returned as an adult, only on the southern end of the lake in contrast to her mother’s life in the northern part. After being banded as a chick, she first came back on our radar when she turned up as part of the pair in Sturtevant Bay in 2008. That year, she was paired with a male who hatched in 1999 on Winnipesaukee—from the nesting raft in front of the Loon Center of all places! She spent 2008 and 2009 with him in Sturtevant, hatching two chicks each year; but, sadly, none of those chicks survived. She was back in Sturtevant early in 2010, but this is when her life as a single began. I was there when the Kimball Island female, apparently fed up with several years of no nesting success and well aware of the chicks hatching in Sturtevant, came down to take over the territory. The Sturtevant female came out to fight and the two had a very impressive battle, which ended with the Sturtevant female being chased by the Kimball female and wing rowing out of the territory, tremoloing the whole way. She was now a single and would have had little idea at the time just how long this would last.
The now ex-Sturtevant Cove female spent the next several years trying her hardest to get a territory. Pretty much whenever there was trouble on the lake, I knew I’d find her there—in the middle of many fights, trying to get a territory. Her efforts centered on her old territory of Sturtevant, as well as the Yard Islands and Moultonborough Bay. In 2014, she actually teamed up with the newly single ex-Yard Islands female to drive the incubating Moultonborough Bay female out of her territory, resulting in a failure of the nest there that year. After they mutually drove the Moultonborough female out, the teammates then turned on each other to determine the ultimate winner. The ex-Yards female easily won the fight, the futility of the ex-Sturtevant female’s efforts being accentuated by her opponent casually snacking on a ~6” perch in the middle of fight—talk about rubbing it in! 2014 was the year that the ex-Sturtevant Cove female won the “Unhappiest Single” award in my end-of-season Loon Achievement Awards for all of her efforts over the years to win a territory. (You may remember from my 6/15 newsletter that the Squam female likely seen in Rhode Island this past winter won the “Happiest Single” award that year for her completely opposite approach to the single life!)
Despite having lost the fight over Moultonborough Bay in 2014 to the ex-Yards female, it was none other than the ex-Sturtevant female who was the pair member in Moultonborough Bay the following year (2015)! After all her years of frustration, she finally had a territory! Sadly, it didn’t last—she had a failed nesting attempt and, by the following year, she was out of Moultonborough Bay. In 2016, her old rival, the ex-Yard Islands female was again holding the Yard Islands territory and the ex-Sturtevant female managed to evict her from that territory, but she, in turn, was soon evicted by an unbanded female. Back to the single life it was for her. Where she spent her time the following summers, I have no idea. In both 2017 and 2018, I only saw her turn up on the lake late in the summer—was her old penchant for picking fights and battling for a territory waning?
Apparently not—this summer, I was stunned to see her holding a territory! She is back in Moultonborough Bay for the third time. I’m hoping the third time will be the charm for her and she will actually be able to hold a territory and, better yet, nest successfully. Unfortunately, she has already had a nest failure (one of the failures I reported on from this past week), but she still has a chance to try again. Hopefully she will—but, in any case, the seemingly perennial single is no longer a single, giving hope to single loons everywhere! And, if all else fails, at least she has her mother nearby!
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 Grade2019-07-03 18:46:472020-02-26 20:10:34Squam Lake Loon Report: Another chick!
We have chicks!! I am thrilled to report that one of the loon nests on Squam Lake has just hatched two chicks, and the new family is looking wonderful! In the meantime, nesting is in full swing on the Squam Lakes, and it has been another very busy week for the loons! Three new pairs went on the nest on Squam Lake, although, unfortunately, one nest that was new as of last week failed. It was abandoned for reasons that are not clear right now, but I will let you know if I’m able to find out more information. So, the totals right now are 1 family and 5 active nests on Squam Lake and 1 active nest on Little Squam.
