When Joel and I observed the loon on July 26th, it dove frequently and readily enough (every couple of minutes). It would stay under for 30 seconds at most and seemed to have its head underwater for most of the time otherwise. It had a fairly good success rate, as it came up with what I believe were shad (a non-game fish which I know to be in the lake) every dozen or so dives.
Marcel Such NW of Lyons, CO mps...@gmail.com suchboys.blogspot.com On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 5:25 PM, Robert Zilly <bzbir...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Folks, > > I just returned from watching the Big Mac Pac Loon and it was diving > frequently. Many of the dives were very short, 1 - 4 seconds. A few were > closer to 10 seconds and one time when I got to 20 seconds I looked around > and realized it had swum out of view while under. It was also spending a lot > of time simply holding its head under. The clartity of the water was rather > poor. You cannot see the bottom three feet from shore. There was just a > slight breeeze and it was only making a ripple on the surface. I wonder if > its behavior could be due to the water conditions rather than illness of > injury? > > I also found a City of Longmont doc which states that fishermen could > expect to catch carp, walleye, and crappie. And the shoreline has always > been popular with large waders like Great Egret and Great-blue Heron. > > Bob Zilly, > Longmont > > > > > On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 3:27 PM, <coloradodip...@aol.com> wrote: > >> Nick et al.: >> >> While wing molt may not be the cause of the McIntosh PALO not diving, >> there are any number of other possibilities, such as illness. However, it >> might behoove us to know what it's eating, if anything. If nothing, that >> could provide more suggestion in the vein of illness or other infirmity. >> However, loons eat things other than fish, though usually considered >> obligate piscivores. From the Common Loon BNA account (I couldn't get to >> the PALO account) -- bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/: >> >> "Crustaceans—e.g., crayfish (Decapoda) constitute major part of diet when >> fish are scarce or water is murky (1.0 m visibility), up to about a third of >> diet for males and more for females (Barr >> 1973<http://species/313/biblio/bib015>). >> On some Wisconsin lakes, observed adults and chicks regularly observed >> foraging on snails (W. Piper, pers. com.). Leeches (Hirudinea) are >> occasionally an important food, and individuals that are stressed or ill >> sometimes eat vegetation (Barr 1973 <http://species/313/biblio/bib015>)." >> >> Having no chance to go see the loon in question, others will have to >> provide the data on the bird's foraging, or lack thereof. >> >> Tony Leukering >> Villas, NJ >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Nick Komar <quetza...@comcast.net> >> To: coloradodip...@aol.com; cobirds@googlegroups.com >> Sent: Thu, Aug 26, 2010 11:47 pm >> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Loon molt >> >> Many thanks to Tony Leukering for setting the record straight on >> underwater wing-powered locomotion (or rather, lack thereof) among loons, >> and also for sharing his vast wealth of ornithological knowledge with our >> Colorado birding community, making us all wealthier (in knowledge, anyway). >> I should have done some basic research before sticking my foot in my mouth >> in a public forum like Cobirds. I have now done the appropriate homework to >> learn more about underwater locomotion among diving birds. A number of bird >> taxa including alcids, diving petrels, some shearwaters, and our Rocky >> Mountain dippers use their wings to power underwater diving as well as >> aerial flight, but not loons. Interestingly, I learned that some of these >> species undergo very heavy wing molt and yet still dive during these periods >> of wing molt. So, it begs the question (maybe Tony can answer this as well), >> why is the Boulder Pacific Loon not diving as would be typical foraging >> behavior for this species. >> >> Thanks again, Tony! >> >> Nick Komar >> Fort Collins CO >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Colorado Birds" group. >> To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<cobirds%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<cobirds%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobi...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
