Syracuse.com - Loons on loose at migration time on Owasco Lake

[HuntingNY-News]

Ron Curvin called me early this week about what he termed an “unusual sighting” recently of some 20 loons swimming in front on his home on Owasco Lake.

MIke Greenlar/The Post-StandardAn adult common loon at early morning on 6th Lake, near inlet, in the Adirondack Mountains.

Ron Curvin called me early this week about what he termed an “unusual sighting” recently of some 20 loons swimming in front on his home on the western shore of Owasco Lake at Ensinore.

“Usually you see one, two or three — but never 20 at one time,” he said. “Also, I saw one gobble down a large perch.”

Is it really unusual to see that many loons at once?

Laura Erickson, who writes for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said right now is the peak migration time for loons and that Curvin’s account is credible — provided he wasn’t actually witnessing a flock of mergansers or cormorants.

“Loons may gather in the same spot during the migration period, but only during migration,” she said. “That would be impossible during the breeding season. They get very territorial.”

As for a loon swallowing a large perch, Erickson said that’s entirely possible. She noted, though, that loons can’t tear a fish apart but have to swallow them whole, head first, so it slides down their throat easier. She said they have very “stretchy and expandable” throats.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog