I’m very sad to report that it has been a difficult week for one of Squam’s loon families. The family that had the two chicks has been dealing with frequent and intense loon intrusions over the past week. During one of these intrusions, one of the chicks was attacked by an intruding loon and it has subsequently disappeared. The remaining chick is hanging on, but the family remains in a tenuous position with these repeated intrusions. I just hope the adults can hold them off and the chick will make it. While this is loons being loons, it is also worth remembering that the frequency and intensity of these intrusions on Squam Lake appears to be related to high rates of human-caused mortality (including deaths from lead fishing tackle ingestion) going back to the early 2000’s. For more information on this, please see pages 10-12 of LPC’s Squam Lake Loon Initiative Progress Report that I emailed to you on July 25th and is also available from LPC’s website (https://www.loon.org/squam-lake-study.php).
Fortunately, the other families and their chicks are doing well! So at this point, there are 3 chicks on Squam Lake and 1 chick on Little Squam.
Loon Preservation Committee was featured on NBC last week! You can view the video clip at https://www.today.com/video/inside-the-mission-to-protect-the-loons-of-new-hampshire-s-lake-winnipesaukee-1302105155607?v=raila. It is wonderful that NBC highlighted loons, efforts of volunteers to protect them, and the work of LPC! Please note, however, that the loons are being approached much too closely by a kayaker on one of the video clips included in the piece. LPC does not in any way condone the close approach of boaters or photographers to loons. We always request that observers stay at least 150′ away from loons (i.e., no-wake distance) and to give the loons more space if they show any sign of stress. Enjoy the video, but please always keep in mind proper etiquette around loons!
Don’t forget about your chance to enjoy a wonderful dinner at The New Woodshed and support loons at the same time! Sunday, Aug. 26th, is “Loon Appreciation Night” at The New Woodshed! See the linked flyer for more information, and please come out and support loons!
This will be my last e-newsletter for the summer. You know what this means-it’s time for the end-of-season Squam Loon Achievement Awards! Please see the P.S. below to see who this year’s winners are! *Thank You* to everyone for your assistance protecting Squam’s loons this summer and educating neighbors and lake users about loons, and to everyone who participated in Loon Chick Watch! You have created a culture of respect for loons on Squam that will allow them to thrive as we all work together to help them overcome the challenges they have been facing. Thank you very much! I will continue checking on the loons through the fall, so please continue to let me know about any reports or concerns, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to Loon Preservation Committee (603-476-5666). I will let you know if anything happens to any of the loons through the remainder of the season.
Thank you for a great summer and for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. Fifth Annual “Squam Loon Achievement Awards”: Happy awards season on Squam! It’s time to celebrate what Squam’s loons have all accomplished over the past year! But before we do, let’s pause to remember the loons we lost in the past year: the three chicks who died on Squam Lake this summer, the Little Squam loon who was tangled in fishing line, and the immature loon tangled in fishing line on Squam last fall. These are all very sad losses for Squam’s loon population.
And the winners of the 2018 Squam Loon Achievement Awards are.
Productivity Award: The coveted Productivity Award this year goes to the Kimball Island pair! Kudos to them for hatching the first chicks in this territory since 2007 and producing the first surviving chick since 2002!! I was all ready to celebrate the two chicks they hatched at Kimball in their Productivity Award until the loss of one of their chicks last weekend. While we remember the chick they lost, let’s celebrate what they accomplished and their surviving chick. I hope this chick will be the first of many more from this pair in the coming years! Congratulations to the Kimball pair, and may this family hang in there!!
Oldest Banded Loon Award: The grand old lady of the Squam Lakes is the Five Finger Point female! She was banded as an adult with chicks in 1998 at Five Finger Point. Given that banding studies have shown that loons do not begin nesting on average until they are 6-7 years old, she is at least in her mid-twenties. She was a little late coming back this year and I was starting to worry about her, but it was a happy day when I saw her back again! May she have many more happy returns to Squam Lake!
