Heartbreak on the Nest: Saying Goodbye to the First Chick
Joy turned to sorrow on the morning of Sunday, July 12. After celebrating the arrival of a feisty chick the evening prior, the Looncam community awoke to devastating news.
Throughout the early morning hours, Dad took a remarkably long, quiet overnight shift while Mom took a much-needed break out on the lake. When she finally returned to the nest around 5:30 AM to relieve him and remove the hatched eggshell, observant viewers began to notice a tragic stillness. By 6:00 AM, the heartbreaking reality set in for the chat: the newly hatched chick had quietly passed away during the night.
As chatters mourned the loss, representatives from the Loon Preservation Committee stepped in to offer comfort and essential scientific context. LPC Intern Mariah (@lpcintern) confirmed the sad news, explaining that nature can be incredibly unforgiving for newborns. “Hatching takes a lot of energy from the chick and they might just not have enough left to survive,” she shared, adding that it is sadly not uncommon for a chick to pass due to “failure to thrive”. She assured the community that the LPC plans to collect the chick’s body to perform a necropsy once the family permanently leaves the nest.
Caroline, an LPC staff biologist (@LoonOrgNH), also joined the chat to manage expectations regarding the necropsy. She cautioned that “we collect at least a few chicks off of nests like this per year, and often there is nothing obvious wrong grossly”. Caroline also helped viewers understand the loons’ subsequent behavior; when chatters asked why the parents hadn’t removed the deceased chick, she explained that it is a normal pattern for loons to simply keep the chick in the nest bowl while they continue to incubate.
Despite the grief—and tears shed by loyal watchers—the resilient loon parents are not giving up. They spent the remainder of July 12 faithfully incubating their second egg, taking turns panting through the 80-degree heat and defending the raft from potential predators. As Caroline noted, July 12 marked Day 28 of incubation for this remaining egg, meaning a successful hatch is still possible, although increasingly unlikely. The community remains on “pip watch,” holding onto hope that this fiercely dedicated pair will finally get their miracle.
