Harry Vogel, Executive Director and senior biologist from the Loon Preservation Committee, shared his knowledge with the local community at a recent CLC event. We learned about the valuable work of the LPC throughout New England, and about these distinctive birds that thrive in healthy water bodies like Lake Chocorua.

Loons (Gavia immer) are one of the most primitive birds on earth, with a 20 million year line of ancestry. Adapted for swimming and diving for fish, they are impressive indeed, weighing in at 13 lbs. with a 4.5 ft. wingspan and a lifespan of 20-25 years. Their relative heaviness reflects the fact that they are more closely related to penguins than ducks and other waterfowl, but their large feet are built for propelling them through the water, and are so far back on their body that they can’t walk on land.

Young loons are partially “precocial”; within 24 hours of hatching they leave the nest and can swim, but rely on their parents to feed and protect them early on. At the end of the summer and into the fall, loons head to the coast to spend the winter on salt water. Scientists aren’t sure exactly where the young loons spend their juvenile years, or where they go to settle down at maturity. Still so much to learn!

Loons face many risks, from dietary toxins, entanglement in fishing line, and ingestion of lead sinkers, to nest disturbance, habitat loss, and climate change. Do your part to help loons by giving them the space they need to nest, fish, and care for their young. Watch with binoculars but kindly keep your distance!

Find more information about loons on LPC’s website at www.loon.org and at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology at www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon.

Want to be a citizen scientist? The Loon Preservation Committee is interested in your loon observations — visit www.loon.org/volunteer-field.php.

Banner: Loons on Chocorua Lake. Photo courtesy of Jim Salge Photography.