June 27, 2021 While we’re waiting for the dust to settle in what appears to be a contest over territorial rights, now is a good time to take a look at the history of this territory. The LPC records for this territory begin in 1987 and can be neatly divided into four periods. The Dark […]
June 22, 2021 Chick #2 hatched early this morning and by 8 this morning the pair decided it was time to leave the nest. Chick #1 had already spent a night on the pond with Dad and it was raring to go. But Chick #2 thought this raft living was a pretty cushy life and […]
June 21, 2021 Yes, chick #1 has hatched; exactly when is subject to personal opinion. By 6 am yesterday (June 20) chick peeps were regularly emanating from the nest. That’s a sure sign a chick is on the way but not proof positive that the pip had started, much less a hatch. We never saw […]
June 18, 2021 Yesterday the Loon Cam watchers noticed frequent antsy movements by the incubating loon, as well as more attention to inspecting and turning the eggs. That’s a good indication that the embryo in egg number 1 is close to full development and moving around, getting ready to position itself for hatching. The next […]
June 15, 2021 At 6 am this morning an otter popped up at the edge of the raft and flushed the female off the nest. Quite a bit of commotion ensued, mainly splashing and wing rowing around the raft by the female. Apparently the otter took the hint and left. If you watch the video, […]
June 14, 2021 Say What? Am I seriously going to lay this arcane ecological term on you? Yes, I am. The subject of a recent discussion on YouTube Chat concerned the interactions between loons and other birds that eat fish. An animal that primarily eats fish is a piscivore. Birds are in the taxonomic class […]
June 8, 2021 Here we are, halfway through incubation and everything is going splendidly. This is not normal. We’re used to witnessing dads frantically building up nests to stem the flood and accidentally burying eggs, moms going AWOL for days at a time, standoffs with belligerent snapping turtles, and dive-bombing eagles. But this pair; they’re […]
The National Weather Service is predicting a string of near 90 degree weather for the next four days. Not good news for the loons. The common loon is a northern species, adapted to relatively cool summers. Their thermoregulation system is better suited to conserving heat rather than dissipating heat. New Hampshire is on the southern […]
June 1, 2021 Loon watchers who follow the Chat on YouTube may have seen references to “forks”. It’s a means of using the loon’s necklace to differentiate between the male and female when the bands are not visible. The necklace consists of two rows of vertical white pinstripes, one on each side of the loon’s […]
May 30, 2021 Yes, real science! It may turn out to be real junk science, but it’s still science. After recording dates and times of Loon Cam nest events over the past four years and eight nest attempts, I’ve found some remarkably consistent timing between eggs being laid and eggs hatching, even though three different […]