With the hatching of the first chicks, please remind your lake neighbors and other lake users to keep a respectful distance from loons and loon families. It is very important for loons to be able to focus on raising their chicks without being disturbed by the encroachment of boaters. Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) recommends staying at least 150’ (no wake distance) away from loons or farther if they show any indication of stress. In the case of this new family, the female is particularly nervous and intolerant of the presence of boats, which I can only imagine will be increased with the arrival of chicks. So please ask people, if they encounter this family, to stay at least 200’ away and to back away if the loons show any sign of stress. I have attached a copy of an LPC brochure showing some of the subtle indications loons can give of stress. Feel free to print this out and distribute it to your lake neighbors. Also, please let lake users know that non-motorized boats, such as kayaks and canoes, can be just as stressful for loons as motor boats and that they still need to stay at least 150-200’ away from a loon family even if they are in a non-motorized boat. Thank you for your help spreading the word about keeping a respectful distance away from loon families—we want to give Squam’s loon families the best chance to successfully raise their chicks!
Another way you can help Squam’s loon families is to consider volunteering to spend some time watching over them! Once again, LPC will be partnering with the Squam Lakes Association (SLA) for “Loon Chick Watch,” in which we ask volunteers to spend an hour or two on busy weekends protecting loon families from the approach of boaters. Please contact Melissa Leszek at the SLA for more information (603-968-7336).
Please see the P.S. below for “Meet the Loons of Squam: The Singles’ Edition,” in which we’ll meet a loon who started her Squam career in spectacular fashion, but things have never been quite the same since. As always, please contact me with any questions, concerns, 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 Squams: The Singles’ Edition”—Ex-Mink Island Female: This loon was first banded in 2014 when she was raising two chicks in the Mink Island territory. An unbanded loon had evicted the former female (the venerable Five Finger Point female, who spent a few years at Mink) from the territory the previous summer and it was likely this same loon; but, since she was unbanded at the time, I can’t say for sure. In any case, she did spectacularly well in her first full year at Mink, successfully raising two chicks. Her chicks could not have been more opposite from each other: one chick was an independent little explorer, the other chick was glued to its parents. As the chicks got older and fall set in on Squam, the one chick would be off beyond the boundaries of the territory, seeing the world, while its sibling was always swimming right off the tail of one of the adults. As November came to the lake and the chicks were 16+ weeks old and perfectly capable of being independent, the female left for her migration. My last view of the male that year was of him swimming with his one chick following right along behind, the other nowhere in sight. It was a fun family dynamic to watch that summer, and the female was off to a very good start.
The following summer (2015) started off looking like the pair was set to repeat their accomplishment of the previous summer. Both were back and settled right down to nesting. But halfway through incubation, an unbanded male came in and drove the territorial male out of the territory, causing the nest to fail. The following summer began with the female paired with an unbanded male (presumably the victor of the previous summer), but her old mate returned and re-took his territory. It was still early and I was hoping the pair would nest, but they did not.
2017 brought a mirror image of the events of 2016, but this time it involved the females. Much to my surprise, an unbanded female began the summer in the territory with the banded male. After the male clumsily kicked 3 eggs into the water over the course of 2 nesting attempts, the remaining fourth egg was abandoned after the former Mink Island female returned and drove the new female out of the territory. After all this seesawing of the territory back and forth, I was hoping that, with these original pair members back together, things would stabilize and they would get back to their successful ways.
But 2018 saw the now ex-Mink Island female as a single, and this year she set her sights on Kimball Island. The Kimball pair hatched two chicks last year, and this drew the attention of many loons, including the ex-Mink Island female. She joined a group of 8 other loons that began to cruise along the edges of the Kimball territory, each of them looking for an opportunity to take over the territory and she made several serious bids at it. But, in the end, she was unsuccessful, and the Kimball pair held out.
Given her interest in the Kimball territory last summer, I was concerned that the ex-Mink Island female would try for it again this summer. So far, that has not been evident and she is again a single. I have seen her between her old territory of Mink and her wished-for territory of last summer, Kimball.