Pair Together the Longest Award: The Perch Island pair has been together for an impressive 8 years-not successively, mind you, but let’s not quibble over details! The pair was initially banded in 2007 and remained together until 2012. The female was out of the territory in 2013 and, by late summer, was frequently skirmishing with the Little Squam female. She spent 2014 as part of the Piper Cove pair, but was a single again in 2015 and 2016. After the death of the 2016 Perch Island female from a boat collision in late summer, this female made a serious bid to reclaim her place in the territory and succeeded in 2017. She has now been back with her old mate for two years. So it’s not 8 years in succession, but who’s counting those intervening years? OK, maybe I am, but I’m sure they aren’t! Let’s wish the Perch Island pair many more happy years together! Previous winners of this award have been the Dog Cove pair and the Little Squam pair (both at 7 years) and the Long Point pair (6 years).
Best Homebody Award: The Perch Island male has been a steady presence in his territory since he was banded in 2007. While many other loons go roaming the lake in late summer if they don’t have chicks to care for, the Perch Island male seems perfectly content to preen peacefully and just spend time in his territory. Even after a nest failure, when loons frequently vacate a territory for several days at least, the Perch Island male can be found floating near the old nest site. He is one contented loon-and definitely deserving of the Best Homebody Award!
Most Graceful Loon Award: Some of you may remember that, last year, the Mink Island male single-footedly booted 3 eggs off his nest and into the water, earning my first (and hopefully last!) “Klutziest Loon Award.” When I saw the Mink Island male back this year and starting to nest, it began 4 weeks of me holding my breath and wondering, did he recover his grace over the winter? Much to my (and, I’m sure, his mate’s) relief, he actually did-no eggs ended up in the water! So, in honor of him not kicking his eggs into the water, I could not be more pleased to award him the “Most Graceful Loon Award”! Maybe my standards are a little low.oh well!
Most Photogenic Award: The Moon Island pair triggered a truly wonderful image on their nest camera of loon life on Squam, which I have attached to this message. Please enjoy, and celebrate the beauty and wild spirit of loons!
Congratulations to the 2018 winners of the Squam Loon Achievement Awards, and kudos to all the families who produced chicks this year! May we have many more contenders for the Productivity Award next year! Wishing all of Squam’s loons a safe off-season, and we’ll look forward to welcoming them back next year!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
The loon chicks of the Squam Lakes continue to do well! I’m happy to report that all 4 chicks on Squam Lake and the single chick on Little Squam are thriving! As the chicks grow, they continue to range farther into open water and areas of active, high-speed boating, so please remind your neighbors and other lake users to boat carefully in areas of the lake marked by orange “Caution: Loon Chick” signs and be aware that loons and chicks could be anywhere in those areas. Also, please remind people to stay at least 150′ away from loons and loon families (i.e., no-wake distance). Thank you for your help getting the word out!
If you feel like having a great dinner and supporting loons at the same time, come to The New Woodshed this Sunday (8/20) for “Loon Appreciation Night”! A portion of the sales will be donated to benefit Loon Preservation Committee (LPC). And please join us at The Loon Center next Thursday (8/23) for our Volunteer Appreciation Potluck at 5:30 followed by a presentation by Harry Vogel, LPC’s Senior Biologist, giving a first look at what the 2018 season was like for New Hampshire’s loons! If you can’t make the potluck, please still join us at 7:00 for Harry’s talk. Please see attached flyers for more information on both events. Hope you can join us in the coming week to celebrate loons!
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet the Loons of Squam,” in which we’ll visit two loons for whom pairing up is always optional. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any reports or questions, and please contact the Loon Preservation Committee to report any sick, injured, or dead loons (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”: Sandwich Bay-This week we’ll head down to Sandwich Bay and meet a “pair” of loons who apparently consider pairing up to be optional. Much to my disappointment, this year was one of the “off” years for them-both loons were present in the territory, but they did not actually form a pair. But let’s back up and meet this on-again-off-again twosome.
