Kennebec Lake loon lovers worried about a lure

Jeff Green | Sep 02, 2010

Kennebec Lake is one of the marquee lakes in Central Frontenac, and has one of the most active lake associations in Frontenac County. It features prime habitat for a number of different species of plans and animals, but one thing it does not have in abundance are loon chicks. No one knows exactly why, but according to one long-time resident, loon chicks have been scarce to non-existent on Kennebec Lake for 50 years.

Members of the Kennebec Lake Association have been trying to change that, and they invested in two loon platforms to encourage nesting. “This year there were nests on both platforms, but the eggs on one of the nests, the one in the wet basin of the lake, were destroyed by water due to the high water levels,” recalled Bernie Dertinger, one of the association’s directors.

The following excerpt from the news feed on the Kennebec Lake website talks about the other nest:

“Weekend of July 2 – Loons are spotted on nest. Friday July 9 – first sighting of loon family with newborn chick in the bay E of Green Island in the E basin of Kennebec Lake. It is a windy, rainy day and the chick swims between the parents as though it was attached to the wing of one of them. Birds of prey circle overhead.”

The baby loon has attracted a lot of attention on the lake, and a steady stream of new feeds chronicled its progress. Concerns over boat traffic in the early days of the chick’s life gave way to reports of the growth of the young loon and the pleasure lake residents were having observing the adult pair and the chick.

In early August, the following reports were posted: “Thursday, August 12 - The loon chick and its parents were fishing for some time in a bay in the West Basin … Friday, August 13 - Received a report that the baby loon is doing well and being well fed in the south bay just west of the bridge today … Tuesday, Aug 17 – the loon chick and an adult are fishing near the boat launch just east of the bridge.”

The loon chick had reached 5 weeks of age, and within 7 more weeks it would be able to fly and the level of risk through predation from raptors and the predators would drop way down.

But, in the August 25 posting, news of a major problem surfaced: “Your help is urgently needed to save the Kennebec Lake loon chick from an uncertain fate. It has been observed with a fishing line and lure hanging from its beak with the hook presumably lodged somewhere inside it. Attempts to catch it with a hand held fish net have not been successful. As of today, the chick is still vigorous and dives.”

The chick was spotted on August 26 but at that time it appeared that one of its wings was weaker than the other. “We don’t know if a fishing line was caught in the wing, or if it was something else,” said Bernie Dertinger.

On the weekend, a rescue crew, armed with a specially prepared net, set out to try to find the chick. The plan was to see if the lure had somehow become dislodged, in which case the loon would need no assistance, or if it had weakened the bird such that it could be captured, the lure and hook removed, and then left. If the bird was severely weakened, the possibility of bringing it to a bird rescue sanctuary near Napanee was being considered.

But nothing came of all the efforts. There were no sightings of the loon chick on the weekend.

“At this age we would expect the loon to be almost as large as an adult, with the down having been replaced by feathers, but it would not be black yet, it would be olive-drab, and it would not have the loon necklace pattern on its neck yet, either,” said Bernie Dertinger, who is basing his conclusions on internet research and consultations with Birds Canada.

The loon has not likely left the lake, because it is still too young to fly, but it is capable of providing about half its own food. Association members and residents on the lake will keep looking for their chick.

“The lesson in all this is that people need to be careful when fishing to make sure they don’t leave anything out, any lures or lines, or hooks, when they are done fishing. We’ve talked to a lot of people fishing while looking for the loon last weekend, and almost all of them were interested in helping find the loon, and would never intentionally harm it. It’s just another thing that people need to learn about,” said Bernie Dertinger.

For more information, go to www.Kennebeclake.ca and follow the News links.