>> I started coming up here when
I was a teenager.
And the lakes, we camped at some
lakes and we visited people we
knew up here, and that's how I
got to--
I got to know loons, because if
you camp at night, you hear the
sound.
[loon call]
They call to each other at
night.
And the first time I heard it,
I wondered what that sound was.
What's making that sound, the
wail of the loon.
>> That was Alan Schwoegler's
first introduction to loons and
life in the woods.
Through the years, he came back
year after year from his home in
Madison, and eventually built a
house near Rhinelander.
>> It's a wilder country
and the lakes are, in most
cases, still very pristine.
>> Along the way, he turned his
love for the land and for the
loons into action.
[loon call]
In the early 80s, he joined a
program called "Loon Watch"
through Northland College
Members call themselves
"Loon Rangers."
>> Through activities of a
loon ranger, you monitor the
loons.
I go out early in the season,
probably one to two times
a week.
And the loons here have colored
bands which identify them.
I'll watch the loons that come
into this lake in the Spring,
again right at ice-out.
And I'll try to get out in the
boat and use binoculars and
watch for the colored bands.
That's very tricky and
time-consuming sometimes.
We have a rule of thumb that
you're supposed to stay
200 feet away from them.
So I'll usually not go any
closer than that and I'll let
the wind drift me in.
>> Alan sees more than colored
bands and new chicks.
Over time, he sees the drama
behind those black bills.
>> We had a male come in and
take the territory over--
[loon call]
--and kick the
resident male out.
I met one of the researchers on
the lake who was out here in
his canoe, and it turns out
that the male that came in
and displaced the male there
was actually a son of the
female loon that he mated with.
>> But watching loons and their
love lives is just the beginning
of Alan's work.
Through the year, he and
hundreds of other loon rangers
keep records of the loons'
health and behavior.
Those records go back to
Northland College, and to
this woman, Erica LeMoine.
She, in turn, passes the
information to state wildlife
officials.
>> Last year we had 265 lakes
that were monitored by
247 citizen scientists.
So the amount of research that's
happening is really important.
Plus the research itself is
really important.
>> Important because learning
about loons can tell scientists
more about the lakes in which
they live.
>> They're an indicator species,
so they indicate good
lake health.
Their primary food is fish,
and they need clear, clean water
to be able to see and pursue
their prey.
>> Still, for Alan, watching the
loons is more than a scientific
pursuit.
It's a chance to see the drama
of these birds, and to help give
that drama a happy ending.
>> I really feel that it's from
efforts from people like me and
other hobbyists who do this and
watch their lakes every year,
that they've helped protect
them.
They seem to do ok.