Photo credit : Don Yurewicz

Momma loon feeding baby: Photo courtesy of Tom Gross

We had 5 established nests last year

• Town Beach was the first nest again, unfortunately it failed in early June. Egg fragments were collected and turned into the LPC. We think a predator got the eggs.

• Marble Island nest also failed in early June and egg fragments were again collected and turned into the LPC.

• Boynton Island Loons went on the nest June 26th. The nest failed, perhaps due to high water, winds, and boat wakes. They were off the nest July 24th and no sign of eggs or fragments were found.

• THE GOOD NEWS - Gerson/Dolloff Cove nest produced one chick. A second, unhatched egg was found floating in the water. The successful chick did well along Mudget Road. There were 7 floating signs put out, warning boaters to steer clear. We think this chick might have been fledged by the re-nesting from the Town Beach pair. This chick made it through the fall and hopefully will be returning this year to Conway Lake.

• A pair went on their nest at Gull Rock on July 19th – very late. We think this was a re-nest from the Marble Island pair. The eggs were abandoned July 27th.

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The annual Loon Count took place July 21st. We had 9 Loons sighted vs. 8 in 2017 and below our historical average. Thanks to our Loon Census observers … Rose and Dean, Don & Teresa, Jerri and Steve, Mark, Mike Hayes, and Craig Fillmann.

We lost one of the Gull Rock Loons in a territorial fight the next day – July 22nd. It turns out that the Loon that died was loaded and poisoned with lead from fishing gear and that most likely contributed to its weakened state and death.

The Gerson/Dolloff Cove nest produced its Chick the day after the count.

The Lake Host Team continued to do a great job warning boaters and fisherman of all Loon activity.

More good news - Early sighting for 2019 – a Loon was sighted on Friday April 12th 2019 swimming in the inlet near the town beach. The Inlet was open and the rest of Conway Lake was still solid ice. John Cooley, head biologist from the Loon Preservation Committee, remarked that this was the furthest North a Loon had been confirmed in 2019. As of April 25th the ice was out.

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