8181-R1_LSLA_2022_WinterNewsletter_Web

Rescues and Release identification of what is now approximately 30 loons banded on Little Sebago. The Rangers monitor the loon population on the lake, document behaviors and reproductive successes, and educate the public on how to preserve and protect these icons of lake life and their habitat. We also respond to calls from lake dwellers when they see injured or ill loons, or when they see an unusual disturbance. Our mission is to make every effort to insure the future sustainability of the species here on Little Sebago. Indirectly by attempting to educate the public to things each one of us can do to avoid disturbing or harming nesting loons. And directly by things such as building 4 new floating nest rafts to launch in territories where water level fluctuations or predation had caused nest failures in the recent past. The Loon Rangers are out on the lake every week all through the season identifying the banded loons, observing behaviors, monitoring nesting territories, and if we are lucky – watching chicks hatch and mature through the summer. Loons are territorial, often returning to the same site for years to mate and rear their chicks. Sometimes intruding loons arrive and fight to claim a territory as their own. That was the case this summer in several of our territories. One intrusion caused the resident pair to abandon their nest containing two eggs. Other territories saw repeated territorial aggressions. On July 4 th in the territory off Krams Point where a nest had hatched two chicks on Sand Island on 6/20 & 6/21, a male parent was brutally killed by an invader. This dad was a loon that had been banded on Little Sebago in 2014 and who had claimed this territory each year since. The mom had been banded in the territory in 2020.

After killing dad, the intruder immediately went after the chicks, hoping to dispose of them as well and claim the territory, and the female, as its own. The female parent fought to protect the chicks as the Rangers watched. Eventually, the intruder left the area the chicks were hiding in. On July 5th the intruder was back. This time we observed him capture one chick, dragging it under the water to drown. The female was finally able to drive it out of the cove and we were able to recover the chick who had survived the attempt and crawled up on a nearby beach. The chick was transported to Avian Haven for evaluation and recovery. On July 6 the remaining chick was seen under attack by the intruder. The female was again attempting to defend and did drive the intruder out of the cove while the chick seemed to hide under a dock. However, a resident who had witnessed the entire event found the chick washed up on his shore, dead, shortly after. Another territory had brutal territorial aggressions occurring. The Hayden Bay territory had hatched two chicks on Hill Island. One hatched on June 16 and the other on June 17. The dad was a loon banded in 2014 at another territory on the lake but who had been confirmed in residence at

13