Comments on: Silence of the Loons https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/ Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:48:25 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: Bodach https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544219 Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:48:25 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544219 I always thought that parents would show the kids where to go first, and then check out. Do the young just know where to fly later in the season?

]]> By: MadScientist https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544218 Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:28:32 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544218 Oops … thought the title (Silence of the Loons) was for the embedded image below (S. Palin and – is that M. Bachmann?)

]]> By: Monado https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544217 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:14:30 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544217 I was some way into this post before I realized that it was about birds and not right-wing, rabid Obama-haters.

Our cormorants are still around Lake Ontario in large numbers

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544216 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:52:03 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544216 Eric: I have the impression that in the east, loons tend to go east for the winter. So ADK loons go to coastal maine (as to Downeasters). Some Eastern Canadian loons actually go to coastal Europe, I think.

Mystic, I’d guess, wold be interior upstate NY, Quebec, and maybe NOrthern Michigan. But at some point those loons go south.

At some point I’ll get a good source on loon migrations. I have some telemetry studies, but I’ve not really looked at them closely yet.

]]> By: Eric https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544215 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:31:28 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544215 We regularly get several small groups of loons in the winter here in Mystic. They float around the estuaries in pairs, but are conspicuously non-vocal. It would be interesting to find out where “our” loons summer at.

]]> By: Tomato Addict https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544214 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:25:55 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544214 Adrian: “And I thought this would be a post about creationists…”

Me Three. I thought maybe you had found a way to shut them up for a while.

On the other hand, the thought of creationists bobbing around in the ocean all winter is kind of funny.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544213 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:10:04 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544213 Dean: Maybe the Gulf of Mexico? I was trying to figure that out today but could not find out in the time allotted so I’m guessing.

Stephanie: Yes, we could see a handfull of blaze around the lake, but just a handful. I think of those trees as wise-asses.

Doug: I’ve recently written a bunch of stuff on loon, click on the “notes from up north” tag. I’m sure they could winter in freshwater, but the vast majority of them go to the sea in winter, but if they are on fresh water (espeically in the western states and maybe southern areas) that is near coastal areas. But I’ve lived more in winter areas where loons on fresh water would have to be into hockey.

I doubt they make much noise in winter. I never heard them make any noise, that I can recall, where I’ve seen them off the cape and on the Maine coast.

]]> By: Lynn https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544212 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:33:08 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544212 Adrian: “And I thought this would be a post about creationists…”

Oh good. It wasn’t just me. I read,

“The loons have been strangely silent all weekend… Well, they are not totally gone, but they are in a transitional phase. I think they are starting to spend time in their staging area…”

and thought the post was going to be about Obamacare loons.

]]> By: doug l https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544211 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:33:25 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544211 Glad to hear that people are seeing increasing numbers, or at least your neighbor is. For some time their numbers have been dropping presumably due (or so I’d heard) to wakes from boats washing over their nests which they instinctively build right on the waterline/shore since they’re not too good walking on land (legs so far back). this decrease was expecially pronounced in the north central states like Wisconsin and Minnesota where any lake big enough for loons (they cant take-off from smaller ponds since they need speed and distance to generate lift, or a really stong head wind) would be big enough for a motor boat for fishing or skiing of jet-skis. It doesn’t take much of wake to wash over the nest, and the small boats could negotiate even some of the more protected waters and create wakes there.
They can winter in southern lakes and rivers as well as coastal areas. Coastal areas in the Eastern US have some nice barrier island offering some protection and food. I saw them in the Okeefenoke one winter, but they weren’t conspicuously vocal.
cheers

]]> By: Stephanie Z https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544210 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:30:41 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/06/silence-of-the-loons/#comment-544210 It does seem terribly early, but we were out for a river drive earlier (hills, trees, fields and water, all in easy reach), and the stressed trees were already turning color.

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