Somes Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary
The Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary is dedicated to conservation, research, and education in the Somes Pond-Long Pond watershed and beyond
The Somes Pond juvenile loon is still present on "his" lake this dark, misty, blustery day. We certainly enjoy his company here. Given the nature of loons being in/on the water (both fresh and salt) almost their entire lives [except while building a nest and incubating eggs; mating (usually a few seconds); or some unfortunate situation like a crash landing on the ground], they are the most residential birds on a lake, assuming they are territory holders. Non-territory holding loons often visit smaller lakes during spring and summer to challenge the residents or recon the possibilities for next breeding season, but here on Mt. Desert Island they typically fly back to the nearby ocean before coming back the next day potentially.
Cormorants, geese, ring-billed gulls, and ducks come and go but the Somes Pond juvenile loon has been on the water here for 143 days (just over 5 months) continuously now, long after his parents left in late September.
We know he is a "he" from hearing him give "yodel" vocalizations many weeks ago, that only males do as a territorial defense/establishment call - although those were a bit premature as an older chick! It typically takes five to seven years before a young bird becomes dominant enough to have a good chance at getting a territory (most often, by taking it from someone else).
We've only witnessed some short test flights more than six weeks ago, but we're hoping that all is good in the flight department so that he can take off when needed before ice forms on the lake. He only has a few thousand feet to get to Somes Harbor. Feather development has appeared complete for a couple of months and he is able to move his wings, legs, and feet just fine. Well functioning legs and feet are needed to gain enough momentum from running on the water and flapping wings simultaneously to get airborne.
There are still many, many 2-3 inch juvenile alewife in Somes Pond, so there is a plentiful food supply for sure. Eagles still frequent the pond, as they did today, but the juvenile seems pretty hip to their tactics and perch locations.
Sanctuary Volunteer Ray Yeager took these great images on October 26th and 21st. Several show the meticulousness of feather care that goes into a preening session.
Enjoy!
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Several more reflections from Echo Lake last week when we removed the loon nest raft and swim zone/loon nest zone lines. ... See MoreSee Less
Great walk at Seawall yesterday morning - so nice to be by the ocean! We enjoyed watching a white-tailed deer doe and fawn at the top of the beach, saw numerous birds on the water including several common loons, a red-throated loon, eider ducks, and red-necked grebes. One harbor seal was keeping an eye on things from mid-cove. A peregrine falcon cruised over us as we were getting ready to depart. It landed on a large rock at water's edge after all the gulls vacated the area. Nice chance to meet some new people and catch up with old friends in a very vibrant place:) ... See MoreSee Less