Loon Update

I had a chance to check in with the Eastons and Middletons over the last week. Let’s see what they’re up to.

I’ll be up at the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival October 11-13 with note cards, calendars and prints. Come on out and have a look. All the details about the Festival here: https://stoweartsfest.com/.

I’ll be giving my slideshow, An Uncommon Look at the Common Loon a couple times in the near future. First is at 10 a.m. October 5 at the Richford, VT, Town Hall. And again at 6 p.m. on November 6 at the Hartland, VT, Library.

This week, the folks behind the Lake Fairlee loon cam, Doug Tift, Sean Brown and Eric Hanson, gave a great presentation on the success of the cam. The cam is offline for the season, but they’ll have it back up in the spring. They’ve got a collection of highlights from this past season up at https://www.youtube.com/@LakeFairleeAssociation/playlists. They’ve captured lots of great video of various behaviors and interactions with the other critters on the ponds.

September 17 was a beautiful day above the valley fog. The Eastons were enjoying a light mist when I arrived. Mom and the chicks were at the south end of the pond, with the chicks hounding her to be fed. Dad took the morning off and drifted leisurely alone at the north end of the pond.

Dad was cruising the north end of the pond, occasionally diving to forage.


The colors are coming on. With the late hatch for these chicks, we’ve probably got another couple weeks before any of them move on for the season.

Dad taking a moment to stretch.

Dad is beginning to change into his winter plumage, see the gray feathers around the base of his bill. The lump under his bill is likely a fibroma – a benign tumor, probably the result of an abscess from getting poked with something sharp – like a fish spine or fish hook. He’s had it for some time and it doesn’t seem to bother.


Down the other end of the pond, the chicks were chasing mom, trying to get her to feed them. They’re old enough to forage on their own, but still want the parents to feed them. When the chicks are this big, it must be exhausting for the parents. The chicks are big enough to keep up with the adults and will be on them within a couple seconds of their surfacing. And they don’t stop….

Another shot of a chick encouraging mom to feed him.

Mom took time for a quick stretch.

On the 20th, I made it over to the Middleton’s pond. Friends on the pond said they hadn’t seen the Middletons for a week. I spent a couple of hours on the pond without finding them, they’ve moved on. They’ve left a little earlier than in previous years. Most of New England’s loons will winter in the Atlantic between Cape Cod and Maine. Of course, they don’t all read the manual and there will be some that go off to other places. They may well stop on a larger pond to the south or east of home before continuing to the Atlantic. This time of year, it is common to find ‘rafts’ or ‘asylums’ of loons gathering on ponds. Without having to worry about chicks, they’re more social.

There was a small flock of geese resting in the morning fog.

And a double-crested cormorant has stopped on the pond. After feeding, he? perched on a submerged log.

The Loon Preservation Committee banded the Middleton adults this year. It will be interesting to see if they both come back in the spring. I’ve been following the loons on the pond since 2012. From his behavior, I think we’ve had the same male the whole time. We lost the original female in a fight with a goose in 2017. Let’s hope the Middletons have safe travels and reunite in the spring.

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6 Comments

  1. Reply
    Michael Fiske September 22, 2024

    Great photographs

  2. Reply
    Heather Dale Porter September 22, 2024

    Thank you!!

  3. Reply
    Carol Crouthamel September 22, 2024

    Thanks for another fantastic bird watching season.

  4. Reply
    Jenness Ide September 24, 2024

    Dear Ian,
    THANK YOU for your beautiful work AND incredible patience. Every slide show is magnificent. WE get to enjoy these magn̈ificent creatures…
    The narratives are wonderful.

  5. Reply
    Pat Spalding September 29, 2024

    This is an especially beautiful and relaxing blog. Thank you for you care and talent and for your gift of making it available to us.

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