Posts in Category: Photography

Tips, advice and philosophy on photography

The Middletons Have a Chick – and a Fight

On July 1, 2025 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

Monday morning was clear when I got up, but with some fog hugging the Connecticut River below us. I figured it would lift quickly enough and it was worth a trip to check on the Middletons.

The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair is coming up. I’m already printing and framing new work. Save the dates and plan a trip to the Fair.

The videos of the tree swallows in the nesting box stopped after the chicks came to a sad end. The kestrel returned and took the last two chicks. Tough to watch, but that’s the way nature works. The wrens are raising their chicks in another box about 24 feet away from this one. I was surprised to see a second family of wrens claim the tree swallow’s box within the hour of the kestrel getting the chicks.

When I arrived at the Middletons’ pond, it was still in a thick fog – visibility was limited to something like 100 feet. I set out looking for the loons.

Soon, I found what turned out to be mom, apparently sleeping alone. I’d missed when they laid their egg, I figured we were still waiting. After a few minutes, dad appeared – coming out of the fog from the opposite direction of the nest. And carrying a fish. A chick appeared from under mom’s wing and went to get breakfast.

The chick hatched sometime since last Thursday. My best guess is he? is a couple days old, probably hatching Saturday.

Watching was more enjoyable than trying to get photos through the heavy fog, so I settled in to watch. And was soon fighting dozing off. I heard a swooshing and roused myself in time to see our intruding loon – probably the female that was keeping company with Mr. Middleton earlier in the spring – as she landed near the family. (How the heck does a loon navigate in fog that limits visibility to just a couple hundred feet?)

The Middletons were not about to have her around the chick and mom set out after her. The intruder took off wing rowing across the pond.

Dad hung back with the chick, but yodeled to let the intruder know the home team was ready to fight.

The intruder disappeared down the pond and mom returned to the family, giving a nice stretch.

Dad kept charge of the chick, leading him towards shallow water for more breakfast. Mom was alert and patrolled between the family and where the intruder was last seen.

Mom spotted the intruder again, and set out to send her packing.

Mom and the intruder fought for several minutes. Mom doing the penguin dance between dives, the intruder staying mostly underwater.

Loons do the penguin dance only under extreme stress. Males are more likely than females to dance, but females will too. That mom’s dancing is more evidence that the intruder is female – loons are more likely to fight the same sex loon.

Once again, the intruder went wing rowing away down the pond. Mom gave up pursuit after a bit.

Mom took a moment to stretch before rejoining the family. With the intruder out of the way, it was time to get serious about rustling up some breakfast.

Mom soon came up with what looks like a large mouth bass. That’s going to be a challenge for the chick. The chick gave it a good try before dropping the fish. Mom retrieved it.

Ok, let’s try this again…. easy now, don’t drop it…. Yup, he dropped it and mom retrieved it again.

Third times the charm…. or is it? The chick doesn’t seem to have learned where mom stops and the food begins…. The chick dropped the fish a couple more times before mom gave up and ate it herself.

Dad came in with a much more manageable snack.

Mom is looking for another meal. The chick took matters into his own bill. And tried a pine needle found floating nearby. Pine needles do not make good breakfasts.

Mom is back again with an oversize fish. This time, the chick was able to get it down with some work.

Mom showed up with yet another fish to challenge the chick …

The chick was up for the challenge this time…. going….. going….. gone!

Mom was sticking with what works… here’s another impossibly large fish.

Mom fetches it again and again hands it off….

The chick looks to have a good hold on it, mom is keeping a close eye on it….

Looks like a good grip, just need to line the fish up to go down head first….. and he drops it! Mom very patiently retrieves it again…..

Mom and the chick are determined to make this work…. trying again…. And he drops it! Mom put her head underwater and the fish wasn’t seen again – most likely mom ate it.

And the intruder reappeared at the far end of the pond!

This time dad is going to head out to join mom in chasing the intruder away. First, he lead the chick up close to my boat – they’re smart enough to know that being close to a boat provides the chick some protection from threats – especially airborne threats. If you’re on a pond and a loon asks you to ‘babysit’ just put your paddles down and sit still. Let the loons do what they need.

