When the ice disappears from Lake County’s inland lakes in early spring, David B. Johnson listens for the ethereal, haunting yodel of common loons.
“Loons represent the essence of the very primitive bird,” said Johnson, of Buffalo Grove. “They’re just so great to watch, with their ruby, red eyes and beautiful reptilian-like backs. I watch them as the water beads up on their backs like diamonds. I never get tired of seeing them.”
Hundreds to thousands of common loons stage on the county’s inland lakes beginning in late March through April. They can be seen on Diamond Lake in Mundelein, Pistakee Lake in Fox Lake, Bangs Lake in Wauconda, Lake Zurich and other deep bodies of water that supply the fish the birds need to fatten up before flying north to their boreal forest breeding grounds.
Johnson has been enjoying this bird-watchers’ rite of spring for nearly 40 years, ever since he saw his first common loon in Lake County in Mineola Bay in Fox Lake.
For nearly 25 years, he’s also been taking people out, usually the first Sunday in April, to look and listen for loons throughout Lake and McHenry counties. He leads a “loony” trip hosted by the Evanston North-Shore Bird Club.
Observers watch as the loons flap their wings, sometimes practically standing on their legs to display for females, doing what Johnson calls the “penguin dance.”
Other times they slink like submarines low into the water before diving for a meal of fish and emerging across the lake far from where they dove. Every once in a while, they give their haunting cries, yodels or screams, sending shivers up the spines of humans
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“I like sharing this spectacular bird with people,” Johnson said. “The numbers are often staggering — maybe 25 to 100 birds all staging on one lake sometimes. You can hear them giving their tremolos, especially in the morning. I’ve heard them give the tremolo when an eagle passes over. They also hoot, giving a cry like a sea gull.”
Upward of 30 people have joined the loony trips, making carpooling and cellphones necessary, Johnson said. The caravan of loon watchers follows Johnson as if he were the Pied Piper. He calls himself the “loon ranger.”
Nancy Tikalsky of Zion, a former Wisconsin resident, has been going on Johnson’s loon-watching trips for about five years.
“I had no idea that there’s a period of time that the loons all just hang out on the lakes here before they make their final trip north,” said Tikalsky. She said she has canoed alongside loons and their young in the north woods of Wisconsin.
“I’m excited to know that I can always see them every year,” she said. “I don’t have to go to the north woods. When I hear them down here, I feel like I’m in the north woods.”
Two types of loons regularly visit Lake County — one is the much rarer, red-throated loon, seen more often on Lake Michigan, and mostly as individuals or in smaller numbers.
The common loon that visits inland lakes has a round, black head, dagger-like black bill, long body and short tail. The feet are set far back on its body making it difficult to walk on land, but easy to swim rapidly and strongly, 50 or more feet below the water’s surface, to snatch a meal.
Common loons once nested in Lake County, but habitat loss and human disturbance have prevented them from breeding here any longer, Johnson said. The last breeding pair of common loons in Illinois was recorded in Lake County in 1892, according to H. David Bohlen, author of “The Birds of Illinois.” Johnson said the loons nested near Antioch.
Not all of the county’s lakes have completely thawed, but this week, Richard Brisbee of Round Lake spotted two common loons on Pistakee Lake from Docker’s Restaurant.
“Pistakee Lake is the mother lode,” said Karen Lund, a Genoa, Ill., resident who helps Johnson count loons the day before the field trip, so they can report the numbers to national databases. “It’s the best place to see loons in Lake County.”
“In 2013, we broke a record, counting nearly 700 loons.We just blew away Dave’s old record of 528,” Lund said.
Most common loons are gone from Lake County by early May. After that, Johnson and his loony followers will have to wait until next March when the show begins again.
Johnson’s loony trip will begin at 8:30 a.m. April 3. All are welcome, Johnson said. For more information and to register for the free trip, email [email protected]
Sheryl DeVore is a freelancer for the Lake County News-Sun