The Sandwich loons first paired up in 2011. Before that, the male had been at the Yard Islands, where he successfully hatched a chick in 2008 with the incredible Yard Islands female who died from lead tackle ingestion last August, as I’m sure many of you will remember. But he was evicted from the Yards by another male early in 2009, and retreated to the fringes of the Sandwich Bay territory for the remainder of summer. He was an unpaired loon in 2010 but was continuing to size up the Sandwich Bay territory-and, by 2011, he had made his move and become the territorial male in Sandwich Bay! That year, he and his mate had a chick and were both captured during LPC’s banding that year. His mate was previously unbanded, so we don’t know her history before that point. However, one thing we learned after banding both of these loons caused us some concern. During banding, we always take a small blood sample from the loons that we run for various health tests, including testing for lead levels. The lead levels for both of these loons were somewhat elevated-not high enough to be toxic, but certainly elevated above background levels. Needless to say, I was watching these loons with a great deal of concern for the remainder of the summer, but, fortunately, the pair successfully raised their chick to fledging and all seemed well. I was wondering if they would survive to return the following year, and I could not have been happier when they did. So the question remains-what was the source of these slightly elevated lead levels? Given that both pair members had these levels suggests perhaps an environmental source in this part of the lake that caused their levels to be higher than background but not nearly at the toxic levels we see when a loon has ingested lead tackle. It still remains a mystery.
Fortunately, the loons were able to overcome any immediate effects of this exposure, raise their chick, and return to their territory the following year-but chick production, nesting, and even pairing has remained elusive since then. Fresh off successfully raising a chick, they should have been right back about the business of nesting in 2012.but they weren’t. Nor did they show any signs of nesting in 2013 before the female was driven out of the territory in mid-summer. She was the last of the females to fall in the “snowball effect” of female territorial evictions that rolled down the lake that summer. In 2014, the male was all ready to nest and spent the beginning of the summer sitting right next to the nesting area.but there was no female in sight. The days passed and he patiently waited and waited and waited for a female to come to the territory. Finally, SHE returned, the same female he had been with since taking over Sandwich Bay! Well, no rapturous reunions here-by that time, the male had had it with waiting and they never paired that year.
Finally, after all these years of not nesting, they got down to the business of nesting each year from 2015-2017; unfortunately, they have always been unsuccessful-territorial intrusions by other loons seemed to have contributed to nest failures in these years. This was extremely disappointing-not only are we always hoping for successful nestings and chicks, but we are also interested to monitor the lead levels in these loons and see if they continue to be exposed to an environmental source of lead. So I began 2018 with hopes for this pair that this would be the year of more chicks in Sandwich Bay. Much to my disappointment, my hopes were gradually dashed. The year began optimistically enough, as I spotted both of the loons in the territory, but there was a nagging worry in my mind as the “pair members” were at opposite ends of the territory from each other and nowhere near the nest area. But I tried to rationalize it-it was still early, they had plenty of time, etc., etc., etc. Soon enough, however, I could no longer make excuses for them-especially as the female was nowhere to be seen after my initial sighting early in the year. Soon I was reduced to watching the male spending the summer by himself in Sandwich Bay. I do not have an answer as to why the female put in an early appearance but did not pair up with her mate. I can only hope that next year will bring better things for these loons-a pairing, a nest, and hopefully a chick or two!
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 Grade2018-08-16 18:53:192020-03-24 12:01:35Looking Good! Meet the Loons from Sandwich Bay
I’m happy to report that the loon chicks of the Squam Lakes continue to do well! Squam Lake still has 4 chicks and Little Squam still has 1 and all are continuing to grow and thrive! But there have been a number of close calls in the past week, which makes me extremely concerned for the safety of the families. I have received several reports of separate incidents and witnessed an incident myself in which loon families were in danger of being hit by oncoming boats traveling at high speeds. I also received a report of a photographer approaching a loon family very closely. I am extremely grateful to the people who helped head off boaters and photographers in many of these cases and helped protect the loon families and to everyone who helps educate neighbors and lake users about looking out for loons and keeping a respectful distance from them, especially families with chicks. And many thanks to those who volunteer for Loon Chick Watch and have helped protect the loon families throughout the summer! It truly takes all of us in the lake community working together to help ensure the safety of the loons and to create a culture of respect in which loons can thrive.
