A Day in the Life of a Loon

I spent the better part of the morning today watching the loon family who nested on the island in front of my camp.  The two adults swam, always at a distance from each other while two little loons followed closely behind on of the adults.  The lake was quiet and from shore I could easily observe their behavior.  I am very pleased to see loon chicks swimming with this pair as the nest on the island had failed the past two summers due to high water.  This year, with better, drier weather things appear to have worked out for this family.  But as morning turned into one of the banner days of summer things played out a little differently.

Animals live a thin line between energy intake through feeding and energy expenditure through finding food, avoiding predators, attracting mates, growing, and providing for young and storing food (or energy) for winter or other hard times.  Loons rely on fish for their energy intake.  They spend most of their day moving between fishing dives.  Loon chicks walk an even narrower margin.  In addition to maintaining themselves they must grow and put on enough weight to survive the winter.  As you can see there is only one way for energy to come in but many ways for energy to go out.  Ultimately spending energy on one thing results in less for another.  As it turns out, growing bigger or growing big enough to survive hard times (any loon will tell you that a New England winter is hard times) is often where left-over energy goes because the other needs, like predator avoidance, are more immediate.  Let’s face it, there is no point in the extra calories you stored away if you’ve just been eaten!  So, what does this have to do with the loons I was watching in the morning?

During the early part of the day the loons were spending energy fishing and growing.   As the day wore on more and more boat traffic passed through the area.  The boats, while not actual predators can cause loons to spend energy in predator avoidance as they display at the intruders and quickly change course to swim away.  This is extra energy they did not normally need to spend.  In addition their island nest site was overrun by sunbathers and swimmers, who despite to loon nest warning sign, decided to park their boat right on the nesting beach.

This went on until sunset.  The loon family was continually dodging boats, tubes and skiers.  Of course none of these people meant the loons any harm, but the loons didn’t know that.  I can’t help but wonder how much energy the family spent today just avoiding human pseudo predators.

We come to the lakes for enjoyment and recreation.  The loons come to live. Part of getting along is sharing the space.  If you see loons or know where they may be, then give the area a wide berth.  There is plenty of room on the lake for all of us.

Rick