Welcome to the Lake Fairlee LoonCam
The Lake Fairlee community has embraced the loons, enchanted by their haunting calls and touched by the care they show their offspring. In recognition of this, the Lake Fairlee Association is pleased to sponsor the first loon observation camera in Vermont.
Lake Fairlee hosted its first loon breeding pair in 2016 when they successfully hatched a chick at a shoreline nest near the mouth of Blood Brook. The next year they returned but their initial effort was thwarted by a raccoon. The Vermont Loon Conservation Project immediately stepped in and furnished a loon nesting raft where the pair successfully renested and hatched another chick. Since then the loons have returned every spring and average one chick a year using the same nesting raft maintained by local volunteers.
|
Second Set of Loons Briefly Nest Near the Mouth of Middle Brook
Doug Tifft, June 18, 2025 A second loon nest on Lake Fairlee was discovered on June 8 near the mouth of Middle Brook, but unfortunately was abandoned on June 12. The nest contained two eggs, which, on June 18, were recovered by Eric Hanson, loon biologist and head of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies Loon Conservation Project, to be sent to a lab for toxicology testing. On Sunday, June 8, two kayakers notified boat launch greeter Beth Tilden after observing the nest and two loons near the Aloha Horizons Camp pedestrian bridge that crosses Middle Brook. Beth then contacted Doug Tifft, who oversees the loon nesting raft near his shoreline at the northern end of Lake Fairlee. Doug visited the site early on June 9, photographing a loon sitting on the nest and noting the nest's close proximity to the camper crossing bridge. The loons had selected a location safe from predators by being situated at the point of land where Middle Brook splits into two branches. It was a bad location, however, in terms of disturbance from boaters passing alongside in the narrow channel and from the many campers who would eventually be crossing the bridge roughly 30 feet downstream. Doug contacted biologist Eric Hanson, alerting him to the presence of a second active loon nest on Lake Fairlee, and he suggested ways to diminish disturbance during the 28-day incubation period. Sean Brown, who manages the Lake Fairlee LoonCam, was also made aware of the nest and immediately contacted Stuart Fairbairn, director of the Aloha Horizons Camp. Eric advised that Middle Brook could be closed to boaters to minimize that disturbance, but there was no way to limit use of the camper bridge since it is the only safe access to the waterfront, playing fields, and parent parking area. Eric and Stuart discussed signage and an education program, including having Eric speak to counselors during pre-camp week beginning June 23. Doug, meanwhile, visited the site daily to monitor the well-being of the loon. He observed that there were two eggs and that the loon was banded, which indicated a previous close encounter with people. Eric planned to drive down on the morning of Friday, June 13, with signs to post along the path leading to the bridge and two floating loon nest warning signs to be put at the mouth of the brook connected by a floating rope. The Vermont Loon Conservation Project is supported in part by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and has the authority to limit public access temporarily for wildlife protection. On the evening of Thursday, June 12, Doug found that the loon had left the nest and was not nearby. Typically, parent loons share nesting duties and sit on their eggs at least 95 percent of the time, though they may temporarily leave for feeding or during the swap with the other parent. When Eric and the others arrived on the morning of June 13, the loon was still not on the nest. This suggested that they had abandoned the eggs, possibly realizing that the site was prone to visitations by boaters and observers, or it was too much to travel up the brook this far. Eric decided to hold off posting signs on the brook and the pathway. The loons subsequently never returned to the nest, making the eggs no longer viable. First-time loon parents learn from bad nest-siting decisions and will likely try again at a better location, either renesting that same season or when they return the next year. If they continue to fail, Eric said the pair may be considered for a loon nesting raft, as happened for the highly successful loons at the northern end of the lake. After more than 25 years at the Vermont Loon Conservation Project, it may be said that Eric thinks like a loon. This past September, just prior to giving a loon talk at the Latham Library on Thetford Hill, Eric led a small group of Lake Fairlee loon enthusiasts on a kayak tour of likely loon nesting sites on the southern end of the lake. Boat launch greeters and others had noticed some loons on this end of the lake pairing off, which precedes by a year or so nesting attempts. During the tour, Eric rejected several coves that the local group thought might be likely. He then zeroed in on the shallow, marshy corner where Camp Horizons and Camp Billings meet across from Cozy Nook. As it turns out, he was very close to identifying the location of this year's first nesting attempt. Fingers crossed that this loon pair tries again either in the next few weeks or when they return next year. The Lake Fairlee loon volunteers will be ready for them. |
The new loon nest on Lake Fairlee near the mouth of Middle Brook.
The loon nest (far left above) is only about 30 feet from the pedestrian bridge heavily used by campers.
The second loon nest contained two eggs.
