Meet the 2025 Summer Interns
As you may or may not know, our local Belgrade Lakes Association is into its seventh year of its Loon Preservation Project to develop a responsible comprehensive plan in order to support our loon population in the very best sustainable manner.
Our surveys began in earnest May 15 on Long Pond and May 16 on Great Pond. As of this writing, we have confirmed eleven active nests. With an estimated 27-28 day gestation period, we should be looking at our first chicks of the season between June 8 and 14. With early ice-outs — April 10 on Great Pond, April 13 on Long Pond — we would expect to have some early nesters and we did. Our loons typically nest around Memorial Day with our first chicks as early as Father’s Day, which is June 15 this year, up until around the 4th of July. But, with any luck, we should have at least a few chicks on Long and Great Ponds the week before! Break out the cigars!
Thanks to our loon consultant and mentor, Lee Attix, and Colby College’s Professor of Biology and Program leader, Catherine Bevier, BLA’s Loon Project will once again have assistance from two new outstanding Colby College interns this summer. Ariana (“Ari”) Farrokhi and Makena Logan are already providing their young eyes along with their tremendous cumulative experience! Our valued loon volunteers will continue with their eyes on the lakes, but will once again be assisted by two very capable and dedicated students to assist all of us with the daily observations. Equally important will be their expertise in the sciences and record keeping those statistics to better assess our efforts and future activities.
Ari is a rising junior with a focus in Environmental Computation and has most recently worked as a Seabird Island Research Assistant on Outer Green Island with the Maine Audubon Seabird Institute. Makena is also a rising junior with a major in Biology and Environmental Policy with an interest in conservation and birds, and has most recently worked at the Roaring Brook Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Canton, CT.
Both of our new interns come with a great deal of experience, particularly with data analysis, modeling, and visualization tools to help tackle these environmental challenges with better informed decisions as a result. Together they are a great asset in crunching our last six years of collected loon data to better get a handle on where we are and what’s in store over the next few years at the very least. These are unique qualities that separate these interns and substantially raises the bar with our Loon Preservation Project.
Please join us in welcoming Ari and Makena! We are very fortunate to have them on the team! After a week of finals their classroom training began on May 27 immediately followed by field work with our loons on both Great and Long Ponds.
Amongst the many objectives this summer, right up there on top is why our 22 loon territories on Great and Long Ponds only produced one chick from Long Pond and four chicks from Great Pond, which we assumed made the Great Fly-Off last fall. We have a more than adequate adult loon population, but we just do not have the necessary chick production and longevity. More on this subject as the summer progresses. Stay tuned!
If you have a particular questions regarding our Belgrade loon population, please email your inquiry to info@blamaine.org and we will try to answer your question either in this column or via email. Have a great spring and summer enjoying the “Call of the Loon”!
Dick Greenan is chairman of the Belgrade Lakes Association’s Loon Preservation Project.
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