Raymond lives on, believe it or not, Loon Drive, nestled next to the still waters of No Name Pond. She moved there 22 years ago, around the same time the pond’s sole nesting pair of loons moved in, neighbors have told her.
While it may seem strange to think of Maine’s iconic bird — associated in many minds with the unspoiled backwaters of the northern woods — making its home inside Lewiston city limits, the birds’ distinctive howling wail routinely penetrates the sliding glass doors that separate Raymond’s living room from her watery backyard.
It’s that call – one of four that adult loons routinely employ – that makes the birds so fascinating for many people, said Raymond.
“It’s just haunting. They’ve got a language all their own,” she said.
Every day Raymond watches for her feathery neighbors to pass by her home on their daily fishing rounds. Over the course of a single season, a loon family of two adults and between one and three chicks can eat up to 1,000 pounds of fish. While other loons visit the pond from time to time, a small body of water like No Name Pond can only support one breeding pair.
A retired maternity nurse, Raymond is most fascinated by how loons raise their chicks. Raymond once watched in absolute delight as a mother or father loon (unlike ducks and many other birds, loons co-parent their chicks) taught its chick to catch its own food by bringing it a fish, then dropping it in the water for the chick to retrieve.
“I think it’s pretty special getting to see how they parent. It’s fascinating. Sometimes I feel a little guilty watching, but if you’re going to be parenting right in front of my house, of course I’m going to watch,” she said.
In nearby Turner, Janet Cutter, once known as the “loony lady” to her neighbors, is just as fanatical about the vocal waterfowl.
“I’m a lover of that bird. I just love the sounds that it makes and the mystery it represents,” said Cutter, who lives beside Pleasant Pond.
“They call all night, and some of my neighbors say they can understand why they became endangered. Some people find it eerie, but I enjoy the sound. It puts me to sleep knowing that they’re there and healthy and peaceable.”
To ensure that she could always enjoy the birds from her shoreside home, Cutter built a floating nesting box for them, with the help of another loon lover from the Lake Umbagog area.
“They’re close enough that we can see the bugs flying around their necks. We can see them feeding, preening and copulating. The only thing I haven’t seen them do is give birth. That usually happens at night. We can hear it sometimes. They make quite a bit of celebratory noise,” she said.
“I once told my husband that if they ever leave, I’m leaving, too.”
While this arrangement keeps the birds close for Cutter’s viewing pleasure, that wasn’t the primary reason for building the nest. When she moved to the pond in the mid-’70s, Cutter learned that her local loons had never successfully raised a chick. The nesting box gave the birds the edge they needed to change that.
Because their legs are set so far back on their bodies, loons are incredibly clumsy on land. To protect themselves from predators and ensure easy access to fish, they build their nests right at the shoreline. Unfortunately, this also makes them vulnerable to water level fluctuations from droughts and flooding.
A floating nesting box provides loons with a stable platform that is always right on the water without the danger of becoming flooded. Loon enthusiasts across the state have built such boxes to help improve the survival rate of loon chicks, which has been stagnant in recent years – and declined sharply in 2012 – even as the number of adult loons in Maine has rebounded from an all-time low in the mid-1980s.
The average female loon lays two eggs every year. Of those, only one chick every other year survives, on average. The Maine Loon Project, a program of Maine Audubon, has sought to change that statistic by working to protect and promote the state’s native loon population through research, education and legislation.
Both Cutter and Raymond are among more than 800 volunteers who scour 326 lakes and ponds around the state for the birds during the Maine Loon Project’s annual loon count. Cutter has been involved in the count for nearly three decades, and now serves as the coordinator for lakes in and around Androscoggin County. Raymond has been involved for about 10 years, counting on No Name Pond with the help of a friend’s boat.
This week, the organization marks its 30th year of counting loons in Maine. In that time, the number of adult loons in southern Maine has more than doubled from around 1,500 in the early years of the count to as many as 3,300 two years ago.
The count, which always takes place on the third Saturday in July, is scheduled for this coming Saturday, July 20, at 7 a.m. Volunteers have until 7:30 a.m. – or 8 a.m. on exceptionally large lakes – to count as many loons as possible, adults and chicks, in their assigned territories.
Maine Audubon is celebrating this anniversary with an entire month dedicated to loons. The organization is collecting loon stories and photos from the public, profiling loon counters on its site, and has teamed up with Portland-based Turtle Love Company to create a limited edition loon necklace, with proceeds benefiting the Loon Project’s preservation efforts in Maine.
The Maine Loon Project is also celebrating another important success. The Maine Legislature recently passed an act banning the use of certain lead fishing sinkers in the state. This is important because a study of loon carcasses by researchers at Tufts University determined that close to a third of all loon fatalities occur because the bird swallowed a lead sinker and was poisoned.