Eric Hanson, head of the Vermont Loon Conservation Project, on June 18 retrieves the two abandoned loon eggs for toxicity testing.
|
UPDATE: Good Year For Loons, Rocky Start for LoonCam
Doug Tifft, May 28, 2025
Once again demonstrating an uncanny ability to forecast Lake Fairlee conditions, the first of "our loons" returned to the northern end of the lake on April 9 just as the ice receded. There may have been other visiting loons a few days earlier, but somehow I could tell that this was one of the pair who regularly plan to nest here. Soon both loons made their presence known, patrolling their territory and looking vigorous and healthy after a winter along the coast.
We launched the loon raft on April 27 after freshening up the foliage and adding plenty of mucky materials for nest building. This raft was constructed by volunteers from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies the previous July (see video "New Raft Day" dated July 16, 2024) to replace the original loon nesting raft from 2017. The new raft sat anchored by the shore throughout the winter and was riding fairly low in the water as we dragged it out.
Doug Tifft, May 28, 2025
Once again demonstrating an uncanny ability to forecast Lake Fairlee conditions, the first of "our loons" returned to the northern end of the lake on April 9 just as the ice receded. There may have been other visiting loons a few days earlier, but somehow I could tell that this was one of the pair who regularly plan to nest here. Soon both loons made their presence known, patrolling their territory and looking vigorous and healthy after a winter along the coast.
We launched the loon raft on April 27 after freshening up the foliage and adding plenty of mucky materials for nest building. This raft was constructed by volunteers from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies the previous July (see video "New Raft Day" dated July 16, 2024) to replace the original loon nesting raft from 2017. The new raft sat anchored by the shore throughout the winter and was riding fairly low in the water as we dragged it out.
The new loon nesting raft after its winter anchored by the shore.
I tucked about half a dozen "oyster floats" underneath for added buoyancy before my wife, Bonnie, and I rowed the raft to the usual position between my shoreline and the northern end of Treasure Island. Three days later, on April 30, we spotted one of the loons hopping on board to give it a test drive. I also noticed the loons warding off the geese and showing an appropriate degree of territoriality to other interlopers. As such, I decided not to add the "goose guard."
On May 3, our technical wizard Sean Brown came by, and we began work to prepare the Lake Fairlee LoonCam for its third season. The Looncam had unexpectedly stopped transmitting the previous fall. Fortunately, by then, the loons had ceased frequenting the site, so there was not much to see. Sean took down the camera in September, and we decided to wait until spring to figure out what had gone wrong.
Now, with the loon nesting season soon to begin, we pulled up the underwater cable that ran from the camera pole opposite the loon nesting raft to a router in my screenhouse on shore. The signal is then sent via an "air bridge" antenna to a receiver mounted on a corner of my house, and then via another cable to my router and its internet connection. Such a simple setup. What could go wrong? We soon discovered the break in the cable, where it appeared a trolling motor prop had gotten tangled and cut the connection.
Short of replacing the entire length of expensive cable, a patch would be needed. Sean was able to do this, but it meant that we would need to run the cable through the cattail marsh rather than underwater so that this patched section could remain elevated. By this time, what would become the Vermont monsoon had begun. We spent a long, wet afternoon rerouting the cable through the cattails, elevating it over stream openings, and then briefly underwater to the nearby camera pole. The 2025 Lake Fairlee LoonCam went live by the end of the day on May 3, much to the delight of our 631 YouTube subscribers.
The enthusiastic online audience was not disappointed. They witnessed X-rated loon mating scenes, home improvement segments, and what they termed "nestorations," geese landing on the nest and being promptly dispatched by attacking loons, and the shocking appearance of the "beaver-saurus." This last entertainment rivaled the scariest horror movie scene as a 50-pound beaver lumbered onboard the raft and, for the next 15 minutes, proceeded to decimate the foliage. The loon-watching season was starting off great when suddenly the screen went dark.
On May 9, at about 4:30 p.m., the signal stopped. Rebooting and a visual inspection showed no obvious problem. The software indicated a connection lapse. The impatient loon audience was not happy. And Sean and his wife were now in western Scotland hiking the Highland Trail. And the Vermont monsoon was settling in, making the gloom that much gloomier. The loons, however, were unaware and undeterred. I reverted to conducting loon observations with binoculars, as I had since the birds first began nesting on our shore in 2016. The far-flung human audience would just need to wait . . .
Fast forward to May 27. The previous day, I observed through my binoculars both loons on the raft engaged in serious "nestorations." It is very unusual for them both to be on the raft for any purpose other than mating or when taking turns sitting on the eggs. The construction frenzy was obvious, and their rebuilding was creating what more resembled a volcano rather than the nicely landscaped garden I had provided. By the morning of May 27, I see that one of the loons has settled in the sculpted cone of this volcano and will only stand up to engage in what was clearly "egg rolling." Wow! An egg, maybe two! If only the eager audience could see this!!