When I think of her, perhaps what I remember most is the spring of 2015 when things were still looking up for her. She had come off the great success of raising two chicks in 2014 and there was every reason to hope for a repeat in 2015. She was on territory early, and her mate had not yet returned. I would see her alone in her territory, waiting for a male to show up. Then one day, as I was watching her placidly drifting around by herself, she suddenly became alert and began to swim very purposefully towards the north end of Sheep Island. There, for the first time that I saw that year, was the banded male, her mate from the previous year. The two immediately met up and began what I can only describe as an underwater ballet: they were diving and swimming side-by-side underwater, then breaking off while still underwater and circling each other, and then swimming side-by-side again. This went on for ~15 minutes, with them only briefly surfacing and then resuming their underwater “ballet”. It was one of the most incredibly beautiful things I have witnessed. Whether or not this was their first meeting of the spring, I don’t know. All I know is I felt so fortunate and privileged to see this, and I hope that, one day, the ex-Mink Island female will again have a mate with whom she can perform such a beautiful underwater “ballet”.
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
Squam Lake Loon Report: More chicks! But also…
What a week it has been on the Squam Lakes, full of highs and lows—all I can say, the Squam loon rollercoaster is going full force. First the(very!) good news: we have 3 new chicks on the Squam Lakes!! Two chicks hatched on Little Squam and we also have a new chick on Squam Lake! The nest that hatched on Squam Lake was 3 days beyond the expected hatch date, so I was starting to be afraid the egg wouldn’t hatch—but it did, and I could not be happier about it! The totals on the Lakes right now are 2 chicks on Little Squam and 4 chicks between 3 families on Squam Lake. In addition, there are still 2 active nests on Squam Lake, so hopefully there will be more chicks to come!
Now for the bad news: a dead loon was collected last Sunday. The loon was unbanded; but we were able to determine, both through circumstances and through the necropsy, that it was the incubating female at a nest near where the loon was collected. Needless to say, the nest failed as well–sadly, the nest had been due to hatch this past week. This was a devastating series of events. We are still awaiting the results of further tests associated with the necropsy to determine the cause of death of this loon, but I will let you know when we have more information. Many thanks to the people who reported and collected this loon—it is so important for us to get these mortalities and understand the causes of death for these loons.
With more loon chicks out on the lake, please remind your lake friends and neighbors and other lake users how important it is to look out for these chicks and give them plenty of space (at least 150’–no wake distance—or more if loons show signs of stress). This distance applies to both motorboats and kayaks/canoes/paddleboards—many people think they can get closer if they are in a “quiet boat,” but please remind them that the close approach of a kayak is just as stressful and potentially harmful to loons and chicks as that of a motorboat. It is also important to ask them not to boat between the shoreline and the loons if the loons are in towards the shore and that this also applies to both motorboats and kayaks/canoes/paddleboards. Going between the loons and shore can push the loons away from shore and into more open water that is less protected for the chicks from wind and wave action and where there is greater risk of collision from motorboats or water skiers/inner tubes/jetskis. Instead, please ask them to go around the loons at a safe distance. Also, please ask them to boat slowly and carefully in areas marked with Loon Preservation Committee’s orange “Caution: Loon Chicks” signs. Please remind them that the loons may be anywhere in a cove or bay marked with these signs and to look carefully because loon chicks are small, dark, hard to see on the water, and may be alone on the surface if both parents are diving for food. Thank you very much for helping to spread the word about safe boating practices around loon families and helping to keep the loons safe! Also, please consider signing up for Loon Chick Watch, a partnership between Loon Preservation Committee and Squam Lakes Association. For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program or email Melissa Leszek at melissaleszek@squamlakes.org.
Last week we wrapped up our “Meet the Loons of Squam” series, which will return next summer as we revisit Squam’s territorial pairs and catch up with them. We will be starting a new series for the remainder of this summer; but, this week, the P.S. feature will take a hiatus as I work on the Squam Lake Loon Initiative annual Progress Report, which you will receive with the next e-newsletter. As always, please contact me with any questions, reports, or concerns, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to Loon Preservation Committee at (603) 476-5666.
