Counting Loons
The third Saturday in July is the annual loon count in Maine, coordinated by Maine Audubon. This year’s count took place July 20 and was the 41st annual count in this important ongoing citizen-science project dedicated to better understanding one of Maine’s most iconic birds.
Every year over 1000 volunteers, of which I am one, attempt to count all the loons on over 300 Maine lakes at the same time. It’s organized like a military operation, and I am the coordinator for the dozen or so volunteers on Long Pond, which is divided into nine survey areas, with a tenth on Ingham Pond.
Scott Chapman is my deputy coordinator for Lower Long Pond. Scott is a second-generation counter. His late mother counted loons every year for decades, usually with young Scott in the boat.
Early in the morning, all counters head for their assigned section of the lake to be in position to count all the adult loons and loon chicks in their area between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. This year the weather was perfect for counting loons: clear and sunny with light winds. This year I had two assistants, Fred Knight and Peter Alter. I picked them up at their respective docks on the way to our survey area.
Our assigned area was a cove that has been used for many years by a pair of loons that used to nest on a secluded beach on a small peninsula and often lost their eggs to land-based and avian predators who found the nest and ate the loon eggs before they hatched.
Five years ago, the Belgrade Lakes Association, as part of their ongoing study of loons on Great and Long Pond — See more information in Dick Greenan’s loon articles — built and installed a floating raft nest with an avian guard (to prevent predation by eagles, ravens, and blue herons). The nest was moored about 20 feet offshore from the usual nesting site to provide the loons some protection from terrestrial predators such as racoons, minks, et al. When land-based predators have to cross water to reach the nest, the defensive advantage shifts strongly in the loons favor!
For three of the past four years, the loons successfully used this nest but for some reason were not successful this year. They laid two eggs but eventually abandoned them, possibly due to human interference (fishermen, paddleboarders, etc.) Bottom line: Even with two assistants, we spotted no loons in Lynch Cove this year.
As of press time, I had not received results from all of my counters, but it appears likely that chick numbers are significantly down from last year in Long Pond. There have been at least eight eggs abandoned, or washed into the water, probably due to high lake levels and boat wakes. One nest along the Ingham Stream lost two eggs due to boat wakes. Under Maine boating laws, this entire stream is supposed to be a no-wake zone as it is less than 400 feet wide along its entire length! Alex Wall and Kathy Wall found three adults and Alex got some nice pictures with a large telephoto lens.
I did have my youngest grandson here this week. We got out fishing a bit and caught quite a few one-to-two-pound bass. I also spotted the Cutler family from the Fairfield area landing their second pike of the day. They were putting them in the cooler for a fish fry later! Pike are very tasty, although a bit tricky to clean because of the Y-bones. My friend Don Kowalsky was at his camp on Great Pond this week with his kids. They caught a lot of fish including the nice 8 lb. brown trout.
Take advantage of the rest of the summer and get out on the lakes or hike or bike in the hills. Take a kid along or a parent or grandparent. You will be creating memories that will last. 7 Lakes Alliance is hosting many interesting events, including hikes and paddles. More info is available at the 7LA website. The Tuesday afternoon (3 p.m.) live animal talks from Chewonki are especially popular with kids. Pick up a map of the local trails from the 7 Lakes Alliance at 137 Main Street in Belgrade Lakes Village. Individual trail maps for most of the trails can be downloaded from their website.
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