Here are a few points to remind neighbors, lake users, and renters about:
Please always keep an eye out for loons and loon families when boating, especially in areas of the lake marked with Loon Preservation Committee’s bright orange “Caution: Loon Chicks” signs. Boat slowly and carefully in these areas, keeping an eye out for loons and chicks. Remember that loons and chicks could be *anywhere* in these general areas marked by orange signs, they will not only be near the signs. Loons and chicks will cross from one side of a cove to another, cross boat lanes between islands, and will sometimes just float out in open water.
Be aware that sometimes chicks will be alone on the surface of the water while the adults are diving for food, or they may be some distance from an adult. Loon chicks are small, dark, and difficult to see on the water. This is another reason it is so important to boat slowly and carefully in the general area of the lake marked with orange chick signs. Boat and jet ski collisions are the second-leading documented cause of loon chick mortality-we certainly do not want Squam’s chicks to become part of this statistic.
Please do not approach loons closer than 150 feet. This is especially important for loons with chicks. Loons that are concerned about the close approach of a boat, kayak, or canoe may stop feeding chicks to watch approaching boats instead, resulting in chicks not be cared for as well. Chicks that are stressed may refuse to eat for several hours after an incident. In extreme situations, these behaviors can lead to the starvation of the chick(s). Unfortunately, the repeated close approach of kayakers seems to have created just this sort of situation on Squam several years ago and likely contributed to the starvation of one of Squam’s chicks that year. We certainly don’t want that to happen again, so please remind everyone to treat the loons with respect and keep a safe distance. No photograph or “close look” is worth endangering the lives of loons or their chicks.
Thank you for helping to educate other lake users about loons and how we can all work together to protect them, I really appreciate your help with this! And please consider volunteering for Loon Chick Watch to help protect Squam’s loons-and thanks to all of you who have already volunteered, you have made a big difference for the loons! For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program.
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet the Loons of Squam”-after last week’s look at the sometimes fraught relationship between the Moon Island and Dog Cove loons, we’ll take a look at what life is like for the Dog Cove loons when they aren’t dealing with intruders from Great Island, Moon Island, etc., etc.! As always, please let me know of any questions or reports-and thank you again to people who reported some of this past week’s incidents to Loon Preservation Committee-and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to LPC (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”: Dog Cove-You may remember that last week we followed the current Moon Island male’s determined but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to win the Dog Cove territory and his current pairing with the former Dog Cove female. This week, we’re going to visit the territory he seemed so obsessed with and meet the male who was his nemesis in all his efforts to take over Dog Cove.
The Dog Cove male is one of Squam’s well-established, experienced loons. He was first banded as an adult with chicks in 2001, so, given that loons don’t begin nesting on average until they are 6-7 years old, he is at least in his early twenties. His life as a banded loon began at Great Island, where he was from 2001-2006. During those 6 years, he hatched an astonishing 11 chicks and 9 of them fledged from the lake. This is more than 3 times the average productivity rate in New Hampshire!
His status in 2007 is unclear; but, by 2008, he was in Dog Cove, where he has remained ever since and where his ability to produce chicks has sadly declined from those halcyon days at Great Island. Since arriving in Dog Cove, he has hatched 8 chicks and 3 of those have survived. All 3 of those surviving chicks were produced with the female who is currently at Moon Island, as we learned last week. You may remember from last week that the current Moon Island male was responsible for the loss of two of those 8 chicks; but the Dog Cove male battled him for 3 days following the death of those 2 chicks, managing to hang on to his territory even though his chicks were gone. Kudos to him for persistence and determination, despite the tragedy of his chicks. In 2015, he did not return to Dog Cove until just after Memorial Day. This was very surprising and unusual-prior to his arrival, his mate was first with an unbanded loon and then the Moon Island male. Finally the Dog Cove male returned, reclaimed his territory and booted the Moon Island male out yet again. To this day, I still don’t understand why he was so delayed in returning, but I was happy to see him back-and amused that the female was with 3 different males in the span of a month!
