Just in time for his/her first migration.
Category Archives: Just for Fun
Q and A with Loon Expert Eric Hanson
Inspired by the Lake Fairlee loons, Vermont’s loon expert was kind enough to answer some (mostly serious) questions for Northern Woodlands about loons generally.
Click on the image above to read the interview with Eric Hanson, a biologist for the Vermont Loon Conservation Project, on the Northern Woodlands website.
Pictures of our Loon Chick
Finally some photos of our lake’s newest resident. S/he has been seen at many locations on the lake, in the company of one or both parents.
The juveniles are able to catch their own fish within two months and take flight at about 11 weeks. They are fully on their own at 12 weeks, when the parents begin migration in the fall. At this time, the young form flocks on northern lakes and follow suit a few weeks later. Once they reach the coastal ocean waters, the loons remain there for two years, returning in the third to the northern lakes where they were born to live a routine adult life.
The following photos were supplied by Jim and Sharon Morgan, taken from their dock, on August 24th. The chick is probably about four weeks old.
Loon Update
The following was received from a LFA member who lives on the lake near the Loons’ nest:
“We can confirm that the two loons nesting on Lake Fairlee have hatched a single baby chick. I watched it swimming between the parents this evening in the vicinity of the sandbar where it was hatched. The parents are very attentive. Apparently they made all sorts of interesting calls throughout the night. We will keep a close eye on our lake’s newest resident!”
August 3, 2016 at 7:48:14 PM EDT
More Information on the Nesting Loons
We are glad to direct you to an informative article written by our friend/neighbor/photographer who captured the photos on our earlier post. Read it HERE.
We are hoping soon to post a photo of the newly hatched baby loons. But we need your help, and are declaring a no-contest. Please send your entries to ben@fesone.com. No-prizes will be awarded.
Lake Population Increases . . .
. . . for a day, at least. Sunday February 12th was a bitterly cold day, but that did not seem to deter the ice fishermen who came to compete in the annual Lake Fairlee Ice Fishing Derby.
Bob houses populated the lake over the weekend. The competition technically begins at one minute after midnight, and some intrepid souls were hard at work at east by 2:30am. According to the Valley News (LINK), over 200 people participated.
There were multiple winners in each of several categories. See the article above for details.
Summer 2012 – Dates to Save
- Sunday July 8th — Lake Fairlee Triathlon — Run from the Horizons Day Camp field. Watch this space for more information.
- Saturday July 14th — Membership Meeting and Barbecue Dinner — This annual event is a great opportunity to meet other lake association members. Come to the BYO cocktail hour at 5:30, then enjoy an excellent dinner prepared by Barebones Catering. This will be followed by a summary business meeting and a brief presentation on a topic of interest.
- Saturday August 11th — LakeFest 2012 at Treasure Island — Join over 300 people from the towns surrounding Lake Fairlee for a day of fun on the lake. Come together as a community to enjoy a wide range of activities and celebrat together the natural beauty of the lake.
The Eagles Have Landed
During ice fishing season fishermen sometimes leave unwanted fish on the ice after they leave (for reasons which we do not understand). This year they attracted a veritable flock of bald eagles, and a quick-shot member photographer captured these images.
We are told that there were five birds in all. In the summer we frequently see one, or maybe two, of them.
Thanks to Gordon Kerr who took these shots from Passumpsuc Point looking southeast across the lake.