Loon Lovers Ecstatic About Idaho Sightings Supporters Hope To Preserve Habitat To Help Promote Breeding

As more and more humans decided the Inland Northwest was a good place to raise families, loons were making the opposite decision.

Common loons stop by on their migrations, but are known to breed at only four lakes in Eastern Washington. No one has reported seeing a loon nest in the entire state of Idaho for 32 years.

Now, there’s cause for optimism among those who long to hear the haunting loon cry dubbed “the voice of the wilderness.”

Two loon families with chicks were spotted this summer at the north end of Lake Pend Oreille. Plans to improve the loon’s lot are taking flight.

“They’re a bird that people really get excited about,” said Jennifer Welch, who lives near Lake Pend Oreille. “They’re so unapproachable, they’re kind of mysterious.”

Members of the Loon Lake Loon Association want nothing more than to see the birds breed on their namesake Washington lake.

“When the stagecoach route went from Spokane to Colville, the stagecoach would stop at the summit and travelers would hear the loons. It’s part of our history,” said founder Janey Youngblood.

Giving loons the peace and quiet they need, especially when they’re nesting, is one key to breeding success. The other key is making sure they have protected lakeshore areas in May and June to lay their eggs.

So habitat protection and human activities such as boating are the main focus of people who want to increase the number of loons.

In this region, Welch and Youngblood are among a trio of loon supporters leading the charge.

The third woman is Lynn Kelly, a Polson teacher and a founder of the Montana Loon Society. The group’s efforts to locate and protect loon nests on a number of Montana lakes is apparently helping the population to grow. That, in turn, could be what’s sending loons westward to the Idaho Panhandle in search of new nesting territory.

Youngblood hopes the spillover will reach Eastern Washington.

Welch moved to the Sandpoint area nine years ago.

“I grew up in Minnesota and didn’t appreciate loons until I came to Idaho and there weren’t very many.”

She spotted two young loons with their parents last summer, where the Clark Fork River flows into Lake Pend Oreille. Later, she saw a loon family at Bottle Bay.

Welch was amazed that the big birds had found nesting sites, because the dam-controlled water level rises each spring and would flood shoreline nests.

One solution is a floating nest platform. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has agreed to supply materials to build platforms next year at Lake Pend Oreille.

The locations will be chosen by David Evers, a Minnesota researcher who visited the Inland Northwest last summer with support from the Loon Lake group and the North Idaho Audubon Society chapter.

Idaho Fish and Game will pay for Evers to come back next summer. Besides looking for nests, he’ll test loons for toxic metals and put identifying bands on them.

One tactic for protecting loons is to put up warning signs, advising visitors to stay away. Colville tribal biologists have done that on Washington’s Twin Lakes in Ferry County, where there were nests last year.

“Some experts say you shouldn’t advertise (nest locations) too much,” said Youngblood. “But we need to do all we can, because sometimes disturbance is entirely unintentional.”

In Montana, Kelly found that birds will leave their nests, exposing eggs to predators, if people come within 140 yards. If they’re off the nest for an hour, they don’t return.

If people get too close, the birds will start dancing and singing. It doesn’t mean they’re happy.

“If they’re showing off for you, it means ‘Go away and leave me alone,”’ said Welch.

Loons aren’t a common sight in the Inland Northwest, but they do pass through on their way to and from their coastal winter habitat.

“In the fall and in the spring, you can always see loons,” said Coeur d’Alene bird-watcher Shirley Sturts. She’s seen loons at such places as Fernan Lake, Lake Chatcolet and on Lake Coeur d’Alene at Wolf Lodge Bay and Harrison.

Welch has seen up to 30 loons at a time along Lake Pend Oreille’s northeastern shore.

“When we were there in the fall, they were right in there among the power boats,” she said.

Sometimes loons stick around in the winter. Six were spotted last winter at Priest Lake, during a survey for bald eagles.

Priest Lake is promising loon country. There’s still some good nesting habitat. In 1993, a young loon was sighted at Upper Priest Lake.

Tim Layser, biologist at the Priest Lake Ranger District, hopes to round up enough volunteers next summer to scour the upper and lower lakes for nests.

On a crisp October day, Layser scanned Priest Lake with binoculars and saw three of the distinctive, laid-back loon heads pop out of the water. Just as quickly, they dove out of sight.

Then a cry echoed from the opposite shore.

A visitor asked: Is there anything but a loon that makes that sound?

“Nothing that I know,” Layser replied with a grin.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition

This sidebar appeared with the story: CALL OF THE LOON Wails, tremolos, yodels and hoots. Those are the four loon cries that give voice to the wilderness. “Their calls are very ornate, very touching,” said Janey Youngblood of the Loon Lake Loon Association. “That’s why we who get involved with loons have such a passion for them.” To listen to a loon, call Cityline: On a Touch-Tone phone, dial 509-458-8800 in Washington or 208-765-8811 in Idaho, then press 9879. Cityline is a free service, although callers who are normally charged to call Spokane or Coeur d’Alene will pay longdistance tolls. Besides their sounds, there are lots of other interesting things about loons. For example, the fish-eating birds are built like submarines. Their large, webbed feet are propellers that push them toward their prey. “They’re designed for underwater propulsion,” said Patricia Dolan, a U.S. Forest Service biologist. “When they stand up, it’s almost like a penguin standing up. They can’t walk well. That’s why they select nest sites that are close to water that they can dive into.” Dolan’s report on loons in the Northern Rockies is filled with information about the birds’ lifestyles, and what should be done to keep them off the endangered species list. For a free copy of Dolan’s report, “The Common Loon in the Northern Region,” write to her at the Lolo National Forest, Building 24, Fort Missoula, Missoula, MT 49801. A presentation of “Hello, I’m a Loon” is slated for 7 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game office, 2750 Kathleen Ave., Coeur d’Alene. The Audubon Society meeting is open to the public. To get involved in loon recovery efforts, contact Janey Youngblood in Washington, 509-233-2145; or Jennifer Welch in Idaho, 208-263-5359. - Julie Titone