"Loon Pond", NY - Visitors at Loon Pond
On October 17, two loons were present on Loon Pond, but only one of them was an adult. The second loon was a juvenile. But wait! The territorial loon pair nested this summer, but their nest was predated late in incubation, and they did not have any chicks this year. Where did this youngster come from? Neither of the closest ponds had nesting loons this year. This first year bird must have come from a pond or lake a few miles or more distant. It was fairly tolerant of me in my canoe, which suggests that perhaps it was raised on a lake with a strong human presence and lots of boats and was accustomed to them.
The juvenile was interested in the adult and swam toward it, but the adult dove and kept its distance, seeming to try to avoid interacting with the juvenile. The adult was probably the territorial male because it was molting heavily into winter plumage and the male usually stays on this pond longer than the female before migrating. However, I was not able to see the bands on its legs, so I do not know for sure. It is interesting that the territorial adult did not try to drive off this juvenile, who was not its own chick. The adult spent most of its time fishing and dove frequently, while the juvenile swam on the surface and watched the adult, following it from a distance.
The next time I visited Loon Pond was November 3rd, and I did not expect any loons to be left on the pond. I was right. But in November, Loon Pond becomes Merganser Pond, as numbers of migrating common and hooded mergansers stop by and feed. One male common merganser was by itself, and it took flight, circling the pond and heading west. At least 25 hooded mergansers were feeding, and they were in two groups. One group had two males and three females, and the other group had about 20 females and juveniles.
When I tried to get closer for photographs, they took flight and flew to the opposite end of the pond. Hooded mergansers can lift off with just a few running steps, unlike loons and even the common mergansers which are larger and heavier than hooded mergansers.
The other interesting observation was the absence of beavers. None of the beaver lodges showed signs of fresh mud and sticks, there were no winter food caches, and no freshly chewed sticks along the shore. In the thirteen years I have been monitoring Loon Pond, there have always been beavers living on it. I knew that there were at least two this summer in one small lodge, but they were not very active. I think they may have moved to a new pond or lake because of lack of food, since the beavers have cut down many of the shoreline deciduous trees, and also eaten a lot of the water lily roots that they need for winter forage.
If I don’t visit again soon, Loon Pond will be locked in with ice, and paddling will have to wait until next year. I hope that the banded loon pair had a safe migration to their wintering areas, and that they return again next year for a successful breeding season.
E. George, ACLC Field Staff & Loon Naturalist