At mid-morning, an email from Sean declares he has returned and will be over shortly. Overcoming jet lag, he quickly finds a waterlogged patch in the cable, and by late afternoon, the signal is restored. Cheers from the loon audience around the world. The nesting loon, unaware of the adulation, is now a celebrity simply by performing what nature prompts it to do. The online crowd swells and again celebrates the purple sunset and the crimson dawn of Lake Fairlee. "You're living the dream," they tell me. The loon sitting on what the crowd now dubs "Mt. Everest" does another egg roll and settles itself back down for the long haul.
On May 3, our technical wizard Sean Brown came by, and we began work to prepare the Lake Fairlee LoonCam for its third season. The Looncam had unexpectedly stopped transmitting the previous fall. Fortunately, by then, the loons had ceased frequenting the site, so there was not much to see. Sean took down the camera in September, and we decided to wait until spring to figure out what had gone wrong.
Now, with the loon nesting season soon to begin, we pulled up the underwater cable that ran from the camera pole opposite the loon nesting raft to a router in my screenhouse on shore. The signal is then sent via an "air bridge" antenna to a receiver mounted on a corner of my house, and then via another cable to my router and its internet connection. Such a simple setup. What could go wrong? We soon discovered the break in the cable, where it appeared a trolling motor prop had gotten tangled and cut the connection.
Short of replacing the entire length of expensive cable, a patch would be needed. Sean was able to do this, but it meant that we would need to run the cable through the cattail marsh rather than underwater so that this patched section could remain elevated. By this time, what would become the Vermont monsoon had begun. We spent a long, wet afternoon rerouting the cable through the cattails, elevating it over stream openings, and then briefly underwater to the nearby camera pole. The 2025 Lake Fairlee LoonCam went live by the end of the day on May 3, much to the delight of our 631 YouTube subscribers.
The enthusiastic online audience was not disappointed. They witnessed X-rated loon mating scenes, home improvement segments, and what they termed "nestorations," geese landing on the nest and being promptly dispatched by attacking loons, and the shocking appearance of the "beaver-saurus." This last entertainment rivaled the scariest horror movie scene as a 50-pound beaver lumbered onboard the raft and, for the next 15 minutes, proceeded to decimate the foliage. The loon-watching season was starting off great when suddenly the screen went dark.
On May 9, at about 4:30 p.m., the signal stopped. Rebooting and a visual inspection showed no obvious problem. The software indicated a connection lapse. The impatient loon audience was not happy. And Sean and his wife were now in western Scotland hiking the Highland Trail. And the Vermont monsoon was settling in, making the gloom that much gloomier. The loons, however, were unaware and undeterred. I reverted to conducting loon observations with binoculars, as I had since the birds first began nesting on our shore in 2016. The far-flung human audience would just need to wait . . .
Fast forward to May 27. The previous day, I observed through my binoculars both loons on the raft engaged in serious "nestorations." It is very unusual for them both to be on the raft for any purpose other than mating or when taking turns sitting on the eggs. The construction frenzy was obvious, and their rebuilding was creating what more resembled a volcano rather than the nicely landscaped garden I had provided. By the morning of May 27, I see that one of the loons has settled in the sculpted cone of this volcano and will only stand up to engage in what was clearly "egg rolling." Wow! An egg, maybe two! If only the eager audience could see this!!
At mid-morning, an email from Sean declares he has returned and will be over shortly. Overcoming jet lag, he quickly finds a waterlogged patch in the cable, and by late afternoon, the signal is restored. Cheers from the loon audience around the world. The nesting loon, unaware of the adulation, is now a celebrity simply by performing what nature prompts it to do. The online crowd swells and again celebrates the purple sunset and the crimson dawn of Lake Fairlee. "You're living the dream," they tell me. The loon sitting on what the crowd now dubs "Mt. Everest" does another egg roll and settles itself back down for the long haul.
Sean in action repairing the LoonCam cable
UPDATE: Lake Fairlee Loons Lay An Egg To Worldwide Acclaim
June 3, 2024
Lake Fairlee loon cam watchers from Pakistan to Michigan awoke to fantastic news on the morning of June 3. The Lake Fairlee loons had finally produced an egg following a disappointing prior year with no eggs at all. Highlights posted to the LFA YouTube channel show the proud parents tending to the egg, including a close-up of the "egg roll" done with great care to maintain even heating.