The chick sheltered behind my boat, away from the action where the intruder couldn’t see him.

Mom and dad again forced the intruder to retreat… dad’s taking a victory stretch.

The parents returned to collect the chick and headed out to finish breakfast. I lost track and don’t know who I caught stretching.

After a couple minutes for a quick preen, dad took the chick aboard. The chick is checking to see if feathers make good breakfast.

Another round of fish and it looked like the Middletons could settle in for a nap.

They weren’t so lucky – as I was pulling the boat out I heard dad yodeling and lots of wing rowing as the intruder came back.

Intruders will try to kill the chick or a parent if they can. The fight is for the territory. With a chick the home team has great incentive to hold onto the territory. If they lose it or a mate, they may give up and relinquish the territory. I expect we’ll see more skirmishing with the intruder.

birds, loon chicks, loon territory dispute, loons, territory dispute

Loon Update June 25, 2025

On June 25, 2025 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

I’ve had a chance to check in with all three loon families since Saturday evening. Good news on all fronts.

I identify the loon families with pseudonyms to protect their privacy. Every year, I get dozens of requests to know where I am. While I usually try to help out responsible photographers, it just wouldn’t be fair to these loons to have hordes visiting them. If you’d like to see loons, you can visit most any lake or pond in northern New Hampshire or Vermont (Thanks Vermont Center for Ecostudies and Loon Preservation Committee). Please be respectful and keep your distance. Expect to spend some time to get good photos – I spend something like 200 hours a year on the loons’ ponds to get the shots I get.

This Saturday, June 28, I’ll be up at the Burklyn Arts Summer Fair at the Fenton Chester Arena, 145 College Rd, Lyndon Center, VT (on the Lyndon Institute campus), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I’ll be selling note cards and prints large and small. Come on by and say hello.

Last Saturday morning, I stopped by to visit the Middletons. Mom had taken the overnight shift on the nest. Dad was leisurely cruising his pond.

I love watching the fog lift as the first light hits the pond.

Dad took one last stretch before heading in to relieve mom.

Mom came off the nest and took a couple big stretches.

Mom settled in for a nap, I wandered off to see who else was out and about.

I passed a Luna moth floating on the water. I turned around to pull him out of the water. He rode comfortably on my knapsack while he dried out.

Eventually, he climbed up the knapsack onto the gunwale – and back into the water. I turned around to pull him out again. I took him to shore and set him on a branch. And he promptly walked back into the water….. I pulled him out again and kept him aboard until I started packing up. This time I walked him a few yards from shore and put him down on some leaves.

Male Luna moths have bigger, bushier antennae than the females. It is thought this helps them detect the pheromones that the ladies give off.

His tail was damaged, he probably couldn’t fly. My bringing him ashore likely postponed the inevitable only briefly. Luna moths live only about a week as moths. They don’t have mouths, their goal is to reproduce before passing on.

Not long after finding the moth, an intruding loon flew in. I’m guessing this is the unbanded female that was seen keeping company with Mr. Middleton earlier in the year. No way to know, but seems a likely guess. After a brief display between Mrs. M and the intruder, the intruder dove. I was a couple hundred yards away from the action and quickly lost track of both loons. After a couple minutes, a submerged loon appeared and swam directly under my boat and popped up on the far side – hidden from Mrs. M.

The intruder looked around for a few seconds before taking off.

And by request, another turtle shot. The Middletons’ pond has a good population of both snapping and painted turtles. This painted turtle was suffering from the bugs. He scooted back and forth on the log and repeatedly swiped a foot over his head to clear the mosquitos away.

Saturday evening was still warm, but relatively still. I headed up to check on the Westons and their chicks. The chicks hatched on June 7 & 8, making the oldest one 14 days old on Saturday.

The Westons live on a quiet pond, I rarely see other boats out on it. When I arrived Saturday night, there were four canoes afloat. I looked and looked for the Westons before discovering they’d retreated to the furthest reaches of the pond. They promptly announced they were uninterested in receiving visitors.

