Despite some technical issues at Tuesday’s Boundary Waters Connect group, Sherry Abts’ enthusiasm for loons was very informative.
Abts is a part of the Loon Watcher Program put on through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and a resident loon expert.
Her presentation on Tuesday went over where loons go to overwinter, what they do during their off-season, and how they prepare for the spring migration back to the Great Lakes region.
These questions and more are answered through the work of dedicated volunteers with the Loon Watcher Program, which Abts has been a part of for over eight years.
The group of loons Abts observed spent their winter on Lake Jocassee in South Carolina. The lake is located in a temperate rainforest on the northwest corner of South Carolina, almost at the border of North Carolina.
A group of volunteers goes down the first week of March for the winter behavioral observation, and again the last week of March to observe, “the wild chaos of migration, where you’re trying to count a hundred of them dropping out of the sky because they just came from Florida.”
It was previously established that loons migrate to the ocean and spend their winter in a saltwater habitat, but in recent years they seem to be stopping short of the ocean in favor of inland freshwater lakes.
The ocean, as Abts put it, “is very hard. They got sharks, and the ones that come to Maine, they got seals too as predators. There’s storms, there’s murky waters, there’s boats, all kinds of dangers.” It’s easy to see how loons would prefer the calmer waters of an inland lake.
Abts and her volunteer partners record the loons for one hour intervals, jotting down observations on each loon every two minutes. Two minutes is the average amount of time a loon will spend diving for prey, but the most solitary loons can be under the water for up to four minutes.
The types of behaviors worthy of note in their research log are:
• Vocalization, including but not limited to hoots, tremulos, wails, yodels, mews, and clucks;
• Locomotion, which includes wing-rowing (moving fast across the surface of the water), wing-flapping, and foot-waggling;
• Preening and bathing, wherein the loon uses the oil glands on its back to waterproof its feathers;
• Resting on the surface of the water.
Abts’s loon observation is not limited to South Carolina. Just last summer, Abts bore witness to “The Great Tofte Lake Drama of 2025.”
During this saga, Abts was observing a group of about 10-12 loons who had made their home on Tofte Lake. These loons didn’t have a dominant male for a few summers in a row, and were “having a party.”
Last summer though, their utopia was interrupted by the arrival of a new dominant male, nicknamed Stanley. The male takes charge of the lake, successfully mates with a female in the group and produces an egg.
However, another young, single female, known to the staff at Tofte Lake Center as “The Tofte Lake Hussy,” did not appear to enjoy the interruption in her socializing. Instead of settling down and reproducing, she continued to hold gatherings with the other loons on the lake.
During Abts’s observation, Stanley witnesses one these unauthorized wild parties, and wing rows over as fast as he can, screaming at the top of his lungs. This scares away all the visitors, and Stanley proceeds to give the rebellious young loon a tongue lashing.
Abts noted that, “I don’t watch TV, because I watch loons, and there’s a lot of drama.”
If you are interested in observing the local loon drama yourself, reach out to Abts (the local Ely Loon Ranger) at [email protected] or 678-787-6957. Or contact the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources directly at [email protected].
The Loon Watcher program enlists amateur enthusiasts to help monitor loon populations and behavior. This program is open to all ages and all expertise levels; Abts is adamant that it’s something “a third grader can do, it’s easy!”
Tuesday Group, put on by Boundary Waters Connect, takes place every Tuesday from 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. at the Grand Ely Lodge. Every week there is a difference presenter for a different topic. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to arrive early to connect with your neighbors.
