Here are a few facts about the Common Loon, Gavia immer. Loons are excellent divers and can go down to 200 feet in search of small fish and aquatic invertebrates. The loon species as we see it today has been in existence for over 60 million years, far longer than mankind's 200,000 years. Minnesota has over 10,000 common loons, Maine about 4100. Loons can fly over 500 miles in a day at 70 mph. Loons can live over 25 years.
This is a collection of some of my favorite loon photographs, most of them taken on Damariscotta Lake, Maine. In an average year there will be over 50 loons on the lake including anywhere from 0 to 6 chicks. Donna and I have a small cabin on the lake, and enjoy watching the loons go through their life cycle which begins in early May each year with building a nest at water's edge. Parent loons take turns sitting on the eggs, typically a clutch of two. The hatch occurs by mid-June, with chicks in the water within minutes afterwards.
Common loons breed across much of Canada, the northern midwest and New England. The breeding season begins a month or so after lakes become unfrozen and continues through early summer. During the summer and early fall, loons are constantly diving and fishing for food, typically small fish and aquatic invertebrates. In late fall and early winter, as the lakes become frozen, loons migrate to coastal waters where they can continue fishing through the winter.
In the first few weeks after hatch, loon chicks will often ride on parents' backs as protection against predators such as snapping turtles, herring gulls or eagles.
Although most loons live on freshwater lakes during the summer, some stay in salt water. These five loons were in coastal waters off Vinalhaven, Maine.
Keith Carver Photography
Credits:
© Keith Carver Photography