I took a couple quick shots and left to let them be.

Sunday morning I went back up to visit them.

They were back on the main body of the pond, cruising slowly. The parents took turns foraging and providing small meals.

After a time, they found a spot for some serious foraging. Both parents went to work delivering a steady stream of small meals. Eventually, one parent dove and I lost track.

Splashing behind me alerted me to where the parent had gotten to. The loon made a couple of aggressive dives, I thought there was a threat below the surface. But, shortly afterwards, the parent came up with a good-sized horned pout.

The parent making the handoff to the chick….

The chick made a valiant effort…. but putting a half pound of fish into a quarter pound chick is a challenge..

The fish slips away…. When the chicks are very young, the parents swim in and retrieve the lost meal. This time, the parent let the chick do the work to recover the fish.

The chick managed to catch the fish and bring it back to the surface. The chick continued to try to get it down. Eventually the chick dropped it and the parent spent a few moments with his head underwater. The fish wasn’t seen again, I suspect the parent made it a meal.

I poked around the pond some, without finding anyone out and about to be photographed. As I headed in, one of the chicks gave me a nice wing stretch. I like this guy!

Yesterday I was back to visit the Middletons. I didn’t see when they laid their eggs, so I’m not sure when to expect them to hatch. It is likely several more days. They had the first quiet morning I’ve seen this season. Dad was floating not far from the nest when I arrived. He went out for a quick breakfast before returning to take over nest duty.

Mom came off the nest and posed nicely for me. I looked around a bit. The red-winged blackbirds are coming and going with groceries to their nests hidden in the reeds. The kingbirds were busy catching dragonflies. Everyone else seemed to be high in the canopy. I headed out to get some errands done.

This morning the forecast was for a few clouds giving way to sunshine. When I peeked out at 3:15, there was a ribbon of fog over the Connecticut and just a few clouds to the east. I thought I was in luck and headed to check in with the Eastons.

Mom was sleeping in on the nest. I set out the LPC’s sign to warn people away from the nest. She woke briefly to see what I was up to and promptly went back to sleep. The few clouds I’d seen were in perfect position to block the morning sun.

I waited a bit for the sun to break through. After a time, I gave up and headed for the boat launch. And the sun came out. I turned back and headed down the pond in time to see dad show up and take over the nest.

I swung by to get his photo as it started to rain lightly.

I turned to leave again. And the sun came out again, looking like it was out to stay. I paddled to the far end of the pond before it started to rain slightly. Then steadily. I put the boat on the car in a downpour. By the time I got back to the hardtop, I was wearing my sunglasses. Gotta love New England weather!

birds, common loons, loon chicks, loons

10-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 25, 2025

On June 25, 2025 - Tree Swallow Cam, Wildlife Photography

Sad news today, we lost either two or three chicks. Just after last night’s post a kestrel was trying to get into the box. The swallows chased him off, only to have him return. They successfully drove him off and all the chicks were fine when I went to bed last night.

Today, the chicks are hiding under the feathers that the parents brought in to cover the eggs and chicks. I can’t decide if there are two or three chicks left.

The chicks in the box seem to be doing well, they’re moving around under the feathers and pop up when a parent delivers a meal.

bird videos, birds, nest cam, tree swallows

Nine-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 24, 2025

On June 24, 2025 - Tree Swallow Cam, Wildlife Photography

We’re watching our nine-day-old tree swallow chicks in their camera-equipped box. We had another very hot day today, the chicks spent much of it squirming, apparently trying to get comfortable. We just a had a brief thunderstorm which has cooled things down a bit. Several meals were delivered and the chicks have settled in for a nap.

baby birds, bird video, birds, nest cam, tree swallows

Eight-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 23, 2025

On June 23, 2025 - Tree Swallow Cam, Wildlife Photography

Our tree swallows had a hot day in the box today. The thermometer in the car said it got to 97° this afternoon. The box is shaded from late morning on, sparing the the worst of the day. All five chicks seem to be doing well.

baby birds, bird video, birds, nest cam, tree swallows

Seven-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 22, 2025

On June 22, 2025 - Tree Swallow Cam, Wildlife Photography

A good look at our seven-day-old tree swallow chicks this evening. We’re having a hot afternoon here in West Newbury, the chicks are sprawled out trying to cool off.

