We were able to do a loon survey this week. There’s something wonderful about getting out on the water early enough that there is a mist rising from the water and sun slanting down through the trees, casting long shadows on a mirror-smooth lake. Loons have chicks this time of year.
Unlike ducks, loons only have one or two chicks at a time, so they are very protective of the young. Chicks are sometimes carried on the back of the parent, but also can swim around on their own from the time they hatch. After around 12 weeks, the parents migrate south, leaving the young loons on their own for around three more weeks to eat more and fully fledge.
The young loons then will migrate south themselves, somehow finding the same area, usually off the Florida panhandle, to which the adults migrated. They will stay down there until they become adults themselves in around three years, and then migrate back north to the area of their original lake.
Most loons won’t raise chicks until they are around 6 years old, but then will enjoy a long life. The oldest recorded loon was 30 years old, which for a bird is pretty amazing.
We actually saw no loons on our lake this time, though there were loons on surrounding lakes. Loon mortality is actually quite low, with around 90 percent of adults returning safely each year. One major cause of death in loons, and in fact the primary cause of death of loons in one Maine study, is lead fishing tackle.
Loons, along with other fish-eating water birds, ingest the lead with the fish, or pick up lead from the bottom of the pond while eating grit. If you want to help loons in our state, consider using bismuth or other lead alternative fishing tackle.
Loons or not, it was a great day to be out…except for the bugs. There are a lot of mosquitoes out there. There are a lot of “good” insects out there too right now.
The large silkworm moths are flying—Polyphemus and Cecropias are both moths with a six-inch or more wingspan. Luna moths are a bit smaller, but are one of the most beautiful insects in the forest. All of these moths have caterpillars which love birch leaves, so we have plenty of them. They also don’t like pesticides, and we have less pesticide use than urban areas.
There are also plenty of Canadian tiger swallowtail butterflies. They are a local specialty, different from the eastern tiger swallowtails in much of the rest of the state. These large yellow and black striped butterflies love to congregate at puddles, which unfortunately puts them in the way of passing vehicles.
While beautiful, one of the other abundant insects right now is more useful. Chalk fronted corporal dragonflies seem to be everywhere near lakes. These are black-bodied dragonflies with a chalky set of light blue corporal’s stripes on their backs. They love eating mosquitoes, which is fine with me.
When you are out and about this next week, watch the weather. July is a good month for pop-up thunderstorms. When sheltering in a storm, get off the water, avoid tall trees, and try to reduce your contact with the ground. Lightning strikes are frequent here – more frequent than in southern Minnesota.
On the plus side, tornadoes are less frequent! We are, however, marking the 20th anniversary of the derecho wind that caused the 1999 blowdown. Nearly a half a million acres of forest were blown down in the storm, but there were few injuries and no one was killed. The forest is still recovering, but in many places it is hard to tell that there ever was a blowdown.
These next few weeks can be some of the busiest on our road system. Log hauling is in full swing on the Lima Grade, South Brule Road, Greenwood Road, Firebox Road, Blueberry Road, Cascade River Road, and Pike Lake Road on the Gunflint District, with haulers in Tofte using the Dumbell River Road, Wanless Road, Lake County 705, the Four Mile Grade, the Grade, and Cook County 27 and 8.
Culvert work is still happening on the 600 Road with dump trucks hauling in that area. There are also plenty of pick-up trucks hauling campers and boats with varying degrees of skill, litters of snowshoe hare hopping around, fawns and deer, and sometimes, a moose – along with parked cars looking at the moose. In other words, it is a good time to practice being a safe defensive driver.
Summer can be short in Minnesota, so take advantage of it this coming week and go out in search of loons!
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