| Dawn was just approaching. Barely visible on the
horizon, the first light of day provided a backdrop silhouetting the
distant tree line. It was still too dark to distinguish objects, though
I could see the surface of the lake that lay before me. As night gave
way to the cool misty morning, I watched thick columns of fog slowly
rise from the stillness of the lake. Like ghosts, they hovered hanging
in the tranquil silence of the woods around me. Suddenly an eerie
vibrato echoed through the brisk morning air. The silence of the fading
night had been abruptly shaken by the shrill tremolo of a loon's
call. An instantaneous shiver passed through me, simultaneously
bringing a smile to my face. The yodeling cry of the loon, the aroma of
the cool, damp forest,
and the spectacle of the lake in the morning deeply moved me. I felt as
though I was experiencing a harmonized orchestration of a piece played
from a long ago era. Nothing in comparison can strike a chord in one's
heart so dramatically to announce our wilderness as this birds' call
reverberating through the woods.
Unfortunately, like a
page out of time, many will never know this spectacular wonder. This
bird is disappearing from much of our New York landscape. Something that
was once known so well by our ancestors will have to be read about by
our followers, if mankind does not take action. The Common Loon (Gavia
immer) is a large, heavy boned bird. Summer plumage is black with white
specks. It is about 25 to 30 inches long and weighs an average of
between 2.5 to 4.5 lbs. This bird was once a common resident in many of
New York's lakes. The largest remaining strongholds in New York are
concentrated in the great lakes, our Adirondack area, and the Catskills.
Acid precipitation has destroyed much of the food chain in some of our
Adirondack lakes.
Loons feed almost
exclusively on fish. They dive and stay submerged for several minutes in
pursuit of their meals. The name loon is sometimes thought to have come
from its eerie, crazy call. Actually, it came from the language of the
Shetland Islands. Loom, meaning lame, describes the birds' inability to
walk around on the land. These birds spend almost their entire lives on
water … occasionally coming out on shore, just at the water's edge.
Their legs and webbed feet are set farther back on their bodies, making
them excellent swimmers, but rendering them helpless on land. They need
several yards of open water to run across to get air borne. A loon
that lands on solid ground, unless discovered and rescued, is a goner
for sure.
During nesting season,
loons usually lay one or two olive green to brown eggs on a nest of
floating plant debris, just at the edge of shore. If not disturbed, the
semi-precocial young hatch in between 26 to 31 days. They are able to
swim at two days of age but generally ride on their mother's back. The
young are unable to fly until they are at least 75 days old. Across
their range, loons are falling victim to loss of habitat, lead and
mercury poisoning, and failed nesting due to recreational boating in
breeding areas. In the past year and a half, I have sent 3 loons that
died of lead poisoning to the New York State Wildlife Pathology lab. All
three had ingested a small lead fishing spilt shot or jig head, which
caused their demise within a few days. In order to dive and stay submerged, loons swallow stones
for ballast. As they forage for these stones they may pick up a small
lead fishing sinker. To watch one of these beautiful creatures die,
despite all of our efforts, leaves me feeling helpless, frustrated, and
angered. Symptoms include a light green watery feces, lethargy,
weakness, no appetite, an inability to hold up their head, then finally
coma and death.
 On
admission, we immediately need to irrigate their GI tract with
aggressive fluid therapy, and administer injections of Calcium E.D.T.A.
Even then, survival is slim. Nationally, 1.5 to 3 million waterfowl die
each year from lead poisoning. Since 1980, over 60 Bald Eagles acquired
secondary poisoning from consuming infected waterfowl. In 1991, a law
was passed making lead shot in shotgun shells illegal. As yet, lead
fishing equipment is still legal. Acid precipitation accounts for the
starvation of 35% to 62% of the young annually. While their parents are
able to fly to other lakes to find food, the young cannot. Anyone who
has ever heard their call or witnessed their antics on a quiet lake, has
a life long memory to cherish. It would be a tragedy to lose this bird
to extinction. It is one of those natural gifts that symbolize the call
of the wild.
As a final note:
In October of 1992, the Federation of Fly Fishers, the North American
Loon Fund, and the Trumpeter Swan Society had petitioned EPA to regulate
lead fishing sinkers. The petition documented lead poisoning of common
loons, trumpeter swans, cranes, ducks, grebes, herons, cormorants,
egrets, osprey, and eagles. Since then, court actions have resulted in
"regulatory investigations." On June 19th, 1998 New Hampshire
has banned some lead fishing tackle. Other states are still involved in
enacting various levels of legislation. In 1987, Great Britain banned
all use of lead sinkers and jig heads. They now use a putty-like
substance that can be squeezed onto fishing lines, or tackle made of
bismuth, tin, or steel, which do not seem to pose an unreasonable
environmental risk.
To obtain more
information, and to help become an educated environmental voter, it
would be wise to write to the Environmental Defense Fund, 257 Park
Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 or email them at EDF@edf.org. You can also write to the
American Sport Fishing Association, 1033 North Fairfax, Suite 200,
Alexandria, VA 22314.
© Copyright 2000
Messinger Woods Wildlife Care & Education Center, Inc.
This species profile is
copyrighted and may only be reprinted with the express permission of
Messinger Woods Wildlife Care & Education Center, Inc.
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