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 she would have had a better chance of defending it. But with the chick on the nest the eagle had the better advantage.
LPC has been considering putting a raft on this site because of water level fluctuation issues. Now we have another reason. An avian predator guard, which we use on all our rafts now, almost certainly would have prevented loss of the chick, although it would have been likely the eagle would have made some attempts after the chick was in the water.
We at LPC try to use judicious judgment when implementing nesting rafts. We would rather have the New Hampshire loon population recover via natural nest sites. For that reason, we only deploy rafts when a loon territory has consistently experienced nest failures due to water level change or egg predation. This territory here has had a history of nesting success using a natural nest site. But now we have two reasons to consider installing a nesting raft.
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 have one New Hampshire record of an eagle attacking and killing an adult loon on the nest, but egg thievery must be a rare occurance, if it happens at all. This eagle landed on the nest twice but didn’t take the egg. It’s hard to believe that a bird capable of grabbing a live fish out of the water while in flight was too clumsy to pick up an egg. Perhaps the eagle simply wanted to let the loons know who’s in charge here.
The First Hot Spell
This past week we had a string of hot, sunny days, getting as high as 90 degrees F. After the first two days, the female swapped nest tending shifts, preferring the cooler nights. Now we’ve returned to cool days with highs in the 60s and 70s. Will momma loon return to the day shift? Let’s watch and find out. It sure seems that she is calling the shots.
Who’s On the Nest?
It is a common misconception that, within the bird community, females do all the nest sitting. Although that may be the case for the majority of bird species, it is heavily influenced by the large number of Passerines (songbirds). In other bird orders (and some Passerines), nest duties are shared by the mated pair. And in a few species, such as some penguins, the male does all the incubating.
Common Loons share the nest duties. Each pair seems to work out its own schedule for who is on the nest at any time. Shifts can last from an hour or two to twelve hours or more. Earlier studies, mainly in the 1970s and 80s, concluded that females did most of the nighttime incubating and males would relieve them at dawn. But our observations show that it varies between pairs.
The loons on this territory fly in the face of conventional wisdom and demonstrate that the more we learn, the less we know. At this time, the male is doing most of the nest sitting and virtually all of the night shifts. But don’t be surprised if you tune in tomorrow night and the female is on the nest.
We honestly don’t know what drives the variations in nest sitting behaviors but it’s fun to speculate. This female is well into her twenties, at minimum. By loon standards, she’s an old lady. Nest sitting actually can have higher energy requirements and stress levels than other normal daily loon activities. Contributors to this are temperature, insects (black flies in particular), and being out of its natural element. Loons are essentially aquatic animals. As the temperature warms up, we might see the female take on more of the nighttime sitting, when it will be cooler and less stressful. But I’m not putting money on that.
We Have the Second Egg!
Mom added the second egg to the nest at 6:38 pm today. Now it’s down to four weeks of incubating. The black flies have been pesky lately but not so bad that the loons can’t tolerate them. Let’s just hope the flies don’t get thicker.