We knew it could be true. It was just hard to accept. Eggs being accidentally buried in the nest wasn’t on our radar; it’s not something that had come up before. Still, we were fairly certain that the egg was either knocked out of the nest or buried during a frantic nest building session on […]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5UQzB-c_zE And we have a great, explicit clip of the first egg being layed at 7:30 this evening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuxqz8ANB90
It was a bit of a surprise because no one had seen a pip before dark yesterday. But around 5 am this morning a chick momentarily poked its head out from under Dad (see video). And this year Mom is nearby so maybe we can avoid last year’s drama.
The poor chick didn’t last half a day. The local eagle, who we know has been keeping tabs on the nest, swooped in at 9:06 this morning and grabbed the chick. Mom put up the best fight she could but had to stay in the water to protect herself. If the chick had been in the water […]
Just as Day 28 comes along and we’re all on Pip Watch, wouldn’t you know a bald eagle has to crash the party. The first indication was an alarm call by Dad and a quick retreat from the nest and into the water. Video clip here. Eagles frequently go after chicks in the water and we […]
Sure seems to be. An eagle-eyed YouTube viewer pointed out an egg-shaped object precariously perched on the steep side of the nest, partially obscured by foliage. Our Loon Cam technical wizard reviewed the archives and it appears that the egg has been doing some short-distance traveling since it was accidently kicked out of the nest […]
Nesting loons have numerous wildlife neighbors that share the nest site. During the daytime it’s common to see painted turtles sunning themselves near or even on the loon nest. Snapping turtles are another common visitor. They are not much of a threat to the nest but they are known to snag an unprotected chick in the water. The nighttime […]
A common theme in frequently asked questions concerns the viability of a fertilized loon egg. How cold can a loon egg get and still maintain viability? How hot? Does an unincubated egg remain in suspended animation and, if so, for how long? The truth is that we don’t have precise answers for these questions. And […]
At 8:40 this morning, the Loon Cam 2 female laid the second egg, about 61 hours after the first egg. That’s a longer than average time span between eggs and, considering that the first egg was getting almost constant incubation for the last 36 hours or so, the first chick to hatch should have a […]
It was a rainy nest swap at 7:10 this morning. Dad had done the night shift, which is a little out of the ordinary for this pair but nothing to worry about. On average, female loons tend to do more of the night-time incubating. This might be due to an advantage of having the larger […]