2026 Canobie Loon Update: not so good
by Jeff Boyer
This 2026 Loon raft nesting year started wonderfully in mid-April as usual. The raft and camera raft are stored on land each winter. Over this past winter, the raft roof was crushed by a felled tree during a winter storm. Annual Loon nest repairs were needed to re-roof with sun shield, a new layer of camouflaging, replacing screws, rusted lag bolts, side tube float adjustments, fresh dirt, and wonderful woods moss made a perfect ready-to-go nest.
A pair of Loons arrived in early May and began patrolling the lake, presumably looking for a place to nest. They were also keen to keep a close eye on the hovering Eagles standing guard, training their 3 eglets.
On May 7, 2026, Raft, a camera float, and a new temperature sensor were deployed and anchored with help from the Loon Preservation Commission (LPC).
The LPC provided a new game Camera powered only by batteries. Last year, a solar-powered camera with a cellular link proved inadequate to sustain power for live feeds, so a regular battery-powered cam was selected for this year. The Loons had a different idea.
Over the next several weeks, the Loons had begun crafting a nest of their own on a little cove bump up island in Windham near West Shore Rd. For many days, they would pull product from the bottom of the marsh area and let it dry in the sun, then drag it over to their proposed new nest spot a few feet away. Looney!
Loons on Canobie Lake
On their breaks, they maintained their annual patrol of the lake, discouraging any other transient Loons from encroaching onto their Canobie Lake territory. During their patrol, they recognized our floating nest but were apprehensive about taking up residence, only testing it before finally opting for it. It's good they did because if Canobie Lake's water level continues to decline, it's possible the Loons could not get to their proposed island nest. They just don’t know that.
On May 24, they took permanent residence. They produced 2 eggs, which were incubated for 30 days. All perfectly normal.
Loon Eggs
Everything was great, and the Loons maintained their normal shift changes. All we had to do was observe, protect, and wait.
On May 30 and 31 the storm hit. Although the raft is in a protected cove, an unexpected Nor’easter surprised us all Friday evening; however, the Loons were still on their nest Saturday throughout the storm, riding out the wind and waves. On Sunday morning, they were not on their nest.
After locating the Loons alive and well, it was odd that they were both together and NOT returning to their nest with eggs. What happen? Good question.
June 1 - With consultation from LPC, a survey was needed. Upon surveying the Lake, 2 Loons and 2 unattended eggs, the LPC decided to mark the eggs to see if they were just taking a break in hopes they would return to the nest to “turn the eggs” within the next 24 hours.
Loon Nest - checking after the storm
The black round object in the nest is an ambient temperature measuring device to see how hot or cold it gets during incubation. LPC is testing this for historical data.
Marking the Eggs
Protocols from the LPC mark the eggs with an X.
The X allows us to see if the loon parents constantly turn and rotate their eggs. Egg turning ensures the embryo develops evenly, prevents the chick from sticking to the inside of the shell, and maintains a uniform temperature. They use a non-toxic marker to write a clear X facing straight up on the top side of the egg.
Sadly, the Loons abandoned the nest
June 2nd, sadly, ( I truly mean that) 24 hours after marking the eggs for protocol, the LPC returned to confirm and concluded nest had been officially abandoned. Accordingly, the 2 eggs were retrieved from the nest by myself, a neighbor and the LPC staff biologist.
What happened?
Ironically, the LPC Game camera failed on Friday night, May 29, so we lost the ability to identify any specific threat. Although alerted, none of our volunteer photographers have even had time to kayak out to the nest, so we have no Professional PICs to offer either. The Loon eggs have been retrieved in hopes of, at a minimum, X-Raying them to see if the eggs were at all viable to begin with, as they were only just over a week old.
The eggs had been potentially unattended for close to three days, and the Loons were clear that they were done with the nest for some reason. Maybe:
Eagles are in the area with 3 Eaglets. They, too, are very territorial by their nature and actions.
The storm was violent, with a very close lightning clap at 2:22 AM.
Too many black flies.
Fisherman ignoring the Loon Sanctuary signs and buoys.
Nothing was abnormal about the eggs at all, per the LPC. The LPC confirms that many of their Loons abandon their nests for NO UNKNOWN reasons and are recorded as such in their historical records.
As of today, both Loons are still on Canobie socializing with another 3rd Loon. They were spotted circling the floating nest with the 3rd Loon today, June 4th. It is early enough for them to reengage and take another shot at nesting. It happens…… according to the LPC, so stand by!
Happy to serve.
Jeff Boyer – CLPA Member