“Loons are one of our state’s wildlife treasures. The bill will reduce this human-caused mortality and help protect Maine’s loons for future generations,” said state Sen. Anne Haskell, the Portland Democrat who sponsored the bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
While loons are not Maine’s official state bird – that distinction goes to the chickadee – the birds are an important part of Maine’s culture and identity. Though some large Midwestern states, such as Wisconsin and Minnesota, are home to more than 10,000 loons, Maine boasts more loons than any other state in the northeast. With about 4,000 birds – counting both chicks and adults – Maine has four times as many as New York state, the next closest contender.
Other New England States have only a few hundred loons, and the birds were extinct in Connecticut for many years, returning only within the last few years, and even then only in very small numbers. The Maine Loon Project is determined not to let that happen here.
When advocating for loons to legislators and business leaders, Maine Loon Project Director Susan Gallo stresses the role of loons in promoting property values and economic development in the state.
“As a wildlife biologist, of course I think it’s important to have loons just for the sake of having loons, but there is a very real economic impact to keeping the loon populations healthy in the state of Maine. Many people only want to vacation here if they are going to hear loons,” she said.
“A lot of people have an emotional connection to loons. They represent a particular place, love, family, memories, clean water, healthy fish, a healthy lake. If you have a loon, you have a lot of other good things going on in your lake.”
Raymond agrees, stressing the importance of promoting healthy lakes and ponds.
“This pond is doing exactly what is it supposed to be doing, taking care of the loons and the fish and the frogs. So we need to take care of the pond so it can continue to take care of he wildlife,” said Raymond, who does just that as a member of the No Name Pond Watershed Management Association.
For both Raymond and Cutter, protecting loons goes beyond just counting them. In years past, Raymond has visited schools, educating students about conservation and trading more than 5,000 safe fishing lures in exchange for harmful lead ones.
For her part, in addition to building the nesting box on her property, Cutter once spent most of a very cold Christmas day at the edge of her pond trying to lure a stranded loon to the shore with a recorded loon call. The poor freezing bird, which was not able to take off from the frozen water, slowly dragged its body across the ice toward the sound.
Cutter and her husband then trapped the uninjured bird and transported it to open water, where they watched, rapt, as the loon rested for a short while, then took to the sky in search of warmer weather.
“That was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life,” said Cutter of watching that loon fly away.
“Loons are very special to Mainers. Summer would not be the same without hearing their mysterious call on your local lake or pond. We’re fortunate to have such a large group of people looking out for their well-being,” said Gallo.
Volunteers interested in participating in this year’s loon count can contact Susan Gallo at sgallo@maineaudubon.org, or call (207) 781-6180 x216.
Tips for protecting loons
* Obey no-wake laws within 200 feet of shore.
* Use lead-free tackle; alternatives are made of steel, tin and bismuth. (A new state law will make this a requirement starting next year.)
* Dispose of fishing line so it does not get tangled in loons’ feet or bills.
* If you live on a lake, use phosphorus-free fertilizer and plant shrubs as a buffer along the shoreline to reduce run-off.
* If you see a loon on a nest, keep your distance and watch with binoculars.
* Keep garbage out of reach of loon egg predators like skunks and raccoons.
* Enjoy the birds from a distance; stay clear of loons and their nesting areas when boating, fishing and picnicking. If you do encounter a loon, give it its space and be on the lookout for signs of distress, such as a tremolo or yodeling call, or hanging its head down over its nest. Stressed birds may be pushed to abandon their nests.
* Volunteers interested in participating in next Saturday’s annual loon count can contact Susan Gallo at sgallo@maineaudubon.org or call 207-781-6180 x216.
* For more information about the Maine Loon Project, loons in general, or to share a loon story, photograph or other work of art, visit www.maineaudubon.org/loons.
* Want to see some loons in person? Check out the Maine Loon Project’s interactive map of lakes and ponds across the state: http://maineaudubon.org/wildlife-habitat/the-maine-loon-project/map/
Loon calls
* Wail: This is the classic call that sounds like a wolf’s howl. Loons wail to communicate and locate one another over long distances
* Tremolo: This call sounds like a laugh. Loons will often use it when they are annoyed or alarmed, but it can also be used as a social greeting while in flight.
* Yodel: This long, complex call features a slow, rising note followed by a rippling wail. It is similar to the tremolo, but louder and more insistent. Males use this call to warn intruders who threaten their territory.
* Hoot: Loons use this short, soft, one-note call to communicate with each other, particularly with their chicks, when they are nearby. It is rarely heard by humans.
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