7830-R2_LSLA_2021_WinetrNewsletter_Web

Sebago Loonacy and cause for concern. The Loon Rangers and others had reported territorial disputes at upper, middle, and lower lake sites. Some repeated over days or weeks. I witnessed a vicious dispute involving the territorial pair closest to me at Sand Island. The battling loons went after one another with wings and beaks, and at one point dragging the opposing loon under water with splashing and flailing continuing above and below. It’s our belief that these disputes with intruders are the reason the resident pairs abandoned their nests. Nature works in mysterious ways. These things are beyond our ability to control. What was the most distressing, was human behavior that caused the loss of two eggs in Hayden Bay just days before hatching. This parent pair had successfully driven an intruder away more than once. And then, just before gestation was complete the aftermath of Hurricane Elsa was upon us, and we watched the lake level rise several inches over a short period. Rangers and friends manually elevated

the nest by adding stones and filling below the nest bowl not once but twice to keep it above water. The parents were watchfully monitoring this extreme effort but did not interfere, and immediately returned to incubating, only to have a boat wake wash the eggs off the nest and into the lake bottom. This was an avoidable loss. Therefore 2021 has been our lowest in successful loon reproduction with a total of 7 nest, 11 failed eggs, and 1 chick surviving its first season on the lake. Watch for LSLA 2022 Loon Monitoring and Conservation Program updates in the spring newsletter, and enjoy the stories and pictures on the Little Sebago Lake Loon Watch Facebook page. Coming soon will be updates to LSLA website with lake specific loon information plus a section with related links for more loon general information. Sharon Young LittleSebago Lake LoonMonitoring andConservation

Elsa: All grown up at 15wks - Photo by Anna Seekins

11