Squam Lake Loon Report: Another chick!
It was another very busy week for the loons on the Squam Lakes, highlighted by the hatching of another chick on Squam! We also gained another nesting pair on Squam Lake but also had two nest failures (1 nest failed due to a mammalian predator, 1 nest was abandoned). So this brings us to the totals for the week of 1 active nest on Little Squam and, on Squam Lake, 3 chicks in 2 families and 4 active nests.
As we head into 4th of July week, please remind your lake friends and neighbors, renters, and other lake users to be respectful of loons, loon families, and nesting loons. Please ask them to stay a minimum of 150’ away from loons and loons with chicks and to move further away if loons show any sign of stress. Please ask them to stay back from roped and signed nesting areas and to slow down, boat carefully, and keep an eye open for chicks in areas marked with Loon Preservation Committee’s (LPC) orange “Caution: Loon Chick” signs. Please remind them that loons with chicks may cross coves, that they will not only be by the orange loon chick signs, and loon chicks may be alone on the surface if the adults are diving for food. And please remind them to fish only with non-lead fishing tackle to keep loons and other wildlife safe. I’ve attached a poster with information on LPC’s lead tackle buyback program, which we are working on in partnership with NH Department of Fish and Game. Please feel free to distribute to friends who may live elsewhere in the state, so they know their local tackle shop participating in the program, and remember that Squam Boat Livery is our local participating shop. Let’s encourage everyone to clean out those old tackle boxes and get the lead out!
With the chicks coming out, we are looking for volunteers to help with Loon Chick Watch, LPC’s partnership with the Squam Lakes Association (SLA)to protect loon families on the Squam Lakes during the busy summer weekends and holidays. This is a wonderful way to help loons, and what could be more fun and rewarding than spending an hour or two with a loon family while working to protect them? For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program or contact Melissa Leszek at the SLA (melissaleszek@squamlakes.org).
Please see the P.S. below for our final “Meet the Loons of Squam: The Singles’ Edition,” in which we’ll meet a loon who was the ultimate Squam single but is now giving hope to single loons everywhere. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, or reports, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to the Loon Preservation Committee (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons, and have a safe and happy 4th of July! Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam: The Singles’ Edition”–The Ex-Sturtevant Female: The ex-Sturtevant Bay female was Squam’s ultimate single, which is not to say that she was happy about it and it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying to get a territory on her part. But her history is remarkable quite apart from her single life, if only because she is sharing Squam Lake with her mother! She hatched in 1998 at Five Finger Point, and both she and her mother were banded that year. Her mother is now the oldest banded loon on Squam Lake, the venerable Five Finger Point female. Given that loons don’t nest on average until they are 6-7 years old, the Five Finger Point female is at least in her late 20’s! Her chick apparently decided life on Squam was pretty good and returned as an adult, only on the southern end of the lake in contrast to her mother’s life in the northern part. After being banded as a chick, she first came back on our radar when she turned up as part of the pair in Sturtevant Bay in 2008. That year, she was paired with a male who hatched in 1999 on Winnipesaukee—from the nesting raft in front of the Loon Center of all places! She spent 2008 and 2009 with him in Sturtevant, hatching two chicks each year; but, sadly, none of those chicks survived. She was back in Sturtevant early in 2010, but this is when her life as a single began. I was there when the Kimball Island female, apparently fed up with several years of no nesting success and well aware of the chicks hatching in Sturtevant, came down to take over the territory. The Sturtevant female came out to fight and the two had a very impressive battle, which ended with the Sturtevant female being chased by the Kimball female and wing rowing out of the territory, tremoloing the whole way. She was now a single and would have had little idea at the time just how long this would last.