The Dog Cove male’s current mate arrived in 2016; but, for unknown reasons, the pair has not been as committed to nesting as previously. Last year, they mysteriously abandoned the nest after sitting on their eggs for only a few days-and this year, they showed almost no interest in nesting. This is puzzling and disappointing-and certainly breaks this male’s record. Up until this year, he nested every single year since 2001, with the possible exception of 2007 when data on his status is lacking. This was a remarkable run of consecutive nests, and I was very sorry to see it end.
I have many memories of this loon, both the fond and the frustrating. I’ll always remember hiking the trails at Chamberlain-Reynolds one early spring right after ice out. My boat wasn’t in the water yet, but I wanted to see if maybe I could see some loons. I went down to the cove where the raft was always placed for the Dog Cove loons-of course, because the ice had just gone out, the raft wasn’t in the water yet. But there was the Dog Cove male, sitting there in the spot we always put the raft! I could just about hear him thinking, “Well, I’m here-where’s my raft??!?” I’ll also always remember watching him incubating his eggs on a beautiful summer day, desperately trying to stay awake but he just kept nodding off. His head would keep nodding as he tried unsuccessfully to stay awake until he would jerk awake, look around and try to be alert for a few minutes before nodding off again. I certainly empathized with him-we’ve all been there! On the frustrating side of things, he has expertly learned how to evade LPC banding crews-to the point that, as soon as our light hits the territory, he leaves the area. He certainly doesn’t score any chivalry points, abandoning his mate and chicks to the banding crew while he saves himself! Despite his lack of chivalry, he has been a stable presence in Dog Cove and I’m always happy to see him back there each year. I hope that he and his current mate will get on better track with nesting in future years!
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 Grade2018-08-09 18:54:142020-03-24 12:02:09All still well, but several close calls. Meet the loons from Dog Cove.
One Chick Lost; Loon Achievement Awards
I’m very sad to report that it has been a difficult week for one of Squam’s loon families. The family that had the two chicks has been dealing with frequent and intense loon intrusions over the past week. During one of these intrusions, one of the chicks was attacked by an intruding loon and it has subsequently disappeared. The remaining chick is hanging on, but the family remains in a tenuous position with these repeated intrusions. I just hope the adults can hold them off and the chick will make it. While this is loons being loons, it is also worth remembering that the frequency and intensity of these intrusions on Squam Lake appears to be related to high rates of human-caused mortality (including deaths from lead fishing tackle ingestion) going back to the early 2000’s. For more information on this, please see pages 10-12 of LPC’s Squam Lake Loon Initiative Progress Report that I emailed to you on July 25th and is also available from LPC’s website (https://www.loon.org/squam-lake-study.php).
Fortunately, the other families and their chicks are doing well! So at this point, there are 3 chicks on Squam Lake and 1 chick on Little Squam.
Loon Preservation Committee was featured on NBC last week! You can view the video clip at https://www.today.com/video/inside-the-mission-to-protect-the-loons-of-new-hampshire-s-lake-winnipesaukee-1302105155607?v=raila. It is wonderful that NBC highlighted loons, efforts of volunteers to protect them, and the work of LPC! Please note, however, that the loons are being approached much too closely by a kayaker on one of the video clips included in the piece. LPC does not in any way condone the close approach of boaters or photographers to loons. We always request that observers stay at least 150′ away from loons (i.e., no-wake distance) and to give the loons more space if they show any sign of stress. Enjoy the video, but please always keep in mind proper etiquette around loons!
Don’t forget about your chance to enjoy a wonderful dinner at The New Woodshed and support loons at the same time! Sunday, Aug. 26th, is “Loon Appreciation Night” at The New Woodshed! See the linked flyer for more information, and please come out and support loons!
