Loons, Diving Birds of the North

Donna Love has been the secretary of the Montana Loon Society for 25 years. Her first introduction to loons was in 1996 when she moved to the lakeshore of Seeley Lake for her husband’s work with the Forest Service as the District Ranger on the Seeley Lake Ranger District. That first summer, when she heard the loons calling at night, she’d close the window, saying, "What’s that!” She thought it was coyotes across the lake. Her husband said, “It’s just the loons.” 

In the spring of 1997, on an evening walk, she met the president of the Montana Loon Society, Lynn Kelly, for the first time. Lynn was checking on the loon nest that could be seen from the Seeley Lake wildlife viewing blind. After visiting with Lynn, Donna agreed to watch the nest and report when the chicks hatched to Lynn. Later, she attended the Seeley Lake Loon and Fish Festival and learned more about loons. She was hooked. In the fall of 1997, Donna attended the Montana Loon Society Board Meeting. Donna said, “I made the mistake of taking a pen and a notebook to the meeting.” Lynn asked her to take minutes, and that’s how she became the secretary of the Montana Loon Society.  

By 2000, Donna’s background in art education and her work as a substitute teacher led her to develop a children’s loon presentation. That became the basis for her first book, Loons, Diving Birds of the North, in 2003. That was followed in 2006 by Awesome Ospreys, Fishing Birds of the World. Donna has written eleven more books, which are mostly nature books for children. In 2009, Henry the Impatient Heron, received a “Mom’s Choice Award.” In 2012, The Glaciers are Melting! was Montana’s Book of the Year. In 2019, Donna independently published her most recent children’s book, Audubon, John James’ Birds and Words, a 4^th grade reading level book about the life and art of John James Audubon.Donna credits her successful writing career to the loons on Seeley Lake. 

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