My 2026 Wildlife Calendar, with large 9″x12″ full color, 12-month calendar with 13 of my favorite wildlife images.
There are a few more of the images I’ll have at the Fair at the bottom of the post. On to the loons….
On July 22, the Eastons’ pond was a pleasant 48° and foggy when I put the boat in.
My buddy Hank Heron was on a pile of rocks near the boat launch to greet visitors.
The Eastons were having a calm morning, foraging lazily.
With time to sit and contemplate whatever it is loons contemplate.
Baby Easton – Leaston – spent much of the morning on dad’s back.
Sometimes snoozing, sometimes stretching. And occasionally reminding dad that loon chicks really love food.
And a big yawn. Mom and dad set to work to deliver breakfast. Dad scored a horned pout larger than Leaston.
And swam by the boat to show off his catch. Dad handed the fish over to Leaston… Leaston was willing to give it a try. Dad sat by watching closely, ready to grab the fish if it slipped away.
Leaston dropped the fish, both mom and dad were ready to recover it. Mom did and gave it back to Leaston.
Leaston gave it another try before dropping it again. Dad had been at the ready and quickly recaptured the fish. He handed it back to Leaston. Who promptly dropped it again.
Dad figured out that meals have to be smaller than the chick and ate the fish himself.The parents went back to finding chick-sized meals and that worked much better.
With both parents underwater, Leaston reacted to a threat I couldn’t see. Loon chicks’ defense is to flatten out on the water to make it hard to see them. The threat soon appeared – an intruding loon coming in for a landing. The last two times I visited, there had been fairly intense skirmishes with an intruder before the intruder was forced off the pond.
In the previous skirmishes, dad had gone to fight off the intruder. Studies of banded birds suggest that most territorial fights are between loons of the same sex. This time mom went out to challenge the intruder. A different intruder? Mom was closer to the intruder when he landed and dad was closer to the chick. Maybe they were just being practical and let the closest loon handle it. Either way, there was a brief period of displaying before the intruder departed.
Mom took a victory stretch when the intruder was gone, then headed back to join the family.
As the chicks grow, you can often see that they’re watching their parents and copying the parent’s behavior – good practice for how to be an adult loon. Here dad and Leaston share a leg stretch.
Or maybe they were just waving goodbye as I gave them best wishes and headed for home.
The next morning dawned with clear skies above home, with fog down in the Valley. I headed down to visit the Middletons, hoping the fog would lift.
No such luck. The fog stayed thick.
The Middletons spent about half an hour foraging in their favorite breakfast cove. Without appearing to catch anything. At least nothing they surfaced with. The parents seemed to get agitated at the lack of success. When loons are foraging, they usually dive and surface gracefully, not making much of a splash. When they’re agitated as when there’s an intruder, they dive more aggressively with large splashes. This morning as they foraged, they started kicking up large splashes.
Mrs. Middleton swam close by my boat. I could see her coming and had a chance to get my GoPro in place. The bubbling sound is air bubbling out of my cheap selfie stick.
The fog lifted enough that dragonflies came out to forage. And the kingbirds came out to hunt the dragonflies.
I gave up and headed home. Along the way back to the boat launch, I passed a very optimistic turtle trying to bask. All those black spots on the water are water bugs.
Yesterday morning, my wife joined me as we headed back to check on the Eastons.
The Loon Preservation Committee had invited me to accompany them to band Mrs. Easton on Thursday evening. I couldn’t make it and was curious to see if they’d been successful catching and banding her.
Hank Heron was again awaiting sunup on some rocks where the sun would first hit the pond. We spooked him and he flew off to a spot along the shore. It took a little while to locate the loons at the far end of the pond through the fog. Dad gave their location away by stretching.
Just after stretching, dad dove. I assumed he’d gone downstairs to find some breakfast. But soon there was fast moving wake headed my way. Dad was just under the surface and making good time.
He surfaced just behind me, keeping low to stalk something. He dove again and again surfaced keeping low. I couldn’t see what he was after.
After dad dove again, Hank squawked and came flying down the pond. Dad had come up in the shallows at his feet, encouraging him to move along. This is the first time I’ve seen loons go after a heron. I’ve occasionally wondered how they tolerate herons nearby when the chicks are young. Hank eventually settled on the sunny side of the pond. And set about getting some breakfast. The loons didn’t bother him again while we were there. We caught up with the loon family. Mom soon showed us she is indeed wearing some LPC bling.
The Loon Preservation Committee manages to band something like 30 loons every summer. With a population of roughly 750 loons in New Hampshire, they’re getting a sizeable portion of the population banded. That lets them study things like how many of the loon pairs stay together year after year, how old the loons are when they’re observed doing things like nesting. There’s lots to be learned from LPC’s work.
Mom delivering a crayfish for breakfast as dad looks on. Things didn’t go well for the crayfish.
Mom gave a nice stretch as we headed out.
And a few more of the images I’ll be exhibiting at the League Fair:
Wing Low, Sweet Chariot
This is an intruder that has shown up regularly on the Middleton’s pond this year. I suspect she’s the female that was keeping company with Mr. Middleton early in the year before Mrs. M returned. Mrs. M has just chased this loon off the pond and this loon is almost airborne.Seen But Not Herd
A pair of Guernsey cows greet visitors to their pasture.
First Light at Portland Head
The first light of dawn breaks over the Portland Head Light on Cape Elizabeth, ME.
The light is on the headland at the entrance to Portland Harbor in Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine.
The light was commissioned by George Washington and was completed and put in service in 1791 making it Maine’s Oldest lighthouse.
A Tranquil Morning
A favorite from past years. This is dad Easton resting with the chicks as the sun rises over their pond. This image is offered in a limited edition of 12 prints.
There Are No Owls Here
A great gray owl shows off his camouflage against a tree. Great grays are rare visitors to New England, this one visited Newbury, VT in 2018.Sunrise at Dead Creek
There’s a nice reflection on a poll in Dead Creek as the sun rises in Addison, VT
I’ll have lots more images along at the fair, including lots of loons. Come have a look.