This will be my last e-newsletter for the summer. You know what this means-it’s time for the end-of-season Squam Loon Achievement Awards! Please see the P.S. below to see who this year’s winners are! *Thank You* to everyone for your assistance protecting Squam’s loons this summer and educating neighbors and lake users about loons, and to everyone who participated in Loon Chick Watch! You have created a culture of respect for loons on Squam that will allow them to thrive as we all work together to help them overcome the challenges they have been facing. Thank you very much! I will continue checking on the loons through the fall, so please continue to let me know about any reports or concerns, and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to Loon Preservation Committee (603-476-5666). I will let you know if anything happens to any of the loons through the remainder of the season.
Thank you for a great summer and for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. Fifth Annual “Squam Loon Achievement Awards”: Happy awards season on Squam! It’s time to celebrate what Squam’s loons have all accomplished over the past year! But before we do, let’s pause to remember the loons we lost in the past year: the three chicks who died on Squam Lake this summer, the Little Squam loon who was tangled in fishing line, and the immature loon tangled in fishing line on Squam last fall. These are all very sad losses for Squam’s loon population.
And the winners of the 2018 Squam Loon Achievement Awards are.
Congratulations to the 2018 winners of the Squam Loon Achievement Awards, and kudos to all the families who produced chicks this year! May we have many more contenders for the Productivity Award next year! Wishing all of Squam’s loons a safe off-season, and we’ll look forward to welcoming them back next year!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
Looking Good! Meet the Loons from Sandwich Bay
The loon chicks of the Squam Lakes continue to do well! I’m happy to report that all 4 chicks on Squam Lake and the single chick on Little Squam are thriving! As the chicks grow, they continue to range farther into open water and areas of active, high-speed boating, so please remind your neighbors and other lake users to boat carefully in areas of the lake marked by orange “Caution: Loon Chick” signs and be aware that loons and chicks could be anywhere in those areas. Also, please remind people to stay at least 150′ away from loons and loon families (i.e., no-wake distance). Thank you for your help getting the word out!
If you feel like having a great dinner and supporting loons at the same time, come to The New Woodshed this Sunday (8/20) for “Loon Appreciation Night”! A portion of the sales will be donated to benefit Loon Preservation Committee (LPC). And please join us at The Loon Center next Thursday (8/23) for our Volunteer Appreciation Potluck at 5:30 followed by a presentation by Harry Vogel, LPC’s Senior Biologist, giving a first look at what the 2018 season was like for New Hampshire’s loons! If you can’t make the potluck, please still join us at 7:00 for Harry’s talk. Please see attached flyers for more information on both events. Hope you can join us in the coming week to celebrate loons!
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet the Loons of Squam,” in which we’ll visit two loons for whom pairing up is always optional. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any reports or questions, and please contact the Loon Preservation Committee to report any sick, injured, or dead loons (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”: Sandwich Bay-This week we’ll head down to Sandwich Bay and meet a “pair” of loons who apparently consider pairing up to be optional. Much to my disappointment, this year was one of the “off” years for them-both loons were present in the territory, but they did not actually form a pair. But let’s back up and meet this on-again-off-again twosome.
The Sandwich loons first paired up in 2011. Before that, the male had been at the Yard Islands, where he successfully hatched a chick in 2008 with the incredible Yard Islands female who died from lead tackle ingestion last August, as I’m sure many of you will remember. But he was evicted from the Yards by another male early in 2009, and retreated to the fringes of the Sandwich Bay territory for the remainder of summer. He was an unpaired loon in 2010 but was continuing to size up the Sandwich Bay territory-and, by 2011, he had made his move and become the territorial male in Sandwich Bay! That year, he and his mate had a chick and were both captured during LPC’s banding that year. His mate was previously unbanded, so we don’t know her history before that point. However, one thing we learned after banding both of these loons caused us some concern. During banding, we always take a small blood sample from the loons that we run for various health tests, including testing for lead levels. The lead levels for both of these loons were somewhat elevated-not high enough to be toxic, but certainly elevated above background levels. Needless to say, I was watching these loons with a great deal of concern for the remainder of the summer, but, fortunately, the pair successfully raised their chick to fledging and all seemed well. I was wondering if they would survive to return the following year, and I could not have been happier when they did. So the question remains-what was the source of these slightly elevated lead levels? Given that both pair members had these levels suggests perhaps an environmental source in this part of the lake that caused their levels to be higher than background but not nearly at the toxic levels we see when a loon has ingested lead tackle. It still remains a mystery.
