Few loons have endured the frustrations that the current Mildred female (“Taupe Stripe”) has. Initially captured and banded on Soo Lake in 2004, she reared two healthy chicks with her mate in that year. But each year since has yielded no offspring for this bird, despite consistent effort.

Taupe Stripe’s struggles started when she was evicted from Soo by a stronger female in 2006. Thus began an itinerant lifestyle: temporary settlement as a loner on Goodyear Lake and frequent intrusion into other lakes in the area, probing for an opening. In 2010, she finally secured and defended a breeding position on Maud Lake. Like other small, shallow lakes, though, Maud suffers from a limited prey base. Efforts by the loon pair there in the three years before her arrival were excruciating — hatched eggs followed by starvation of chicks in the 2nd week of life, the first week, and then the fourth week. Taupe Stripe and her two mates fared no better, failing to produce young in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. She fell off our radar in late 2013 and 2014, but resurfaced in 2015 and 2016 — again, as a floater.

When day to day survival is a challenge, as it is for loons, you focus on the present. Taupe Stripe ultimately settled on Mildred Lake in early 2017. Unlike Maud, Mildred is a large, clear lake with a strong record of fledging chicks that hatch. Although she and her unbanded mate lost a small chick on Mildred last year, they have turned things around. Last week we caught Taupe Stripe, her mate (now banded), and their strapping six-week-old chick. Things were still looking good for the family upon my visit there today. And thirteen years of pointless wandering, frustration, and disappointment are forgotten.