The Loons Start Building a Second Nest

Close to two inches of rain over the past week has slowed down the loons’ progress. In this video, which shows three clips, the loons are first seen peering at the primary nest, which is completely submerged. One of them makes a few futile attempts at adding material to build up the nest. They then move to the alternate nest, the top of which is right at the water surface. We see some serious nest building happening here.

The alternate nest was used in 2014, so there’s a good chance they will use it again. It probably all depends on whether the loons can build it up faster than the water level recedes. If the dam operator pulled a board yesterday, as planned, the water level might drop enough to expose the primary nest before eggs are laid.

Time will tell.