Fortunately, the loons were able to overcome any immediate effects of this exposure, raise their chick, and return to their territory the following year-but chick production, nesting, and even pairing has remained elusive since then. Fresh off successfully raising a chick, they should have been right back about the business of nesting in 2012.but they weren’t. Nor did they show any signs of nesting in 2013 before the female was driven out of the territory in mid-summer. She was the last of the females to fall in the “snowball effect” of female territorial evictions that rolled down the lake that summer. In 2014, the male was all ready to nest and spent the beginning of the summer sitting right next to the nesting area.but there was no female in sight. The days passed and he patiently waited and waited and waited for a female to come to the territory. Finally, SHE returned, the same female he had been with since taking over Sandwich Bay! Well, no rapturous reunions here-by that time, the male had had it with waiting and they never paired that year.
Finally, after all these years of not nesting, they got down to the business of nesting each year from 2015-2017; unfortunately, they have always been unsuccessful-territorial intrusions by other loons seemed to have contributed to nest failures in these years. This was extremely disappointing-not only are we always hoping for successful nestings and chicks, but we are also interested to monitor the lead levels in these loons and see if they continue to be exposed to an environmental source of lead. So I began 2018 with hopes for this pair that this would be the year of more chicks in Sandwich Bay. Much to my disappointment, my hopes were gradually dashed. The year began optimistically enough, as I spotted both of the loons in the territory, but there was a nagging worry in my mind as the “pair members” were at opposite ends of the territory from each other and nowhere near the nest area. But I tried to rationalize it-it was still early, they had plenty of time, etc., etc., etc. Soon enough, however, I could no longer make excuses for them-especially as the female was nowhere to be seen after my initial sighting early in the year. Soon I was reduced to watching the male spending the summer by himself in Sandwich Bay. I do not have an answer as to why the female put in an early appearance but did not pair up with her mate. I can only hope that next year will bring better things for these loons-a pairing, a nest, and hopefully a chick or two!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.
All still well, but several close calls. Meet the loons from Dog Cove.
I’m happy to report that the loon chicks of the Squam Lakes continue to do well! Squam Lake still has 4 chicks and Little Squam still has 1 and all are continuing to grow and thrive! But there have been a number of close calls in the past week, which makes me extremely concerned for the safety of the families. I have received several reports of separate incidents and witnessed an incident myself in which loon families were in danger of being hit by oncoming boats traveling at high speeds. I also received a report of a photographer approaching a loon family very closely. I am extremely grateful to the people who helped head off boaters and photographers in many of these cases and helped protect the loon families and to everyone who helps educate neighbors and lake users about looking out for loons and keeping a respectful distance from them, especially families with chicks. And many thanks to those who volunteer for Loon Chick Watch and have helped protect the loon families throughout the summer! It truly takes all of us in the lake community working together to help ensure the safety of the loons and to create a culture of respect in which loons can thrive.
Here are a few points to remind neighbors, lake users, and renters about:
Thank you for helping to educate other lake users about loons and how we can all work together to protect them, I really appreciate your help with this! And please consider volunteering for Loon Chick Watch to help protect Squam’s loons-and thanks to all of you who have already volunteered, you have made a big difference for the loons! For more information, please visit https://www.squamlakes.org/loon-chick-watcher-program.
Just a few quick announcements about upcoming events: Our end-of-season volunteer appreciation potluck will be held Thursday, 8/23, at the Loon Center at 5:30, to be followed by a first look at what the 2018 season was like for New Hampshire’s loons by LPC Senior Biologist Harry Vogel. You are all invited! Then on Sunday, 8/26, The New Woodshed Restaurant in Moultonborough will donate a portion of their sales to benefit Loon Preservation Committee. We hope you can join us!
