We are fortunate to have a pair of loon families on the lake. However, we recently learned that we’ve lost one of the island loon juveniles. This was discovered by a resident returning to their camp for Labor Day. The Maine Center for Loon Conservation has been contacted about the dead loon and had no further insight to offer on how it died.
The last time both the young island loons were seen was on Sunday morning 8/24. Both were with a parent, looked healthy and were fishing. One resident reported that in the early evening of 8/24 there was lots of loon distress calls. Since then, the adult loon and the remaining young loon have been spending lots of time fishing, with the young loon having sustained and productive dives. It seems to have a small fish every time it surfaces.
How the loon died is unknown, but serves as a reminder to us all to be on constant lookout for the loons while boating and jet-skiing, to remove any fishing line from the lake, and eliminate the use of lead fishing weights.
You can read more about the loons on Watchic Lake and how to protect them here “The Loons”.