The Saga Continues
Our Loon Cam #2 chick is off to a challenging start. Although it appears to be a healthy, energetic, strong swimmer, the family can’t seem to make it to the brooding area, which is about a quarter mile away. As of 9 pm last night, the loons have left the nesting cove numerous times, only to reappear later.
If you have read the July 10 blog post below, “City Loons”, then you can deduce the most likely reason the loons keep reappearing near the nest. There is at least one disruptive loon in the area that has caused a nest failure on the neighboring loon territory. So that means now there are at least three loons on our family’s door step that have nothing better to do than squabble with each other and any other loons they encounter.
Continuing the door step metaphor, our loon family must travel past their doorstep to get to their brooding area. Think of a house with an unattached kitchen. That’s basically what we have here. There is one central cove that has three narrow passages to three separate chains of coves. We call it the crossroads and the loons might think of it as a demilitarized zone. On a typical year, the loon family might stop at their door step (the crossroads) for a couple of days, where there is some quiet water with an adequate supply of chick food, and then move on to the larger brooding area. But this year they don’t seem to be able to stay outside the nest cove for more than a few hours.
LPC biologists will keep tabs on the family and we will give status reports as events occur. The best way to keep abreast of future loon activities is to sign up for our e-Newsletter.
