2015 Loon Watch

Along with watching our loons return in spring, nest and raise chicks, getting to know our Montana Loon Rangers is one of the nicest things about the Montana Loon Society Loon Season. Here are a few words from Ashley Huinker, our 2015 Blackfoot-Clearwater Loon Ranger. It is fun to read her loon ranger experience from her perspective. Following this is information from the Clearwater (Seeley), Blackfoot (Ovando) and Swan (Swan Lake) areas.

A Loon Ranger Summer -

In Her Own Words

by Ashley Huinker

2015 Blackfoot-Clearwater Loon Ranger

I attended college at Montana State University in Bozeman. For two years during that time I worked for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), so I was familiar with the agency. I heard about the loon ranger program from their internship website.

I grew up in Waconia, Minn. and we always saw lots of loons around our cabin. I loved seeing them from the boat and hearing their calls. Later, I spent a summer living near the Boundary Waters where every lake I canoed on had a pair of loons.

My responsibilities in Montana as a loon ranger in 2015 included locating loon nests, setting loon nesting area buoys to notify boaters that loons were there and posting educational signs at public boat launches. Increasing recreational pressure could be a main driver to the loons' declining population in the future for Montana, so I also talked with people about the needs of loons and how to behave around them. Lastly, I observed the loons and tried to read the bands on their legs so we could identify which birds were on which lakes and to understand their migration and dispersion patterns. Occasionally I helped with loon banding.

I usually visited six to eight lakes a day, sometimes more. Morning was a good time to see loon behavior, so I tried to be at the lakes by eight. It is also easier to see loon bands in the morning when the loons are active.

Then I would set up the spotting scope and observe the loons. Morning is also a good time to catch anglers and talk to them about loons. I also talked with anyone who asked me what I was doing. One lake was on a private ranch, so I occasionally visited with the landowner.

The best part of being a loon ranger was loon banding. It was exciting to be out on the lake in the middle of the night, to see the loons up close and to handle them. I handled several chicks, one of which was large enough to band. I also enjoyed seeing the chicks after they hatched and watching them grow up.

The hardest part of being a loon ranger was reading leg bands. I once sat at a lake for three hours trying to read a band. The loons never show their bands when you want them to!

I definitely plan to go to graduate school but I am going to take a couple years off and work some seasonal jobs first to figure out exactly what I want to do in grad school. I've applied for many jobs for the 2016 summer, including more waterfowl technician jobs. Hopefully someone hires me!

I already love the outdoors, but through my loon ranger experience I learned that I love birds. I loved observing loons, talking to people about them and being able to help with banding. I loved learning to identify other waterfowl that I saw such as goldeneyes, grebes, mergansers and coots. I also watched herons and trumpeter swans and helped with an American bittern survey. I would definitely like to continue studying birds in the future.

The jury is still out on my dream job. It definitely involves some combination of education and fieldwork. I especially love talking to children and students in classrooms. Check back with me in a few years!

2015 Blackfoot/Clearwater (Ovando/Seeley Lake) Loon Count

by Loon Ranger Ashley Huinker 

The Blackfoot/Clearwater loon season covers 20 lakes, with nine nesting territories, seven of which are in the Clearwater and two in the Blackfoot.

Only three lakes in the Clearwater produced chicks: Rainy raised two, Summit two, and Clearwater two, despite eagles attempting predation. Nesting failed on Seeley, Placid, Hidden and Alva.

Alva continues to be a difficult lake to sign as the loon nest is on the island with water up to eighty feet deep on several sides. In addition, people ignored the signs and canoed and kayaked in the buoys, as well as walked around on the island during nesting season.

They were seen several times and did this with complete disregard for the loon nesting signs at the boat launch and in the water around the island. In the future, the Common Loon Working Group and Montana Loon Society may need to consider placing an artificial nest platform on this lake, perhaps on the north end of the lake opposite the boat launch where the loons used to nest or along the lakeshore in a marshy area. Apparently the island is too large a draw for people even though it is totally closed during loon season.

In the Blackfoot (Ovando) area two nesting territories are surveyed for loons. In 2015 Shoup, which is on private land, did not nest. Upsata nested, but lost both chicks even though loons incubated to full term. Egg shells were then found in the nest and one egg was also found that was kicked out of the nest and lying in the water.

Terrestrial predators may possibly be the cause. Eggs may be kicked off the nest by the loon's large feet if they are startled off the nest. In all, six chicks in this combined area survived until July Loon Day, and are assumed to have migrated in autumn.

2015 Loon Chick Count at a Glance: To quickly see how our Blackfoot and Clearwater loon neighbors faired last year, take a look at the chart below. Bumps and dips naturally occur in loon numbers. In Montana, flood years are a major cause in the drop in chicks but not all areas flood the same year.

During some years, such as 2006, the Clearwater had a good year while the Blackfoot didn't fare well. Conversely, in 2010 and 2011, the Blackfoot did better than the Clearwater. It is only cause for concern if numbers drop and drop without bounce-back. However, during these same years the number of chicks in the state of Montana has remained roughly the same with an average 41 chicks per year, which is considered a viable loon population.

In 2015, 49 total chicks survived in the state until the July Loon Day count and are assumed to have migrated in autumn.

Swan Lake Ranger District

by Wildlife Technician USFS: Jessica Curry

 In the Swan Lake Ranger District area the 2015 July Loon Count included four chicks and fifteen adults. We were able to identify nesting pairs on four lakes, Loon (Ferndale), Loon (Kraft Creek), Van and Pierce. We also observed two additional non-breeding pairs on Lindberg and Van lakes.

Loon Lake in Ferndale has a 4-H camp on its shoreline but the lake is electric boats only. In the past decade, there have been no other observations of loon nesting attempts on Van so it was nice to see the attempt. It is unknown why the 2015 nesting attempt failed.

A new lake, Lake Mary Ronan, was added for survey with loons seen in early May. Like this year, it has had no known nesting attempts in the past.

In addition, a Youth Conservation Corp crew of two adults and four students completed loon surveys on lakes that required longer hikes to access.

Crystal Lake in the Mission Mountains had nesting loons in 2014 but nesting in 2015 was unverified. Both May and July surveys at Crystal Lake yielded only one adult loon observation.

Total 2015 chick count for this area: four chicks.