This is the eighth year in which a loon pair has nested on the raft furnished by the Vermont Loon Conservation Project. Loons first nested successfully on the shore at the mouth of Blood Brook in 2016, producing the first of seven chicks born in subsequent years. Annually, Vermont loons raise under 100 new chicks each year across the entire state.
This year the loons began sitting on the raft on May 8 following its re-foliation and launching by Doug Tifft and his crew of helpers three days earlier. In the following weeks, the growing loon cam audience watched round the clock as the pair constructed the nest and did everything necessary to produce an egg (yes, some days repeatedly). This is the second year of operation for the only loon cam in the state, which was initiated by Sean Brown and sponsored by the LFA. It provides valuable insights into loon behavior, including clues to last year's puzzling outcome with no egg laid at all. Dedicated viewers who use monikers such as Loonychick, Ebbandflow, and Nascar19fan watch round the clock and post timestamps of significant events.
A second egg may yet be laid in the next day or so. With a gestation period of about 28 days, a loon chick could arrive before the end of June if all goes well. However, as revealed by the loon cam, the egg and the chick face numerous obstacles, including snapping turtles climbing on the raft, eagles swooping from above, and predators such as raccoons swimming from the shore. Some of these dangers have been recorded in the highlights from 2023 and 2024 posted on the LFA YouTube channel. Once the young are hatched, the parents soon depart the nesting raft and can be seen all around the lake with the chick or chicks riding on their back or trailing hungrily behind. The loon cam will then no longer be the site for this part of the loon life cycle, though our remote visitors continue to exalt at the sound of peepers and bullfrogs at night and Lake Fairlee's incomparable sunrises, sunsets, and misty mornings.
June 3, 2024
Lake Fairlee loon cam watchers from Pakistan to Michigan awoke to fantastic news on the morning of June 3. The Lake Fairlee loons had finally produced an egg following a disappointing prior year with no eggs at all. Highlights posted to the LFA YouTube channel show the proud parents tending to the egg, including a close-up of the "egg roll" done with great care to maintain even heating.
This is the eighth year in which a loon pair has nested on the raft furnished by the Vermont Loon Conservation Project. Loons first nested successfully on the shore at the mouth of Blood Brook in 2016, producing the first of seven chicks born in subsequent years. Annually, Vermont loons raise under 100 new chicks each year across the entire state.
This year the loons began sitting on the raft on May 8 following its re-foliation and launching by Doug Tifft and his crew of helpers three days earlier. In the following weeks, the growing loon cam audience watched round the clock as the pair constructed the nest and did everything necessary to produce an egg (yes, some days repeatedly). This is the second year of operation for the only loon cam in the state, which was initiated by Sean Brown and sponsored by the LFA. It provides valuable insights into loon behavior, including clues to last year's puzzling outcome with no egg laid at all. Dedicated viewers who use monikers such as Loonychick, Ebbandflow, and Nascar19fan watch round the clock and post timestamps of significant events.
A second egg may yet be laid in the next day or so. With a gestation period of about 28 days, a loon chick could arrive before the end of June if all goes well. However, as revealed by the loon cam, the egg and the chick face numerous obstacles, including snapping turtles climbing on the raft, eagles swooping from above, and predators such as raccoons swimming from the shore. Some of these dangers have been recorded in the highlights from 2023 and 2024 posted on the LFA YouTube channel. Once the young are hatched, the parents soon depart the nesting raft and can be seen all around the lake with the chick or chicks riding on their back or trailing hungrily behind. The loon cam will then no longer be the site for this part of the loon life cycle, though our remote visitors continue to exalt at the sound of peepers and bullfrogs at night and Lake Fairlee's incomparable sunrises, sunsets, and misty mornings.
The Lake Fairlee Association's mission is to preserve, protect, and enhance the distinctive ecology and natural resources of Lake Fairlee and its watershed. The LoonCam has been installed to monitor the health and productivity of the loon population in the Lake Fairlee area and promote a greater understanding of loons in our natural environment. Please maintain a respectful distance from any loons you encounter and support the LFA mission by becoming a member.
The Lake Fairlee Association would like to thank the following for their advice and assistance in establishing this loon cam on Lake Fairlee:
Sean Brown
Doug Tifft, our local "loon ranger"
Dale Gephart
Eric Hanson of the Vermont Loon Conservation Project /Vermont Center for Ecostudies
Bill Gassman of the New Hampshire Loon Preservation Committee
The Lake Fairlee Association would like to thank the following for their advice and assistance in establishing this loon cam on Lake Fairlee:
Sean Brown
Doug Tifft, our local "loon ranger"
Dale Gephart
Eric Hanson of the Vermont Loon Conservation Project /Vermont Center for Ecostudies
Bill Gassman of the New Hampshire Loon Preservation Committee