The Annual Loon Count on Lake Vermilion

Counting Loons for 27 Years !

Lake Vermilion has always been known for its large population of loons. To lake residents and frequent visitors, the loon has been something special. One never tires of the haunting cries in the early morning or late evening hours, the sight of a loon cruising the open waters of the lake with his head below water looking for a meal, or the special scene of a loon chick --- or maybe two --- riding on a parent's back to keep warm.

Photo by Steve Foss / Timberjay

In the early 1980s, news of large loon die-offs off the coast of Florida had the Club worried. They could have been "our" loons. So in 1983 the Sportsmen's Club began keeping count of the loons on Lake Vermilion every summer.

The task was quite large: thousands of acres of water, many bays and islands, and a bird that wouldn't sit still long enough to be counted only once. But if enough volunteers could be on the water on the same day, at the same time, an accurate count could be taken. Today, the Lake Vermilion Loon Count is the longest running, single lake count of common loons anywhere in the United States.

For Info on the Loon Count Process or to Volunteer  

To learn more about the process of counting loons on Lake Vermilion, including a map of the territories, click here.

Thanks to the volunteers who currently traverse their territories so carefully each July. Since the beginning, 139 volunteers have participated. Of those, 61 have earned their 5-year patch. Quite a few have been involved for 25 years!  

If you'd like to join this team, please contact east-end coordinator Mardy Jackson [contact info] or west-end coordinator Claire Zwieg [contact info]. Alternate counters are often needed. And a territory opens up periodically.

Loon Survey Report for 2008      by Mardy Jackson

Hooray! The morning of Monday, July 14, could not possibly have been more ideal for our loon count. Sunny, calm, cool — just perfect! All this sandwiched in between days of rain, wind and storms.

Claire Zwieg coordinates 10 loon count territories on the west end and feeds the numbers to me on the east end, where we have 12 territories. Out of the 22 territories, 16 were higher than last year. So there’s joy in the hearts of the loon lovers of Lake Vermilion for 2008.

Our total count for this year is 281. Last year we had 253, so we’re up a total of 28. When I average out the last 10 years, the figure is 248, so we have a healthy population here. And the chick count! Listen to this — we doubled last year’s 21 — we have 42 in 2008!

In the early summer it was cold, windy and rainy. The water level was very high. The hatch here was generally later than usual, although one of our observers saw a couple of fairly large chicks. So at least one pair was quite clever.

I have a confession to make. And an apology to make to the adult loons. In my mind, I chastised them for taking off in September and leaving their "kids in the spray," so to speak. The juveniles would then "beef up" to make their migration in late November. And I thought, how did the poor things know where their folks went and where they were to go?

Well, it all became clearer when I talked with Pam Perry who is with the DNR in Brainerd. (I send my loon report to her each year.) The adults go to a huge rendezvous over in Big Winnie or Mille Lacs. Thousands of them gather. They are still in Minnesota, so they don’t completely ditch the kids. I don’t know if the juveniles were given previous instructions, or if by instinct they head south and just happen to run into these big lakes. I should have checked further. But when they all head south, they’re not pretty. They’ve lost their stunning plumage and have reverted to a dull grey-brown.

Our club can be very proud of the 57 volunteers who so graciously collectively gave 57-1/2 hours of their time for this survey. The federal government will donate money to the Minnesota Nongame Wildlife programs for the time our volunteers gave to this venture. This information is gathered for our own membership as well as being valuable to the DNR for our 26 consistent years of reporting. My reports go to Carroll Henderson, Nongame Wildlife supervisor for the state, with regional headquarters in Grand Rapids and Brainerd.

Claire and I thank all loon volunteers. You are the ones who make the loon count on Lake Vermilion possible.