Please see the P.S. below for this week’s edition of “Meet the Loons of Squam”-after last week’s look at the sometimes fraught relationship between the Moon Island and Dog Cove loons, we’ll take a look at what life is like for the Dog Cove loons when they aren’t dealing with intruders from Great Island, Moon Island, etc., etc.! As always, please let me know of any questions or reports-and thank you again to people who reported some of this past week’s incidents to Loon Preservation Committee-and please report any sick, injured, or dead loons to LPC (603-476-5666).
Thank you for your interest in Squam’s loons!
Tiffany
P.S. “Meet the Loons of Squam”: Dog Cove-You may remember that last week we followed the current Moon Island male’s determined but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to win the Dog Cove territory and his current pairing with the former Dog Cove female. This week, we’re going to visit the territory he seemed so obsessed with and meet the male who was his nemesis in all his efforts to take over Dog Cove.
The Dog Cove male is one of Squam’s well-established, experienced loons. He was first banded as an adult with chicks in 2001, so, given that loons don’t begin nesting on average until they are 6-7 years old, he is at least in his early twenties. His life as a banded loon began at Great Island, where he was from 2001-2006. During those 6 years, he hatched an astonishing 11 chicks and 9 of them fledged from the lake. This is more than 3 times the average productivity rate in New Hampshire!
His status in 2007 is unclear; but, by 2008, he was in Dog Cove, where he has remained ever since and where his ability to produce chicks has sadly declined from those halcyon days at Great Island. Since arriving in Dog Cove, he has hatched 8 chicks and 3 of those have survived. All 3 of those surviving chicks were produced with the female who is currently at Moon Island, as we learned last week. You may remember from last week that the current Moon Island male was responsible for the loss of two of those 8 chicks; but the Dog Cove male battled him for 3 days following the death of those 2 chicks, managing to hang on to his territory even though his chicks were gone. Kudos to him for persistence and determination, despite the tragedy of his chicks. In 2015, he did not return to Dog Cove until just after Memorial Day. This was very surprising and unusual-prior to his arrival, his mate was first with an unbanded loon and then the Moon Island male. Finally the Dog Cove male returned, reclaimed his territory and booted the Moon Island male out yet again. To this day, I still don’t understand why he was so delayed in returning, but I was happy to see him back-and amused that the female was with 3 different males in the span of a month!
The Dog Cove male’s current mate arrived in 2016; but, for unknown reasons, the pair has not been as committed to nesting as previously. Last year, they mysteriously abandoned the nest after sitting on their eggs for only a few days-and this year, they showed almost no interest in nesting. This is puzzling and disappointing-and certainly breaks this male’s record. Up until this year, he nested every single year since 2001, with the possible exception of 2007 when data on his status is lacking. This was a remarkable run of consecutive nests, and I was very sorry to see it end.
I have many memories of this loon, both the fond and the frustrating. I’ll always remember hiking the trails at Chamberlain-Reynolds one early spring right after ice out. My boat wasn’t in the water yet, but I wanted to see if maybe I could see some loons. I went down to the cove where the raft was always placed for the Dog Cove loons-of course, because the ice had just gone out, the raft wasn’t in the water yet. But there was the Dog Cove male, sitting there in the spot we always put the raft! I could just about hear him thinking, “Well, I’m here-where’s my raft??!?” I’ll also always remember watching him incubating his eggs on a beautiful summer day, desperately trying to stay awake but he just kept nodding off. His head would keep nodding as he tried unsuccessfully to stay awake until he would jerk awake, look around and try to be alert for a few minutes before nodding off again. I certainly empathized with him-we’ve all been there! On the frustrating side of things, he has expertly learned how to evade LPC banding crews-to the point that, as soon as our light hits the territory, he leaves the area. He certainly doesn’t score any chivalry points, abandoning his mate and chicks to the banding crew while he saves himself! Despite his lack of chivalry, he has been a stable presence in Dog Cove and I’m always happy to see him back there each year. I hope that he and his current mate will get on better track with nesting in future years!
To be added to the weekly Squam mailing list send an email to squam@loon.org.