LOON ALERT -

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sherry abts

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Apr 17, 2026, 12:12:42 PMApr 17
to elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
Dear Loon Watchers, 
Please let us know  when you spot your first Loons.
How many Loons did you see?
Are they crowded in a staging lake area? 
What location / lake / body of water?
There have been some unusual weather  
in the LOON MIGRATION FLYWAY ....
but  we did see hundreds of Loons leaving 
Lake Jocassee South Carolina  during 
the last week of March & first weeks of April.
THANK YOU for your observations. 
**PLEASE contact me if you are interested
in documenting one Loon family this summer.
( sherry abts /   678-787-6957)  
  (  email)   birdi...@gmail.com  
------------------------------------

Larry Ricker

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Apr 17, 2026, 2:46:25 PMApr 17
to sherry abts, elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
Not a local sighting but, I was in Crex Meadows yesterday (Grantsburg, WI) and, while I didn't actually see any loons, there was a glorious dawn chorus of dozens of loons, along with trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes, geese, red-winged blackbirds and who-knows-what else!  I wish I'd done a sound recording.  They may not be here yet but they're on their way!  Unfortunately, the loons stayed well out of eyesight and camera range.

Larry Ricker
LHR Images


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Don Brown

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Apr 17, 2026, 3:39:22 PMApr 17
to Larry Ricker, sherry abts, elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
I think i heard a Red Throated loon.  JK. Sorry couldn’t resist.  

Steve J Engel

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Apr 17, 2026, 4:04:03 PMApr 17
to sherry abts, elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
I've been checking the Birch Lake Dam and S. Kawishiwi River lately and the ice is getting grayer and opening up a little. Seems like its on the verge of clearing out. There's one or two groups of 30 common mergansers in the area and smaller numbers of the usual suspects like common goldeneye, hooded merganser, and ring-necked duck. A bufflehead today, FOY for me. 
These three sea crows caught me by surprise. I don't recall seeing them on the Kawishiwi River before. 
IMG_0709.JPG

Steve Engel



Steve Engel
35 Hemlock Circle


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John Hunn

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Apr 17, 2026, 4:20:10 PMApr 17
to Steve J Engel, sherry abts, elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
I was also at Crex Meadows yesterday, and it was pretty slow. As Sparky would say, “Bird of the Day,….Wood Duck.”

norma malinowski

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Apr 17, 2026, 4:20:58 PMApr 17
to Steve J Engel, sherry abts, Ely Field Naturalists
I've  never heard of them being referred to as sea crows. 

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Larry Ricker

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Apr 17, 2026, 4:26:45 PMApr 17
to John Hunn, Steve J Engel, sherry abts, elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
plenty of swans and cranes ... not to mention RW Blackbirds but yeah, other than that it was pretty slow... what ducks we did see weren't very close.  Even the Pied-billed grebes, which I've usually found to be relatively tolerant, weren't.  We did have a little more success at the nearby Fish Lake Wildlife area... about 3 miles south of Grantsburg.

Larry Ricker
LHR Images


Steve J Engel

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Apr 17, 2026, 4:55:47 PMApr 17
to norma malinowski, sherry abts, Ely Field Naturalists
As to sea crow: I get that from The Bird Watcher's Companion to North American Birdlife, by Christopher Leahy, who writes: 

"Cormorant" is derived from one or more Romance-language variations of the Latin coruvs marinas, i.e., "sea crow." 
He goes on...
"Shag" is the standard British name for all but one species of cormorant, and this name is widespread here as a colloquial name among [U.S.] east coast fishermen. 

Jon M

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Apr 23, 2026, 12:26:10 PM (10 days ago) Apr 23
to sherry abts, elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
2 Loons on Burntside River bay (part of Olson Bay) where it comes into Shagawa.  
Jon

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From: elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of sherry abts <birdi...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2026 11:12 AM
To: elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: {Ely Field Naturalists} LOON ALERT -
 
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Stephanie Hibdon

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Apr 23, 2026, 5:09:15 PM (10 days ago) Apr 23
to Ely Field Naturalists
4 loons (2 pairs) on One Pine Lake today. They were separate sightings (no staging).

