Sitting Loon. Photo by Carolyn Curtis.

It is hard to believe at this late date that the loons are still sitting on the nest, but that is the case. I was convinced the nest had been abandoned so I picked up my new neighbor Carolyn Curtis and we boated over to look at the nest site today, not sure what we were going to find. On our way over we saw 3 loons swimming. Imagine our surprise to arrive at the nest to find a loon sitting on it! We got to within 3-4 feet before we were able to spot the bird. While I quickly reversed oars and started to pull my boat away, Carolyn stood up and snapped this picture with her phone. It’s a great shot. You can clearly see the loon’s head and back. Very well hidden. The picture at left is a blow up of the original picture that Carolyn sent me, it clearly shows the loon’s back, head, and red eye.

Last year the loon chicks were first spotted on June 24th which was if anything a bit early. Early July is more normal, and late July not too uncommon. But still sitting in August? I’ve never heard of such a thing! Given the late date, the prospects for the loon family being able to raise chicks to flying age before winter are not good. It will be tight. Stay tuned.

Both loon chicks have apparently gone missing, nobody has seen them since sometime late last week. I took some photographs of them one week ago, on Wednesday June 27th and I haven’t seen them since. They were spotted last Thursday, but I’ve received no reliable reports of sightings since then. Outlook not good. If you see them please email me.

Loon babies face many challenges growing up. Of those, predation by Bald Eagles and Snapping Turtles pose the greatest risk, and we have a healthy population of both predators in and around Clary Lake. Motor boats also pose a risk if the driver is inattentive, but so far, there haven’t been a lot of speed boats on Clary this summer. Even when they avoid death or injury from those common sources of danger, one loon chick all too often falls prey to its sibling as the result of competition for food and attention. Mother Nature can be cruel.

Incidentally, the 35th annual Audubon Loon Count will take place Saturday July 21st from 7:00 AM to 7:30 AM. The results of the count will be presented at the Annual Meeting on August 11th. We hope to see you there.

For the second year in a row, our resident loon family has successfully hatched a baby loon. Just one this year rather than the usual 2. I noticed one parent or the other hanging around the nest area today and saw one loon, presumably the male, chasing another loon around in a classic loon “get out and stay out” territorial battle, and suspected  that hatching was near. Please give them a wide berth.

[27 June UPDATE]: We have 2 loon babies! No idea how the second baby escaped notice this long, but it did. No pictures yet, but I clearly saw two babies when over visiting our Treasurer this morning.