The now ex-Sturtevant Cove female spent the next several years trying her hardest to get a territory. Pretty much whenever there was trouble on the lake, I knew I’d find her there—in the middle of many fights, trying to get a territory. Her efforts centered on her old territory of Sturtevant, as well as the Yard Islands and Moultonborough Bay. In 2014, she actually teamed up with the newly single ex-Yard Islands female to drive the incubating Moultonborough Bay female out of her territory, resulting in a failure of the nest there that year. After they mutually drove the Moultonborough female out, the teammates then turned on each other to determine the ultimate winner. The ex-Yards female easily won the fight, the futility of the ex-Sturtevant female’s efforts being accentuated by her opponent casually snacking on a ~6” perch in the middle of fight—talk about rubbing it in! 2014 was the year that the ex-Sturtevant Cove female won the “Unhappiest Single” award in my end-of-season Loon Achievement Awards for all of her efforts over the years to win a territory. (You may remember from my 6/15 newsletter that the Squam female likely seen in Rhode Island this past winter won the “Happiest Single” award that year for her completely opposite approach to the single life!)
Despite having lost the fight over Moultonborough Bay in 2014 to the ex-Yards female, it was none other than the ex-Sturtevant female who was the pair member in Moultonborough Bay the following year (2015)! After all her years of frustration, she finally had a territory! Sadly, it didn’t last—she had a failed nesting attempt and, by the following year, she was out of Moultonborough Bay. In 2016, her old rival, the ex-Yard Islands female was again holding the Yard Islands territory and the ex-Sturtevant female managed to evict her from that territory, but she, in turn, was soon evicted by an unbanded female. Back to the single life it was for her. Where she spent her time the following summers, I have no idea. In both 2017 and 2018, I only saw her turn up on the lake late in the summer—was her old penchant for picking fights and battling for a territory waning?
Apparently not—this summer, I was stunned to see her holding a territory! She is back in Moultonborough Bay for the third time. I’m hoping the third time will be the charm for her and she will actually be able to hold a territory and, better yet, nest successfully. Unfortunately, she has already had a nest failure (one of the failures I reported on from this past week), but she still has a chance to try again. Hopefully she will—but, in any case, the seemingly perennial single is no longer a single, giving hope to single loons everywhere! And, if all else fails, at least she has her mother nearby!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
Squam Lake Loon Report: Chicks!
We have chicks!! I am thrilled to report that one of the loon nests on Squam Lake has just hatched two chicks, and the new family is looking wonderful! In the meantime, nesting is in full swing on the Squam Lakes, and it has been another very busy week for the loons! Three new pairs went on the nest on Squam Lake, although, unfortunately, one nest that was new as of last week failed. It was abandoned for reasons that are not clear right now, but I will let you know if I’m able to find out more information. So, the totals right now are 1 family and 5 active nests on Squam Lake and 1 active nest on Little Squam.
For your reference: DOWNLOAD THE LPC LOON BEHAVIOR BROCHURE
With the hatching of the first chicks, please remind your lake neighbors and other lake users to keep a respectful distance from loons and loon families. It is very important for loons to be able to focus on raising their chicks without being disturbed by the encroachment of boaters. Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) recommends staying at least 150’ (no wake distance) away from loons or farther if they show any indication of stress. In the case of this new family, the female is particularly nervous and intolerant of the presence of boats, which I can only imagine will be increased with the arrival of chicks. So please ask people, if they encounter this family, to stay at least 200’ away and to back away if the loons show any sign of stress. I have attached a copy of an LPC brochure showing some of the subtle indications loons can give of stress. Feel free to print this out and distribute it to your lake neighbors. Also, please let lake users know that non-motorized boats, such as kayaks and canoes, can be just as stressful for loons as motor boats and that they still need to stay at least 150-200’ away from a loon family even if they are in a non-motorized boat. Thank you for your help spreading the word about keeping a respectful distance away from loon families—we want to give Squam’s loon families the best chance to successfully raise their chicks!
