The Common Loon

A Common Loon nesting on the shore of Raquette Lake’s South Inlet, July 2016.

By Jen Maguder

Great Camp Sagamore’s Program Director

Ice-out is an exciting time of year when the ice that has been covering northern lakes for many months finally breaks apart. Waterfowl have an uncanny sense for the open water and move north as soon as they can even though the water is still very cold.

Common Loons are one species of waterfowl that return to Adirondack lakes during the early spring after spending the winter fighting waves out on the ocean. Males return first to stake out a territory, then females follow, joining their lifelong mates in their summer homes.

While loons make a variety of sounds, they are most well known for their long, beautiful wail. The loon’s eerie wail seems to embody the sound of remote wilderness, and it is often portrayed that way in movies. In fact, you may notice the wail of a loon on movie soundtracks in places where a loon wouldn’t likely be living, such as a desert, rainforest, or prairie. Loons are well adapted to life on the water and only come up on shore to nest, so it’s unlikely one would find them so far from the northern lakes they call home.

Learn more . . .

Listen to this clip titled “pair calls” from Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library to hear the wail of a loon that was recorded at Mason Lake, which sits in the same county as Great Camp Sagamore.

If you have a movie night this weekend, listen for the call of a loon in unexpected places.