We have a loon in our downstairs bathroom. No, it’s not swimming around in the tub; it is the focal point of a lovely acrylic painting we bought at a Maine art show. We also have loons out in front of our place, real ones. Our place is on a lake. How blessed we are, not only by the haunting hoots of the Common Loon, but by the privilege of awakening each day to the special dawns that spill across Branch Lake and into our bedroom.

To be honest, though, a loon is just another wild creature on the list of critters that hang out in our neck of the woods — no more or less valued by me than the osprey, the eagle, the crows, the deer, the mergansers or the fox that hangs around out back for my handouts.

My lake neighbors, I know, place the loon at the pinnacle of the watchable wildlife hierarchy. The Branch Pond Association, of which I am a member, has a Loon Count Committee. The BPA has a Head Loon Ranger, who appoints other volunteer Loon Rangers, whose mission it is to count loons and report. From what I gather, this local loon initiative is an extension of a larger state-wide loon-counting project for Audubon and other loon-protection organizations.

Maine has one of the largest populations of Common Loons in the lower 48. So much so that a Portland-based, loon-study organization is assisting Massachusetts in the relocating of loon chicks to the Bay State.

Since BPA’s main mission is to watchdog our lake’s water quality, members see the lake’s loon presence as an indicator of water quality. Loons are known to be, as they say, “an indicator species.” Apparently there is some scientific validity to this view. Among the lake camp owners who belong to the lake association there seems to be group consensus that there is a straight-line correlation between loon numbers and water quality.

This can be a compellingly seductive theory. In truth, though, it is not that simple.

As Maine’s bird biologist Brad Allen points out, habitat is the main determinant of a lake’s loon numbers. Allen says that “they are very sensitive to human disturbance.” Therefore, our camps and cottages, our docks and floats, our jet skis and power boats impact their shoreline nesting areas and reproduction rates — and willingness to stay around.

Additionally, as Allen notes, loons are long-lived critters and very territorial. They will kill other loon interlopers and their young. A given lake or pond will only support X number of loon pairs, no matter how pristine the water quality. Loons are fish eaters so the most pristine lake without a good fish population will not keep loons around either.

Interestingly, too, the most pristine lake that has a seriously fluctuating water level can be a disaster for loon nesting and reproduction.

Again, nothing wrong with being loony for loons and appreciating their wondrous and diverse vocalizations, but often all is not what it seems when dealing with wild creatures and their complex relationship to their habitat and to humans.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide and host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has three books .Online purchase information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.com.

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