Another way you can help Squam’s loon families is to consider volunteering to spend some time watching over them! Once again, LPC will be partnering with the Squam Lakes Association (SLA) for “Loon Chick Watch,” in which we ask volunteers to spend an hour or two on busy weekends protecting loon families from the approach of boaters. Please contact Melissa Leszek at the SLA for more information (603-968-7336).
Please see the P.S. below for “Meet the Loons of Squam: The Singles’ Edition,” in which we’ll meet a loon who started her Squam career in spectacular fashion, but things have never been quite the same since. As always, please contact me with any questions, concerns, 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 Squams: The Singles’ Edition”—Ex-Mink Island Female: This loon was first banded in 2014 when she was raising two chicks in the Mink Island territory. An unbanded loon had evicted the former female (the venerable Five Finger Point female, who spent a few years at Mink) from the territory the previous summer and it was likely this same loon; but, since she was unbanded at the time, I can’t say for sure. In any case, she did spectacularly well in her first full year at Mink, successfully raising two chicks. Her chicks could not have been more opposite from each other: one chick was an independent little explorer, the other chick was glued to its parents. As the chicks got older and fall set in on Squam, the one chick would be off beyond the boundaries of the territory, seeing the world, while its sibling was always swimming right off the tail of one of the adults. As November came to the lake and the chicks were 16+ weeks old and perfectly capable of being independent, the female left for her migration. My last view of the male that year was of him swimming with his one chick following right along behind, the other nowhere in sight. It was a fun family dynamic to watch that summer, and the female was off to a very good start.
The following summer (2015) started off looking like the pair was set to repeat their accomplishment of the previous summer. Both were back and settled right down to nesting. But halfway through incubation, an unbanded male came in and drove the territorial male out of the territory, causing the nest to fail. The following summer began with the female paired with an unbanded male (presumably the victor of the previous summer), but her old mate returned and re-took his territory. It was still early and I was hoping the pair would nest, but they did not.
2017 brought a mirror image of the events of 2016, but this time it involved the females. Much to my surprise, an unbanded female began the summer in the territory with the banded male. After the male clumsily kicked 3 eggs into the water over the course of 2 nesting attempts, the remaining fourth egg was abandoned after the former Mink Island female returned and drove the new female out of the territory. After all this seesawing of the territory back and forth, I was hoping that, with these original pair members back together, things would stabilize and they would get back to their successful ways.
But 2018 saw the now ex-Mink Island female as a single, and this year she set her sights on Kimball Island. The Kimball pair hatched two chicks last year, and this drew the attention of many loons, including the ex-Mink Island female. She joined a group of 8 other loons that began to cruise along the edges of the Kimball territory, each of them looking for an opportunity to take over the territory and she made several serious bids at it. But, in the end, she was unsuccessful, and the Kimball pair held out.
Given her interest in the Kimball territory last summer, I was concerned that the ex-Mink Island female would try for it again this summer. So far, that has not been evident and she is again a single. I have seen her between her old territory of Mink and her wished-for territory of last summer, Kimball.
When I think of her, perhaps what I remember most is the spring of 2015 when things were still looking up for her. She had come off the great success of raising two chicks in 2014 and there was every reason to hope for a repeat in 2015. She was on territory early, and her mate had not yet returned. I would see her alone in her territory, waiting for a male to show up. Then one day, as I was watching her placidly drifting around by herself, she suddenly became alert and began to swim very purposefully towards the north end of Sheep Island. There, for the first time that I saw that year, was the banded male, her mate from the previous year. The two immediately met up and began what I can only describe as an underwater ballet: they were diving and swimming side-by-side underwater, then breaking off while still underwater and circling each other, and then swimming side-by-side again. This went on for ~15 minutes, with them only briefly surfacing and then resuming their underwater “ballet”. It was one of the most incredibly beautiful things I have witnessed. Whether or not this was their first meeting of the spring, I don’t know. All I know is I felt so fortunate and privileged to see this, and I hope that, one day, the ex-Mink Island female will again have a mate with whom she can perform such a beautiful underwater “ballet”.
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