Keith Dehnbostel

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Apr 23, 2026, 5:32:00 PM (10 days ago) Apr 23
to Stephanie Hibdon, Ely Field Naturalists
I saw two loons on white iron lake this afternoon, April 23. They are North on the public access off s white iron road and South of ring Rock, near the west shore.  Much of the southern part of lake still has ice.
Keith 

On Thursday, April 23, 2026, Stephanie Hibdon <stephan...@gmail.com> wrote:
4 loons (2 pairs) on One Pine Lake today. They were separate sightings (no staging).


Sent: Friday, April 17, 2026 11:12 AM

Subject: {Ely Field Naturalists} LOON ALERT -
Dear Loon Watchers, 
Please let us know  when you spot your first Loons.
How many Loons did you see?
Are they crowded in a staging lake area? 
What location / lake / body of water?
There have been some unusual weather  
in the LOON MIGRATION FLYWAY ....
but  we did see hundreds of Loons leaving 
Lake Jocassee South Carolina  during 
the last week of March & first weeks of April.
THANK YOU for your observations. 
**PLEASE contact me if you are interested
in documenting one Loon family this summer.
( sherry abts /   678-787-6957)  
  (  email)   birdi...@gmail.com  
------------------------------------

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Ria Leonard

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Apr 23, 2026, 7:14:47 PM (10 days ago) Apr 23
to Keith Dehnbostel, Stephanie Hibdon, Ely Field Naturalists, sherry abts
Three loons were observed for first time this year on Eagles Nest Lake 2 today (4/23).   The lake is about 1/3 open.   I watched and listened to all 3 yodel, thus all 3 are males.  While this was happening, one loon flew over.  

Also had a pair of wood ducks, a pair of mallards, two pairs of common mergansers, one pair of hooded mergansers and a pair of common goldeneyes. 

On Thu, Apr 23, 2026 at 4:31 PM Keith Dehnbostel <keith.de...@gmail.com> wrote:
I saw two loons on white iron lake this afternoon, April 23. They are North on the public access off s white iron road and South of ring Rock, near the west shore.  Much of the southern part of lake still has ice.
Keith 

On Thursday, April 23, 2026, Stephanie Hibdon <stephan...@gmail.com> wrote:
4 loons (2 pairs) on One Pine Lake today. They were separate sightings (no staging).


Sent: Friday, April 17, 2026 11:12 AM

Subject: {Ely Field Naturalists} LOON ALERT -
Dear Loon Watchers, 
Please let us know  when you spot your first Loons.
How many Loons did you see?
Are they crowded in a staging lake area? 
What location / lake / body of water?
There have been some unusual weather  
in the LOON MIGRATION FLYWAY ....
but  we did see hundreds of Loons leaving 
Lake Jocassee South Carolina  during 
the last week of March & first weeks of April.
THANK YOU for your observations. 
**PLEASE contact me if you are interested
in documenting one Loon family this summer.
( sherry abts /   678-787-6957)  
  (  email)   birdi...@gmail.com  
------------------------------------

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CAROLE CARLSON-BURSCH

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Apr 24, 2026, 2:33:17 PM (9 days ago) Apr 24
to John Hunn, Steve J Engel, sherry abts, elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
Sherry, I saw a lone loon this morning on Birch Lake about 30 feet from the shoreline where I always see them when they are here.  

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 17, 2026, at 3:20 PM, John Hunn <bigjoh...@gmail.com> wrote:


I was also at Crex Meadows yesterday, and it was pretty slow. As Sparky would say, “Bird of the Day,….Wood Duck.”
On Fri, Apr 17, 2026 at 3:04 PM Steve J Engel <track...@gmail.com> wrote:
I've been checking the Birch Lake Dam and S. Kawishiwi River lately and the ice is getting grayer and opening up a little. Seems like its on the verge of clearing out. There's one or two groups of 30 common mergansers in the area and smaller numbers of the usual suspects like common goldeneye, hooded merganser, and ring-necked duck. A bufflehead today, FOY for me. 
These three sea crows caught me by surprise. I don't recall seeing them on the Kawishiwi River before. 
<IMG_0709.JPG>


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