Minnesota photographer wins loon photo contest

Steve Maanun's image of a loon and its chick is the subject of this year's award-winning photograph for the Loon Appreciation Week poster, an annual contest held by LoonWatch at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College in Ashland, Wis.

"Silently Waiting" captures the educator's favorite subject.

Maanun volunteers on Big Mantrap Lake, a loon management site that started in the mid-1980s where 20 aluminum rafts are placed each spring in loon nesting territories — an alternative to natural nests that are prone to predation, Maanun said.

It starts the day the ice melts off the lake.

"This year we had twenty-one nests that produced 45 eggs and at last count we had totaled 24 chicks," he said.

Maanun uses an ethical approach to his subject — which starts with learning the animal's behavior.

"Give them space and if you notice signs of discomfort with your presence, back off," he said. "I use photo blinds and a long lens most of the time."

Loon Appreciation Week is held annually in May to promote education about the popular birds. There is a contest each year to find a loon image for the event's poster.

He also won the contest in 2019.