On June 20, PL/PPA President David Randall hosted Maine Lakes’ President Susan Gallo and Outreach Assistant Karen McNeil on Pleasant Lake for a loon monitoring visit. The goal of the lake field trip was to make an initial assessment about the viability of a loon nesting raft. We will continue to monitor loon activity all summer, noting possible loon pairings, nesting activity and locations (if any), and successful chick hatching and survival.
Many thanks to Susan and Karen for braving the high winds/waves/water on the South end of the lake. Special thanks to Casco resident Levi Thornton who provided insight on current loon activity near his home on the south end of the lake. And extra credit to our fearless Captain (David) that dropped us off at the Casco boat ramp so that we could drive to Otisfield Beach, meeting back up with him and his boat for a beautiful — and dry! — tour of the North end of the lake.
Today’s visit is part of an overall effort called the “Maine Loon Restoration Project” (or “Maine’s Loon Productivity Project”). This initiative is led by Maine Audubon while partnering with Maine Lakes, Lakes Environmental Association, and the Penobscot Nation. The goal of this project is to increase loon nesting success and decrease loon mortality.
We provided an overview of the Maine Loon Restoration Project in our May newsletter: https://plppa.org/home/newsletters/
Maine Audubon: https://maineaudubon.org/projects/loons/loon-restoration-project/
Maine Lakes: https://www.lakes.me/loons
We will talk more about the Maine Loon Restoration Project and the possibility of a loon nesting raft on Pleasant Lake at our Annual Meeting: Saturday, July 23 at 9:30am (Casco Community Center). We hope to see you there!