The cameras are mounted inside the box letting us watch without disturbing the birds. The cameras have their quirks. They record in color when there’s enough light and switch to black and white and turn on infrared emitters in low light. They’re slow to adapt to the change in light as the swallows come and go.

baby birds, bird videos, birds, nest cam, tree swallows

Four-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 19, 2025

On June 20, 2025 - Tree Swallow Cam, Wildlife Photography

Our tree swallow chicks are now four-days-old and look to be doing well. Mom and dad are keeping busy bringing in groceries and explaining to our dogs that they need to stay on the far end of the deck.

baby birds, birds, nest cam, tree swallows

A quick look at our swallow chicks

On June 17, 2025 - Tree Swallow Cam, Wildlife Photography

Tree swallows claimed one of our nest boxes with a camera installed inside. Their five chicks hatched Sunday, here’s a quick look at the two-day-old chicks from Tuesday evening.

bird video, birds

Updates on the Loons, Swallows & Foxes

On June 15, 2025 - Foxes, Loons, Tree Swallow Cam, Wildlife Photography

Happy Nature Photography Day! Seems like a good time for an update.

A couple days ago, the tree swallows nesting in the box on the deck declared us persona non grata and have been defending the yard. This morning, they’ve been chattering away more than usual and both parents are popping in and out of the box regularly. Just a few minutes ago, I got the first glimpse of the chicks:

I stopped in to see the Middletons on the fifth. I found only one loon on the pond at daybreak. I went looking to see if the second was sitting on the nest. I looked in in the places they’ve nested before, without finding a nest.

I did find one of the herons foraging in the brush in a cove.

When I came out of the cove, I found two loons wing rowing across the pond. It turned out that Mrs. Middleton was chasing an unbanded loon from the pond. Here’s the intruder departing the pond.

A little more looking and I found Mr. Middleton sitting on a nest in a new spot, well hidden by the reeds. I put the Loon Preservation Committee’s sign out to warn people away from the nest.

Last Sunday, I visited the Westons. The forecast called for a sunny morning. It was clear here on the hill when I woke. The Weston’s pond was socked in with fog. We were at the beginning of the window where the chicks might hatch.

The fog was thick enough to make it hard to tell what was going on around the pond. I headed down to the entrance of the cove where the Weston’s nest.

Both loons were near the nest – I couldn’t see them through the fog, but they were both wailing. Soon, four otters appeared from the direction of the nest. Otters are a real threat to chicks and eggs and I’ve seen a video of one attacking an adult loon on a nesting platform. One of the otters came over to have a look at me.

One of the parents appeared and gave a foggy morning stretch.

The off-duty parent headed out of the cove and some time later reappeared – carrying a fingerling. They must have a chick!

I moved to let me see the nest. There was a chick taking one of its first swims – under close supervision. There was a still a second egg in the nest. Friends told me the second chick hatched later Sunday. I had to head out before the fog lifted.

On Wednesday, I had a chance to visit the fox den again. The last two trips, I’ve seen only one kit at a time, I’m not sure if they’re taking turns out of the den or if we’ve lost the second kit.

The kit that was out and about wasn’t fooled by my being in the blind and spent some time watching me.

And paying attention to anything that made noise in the brush.

Which proved to be a tiring business. Look at that tongue, maybe I should do a Tongue Out Tuesday post.

Friday morning, I headed up to see the Eastons. They’re behind schedule. Their chicks usually hatch the third weekend in June, but they hadn’t laid their eggs by my last visit.

There was a family of geese with six goslings foraging in the shallow water.

I heard a commotion – lots of splashing and then a wail. The Eastons were rousting an intruder. After a little more kerfuffle, the intruder departed.

On my previous visits, I hadn’t been able to see any loon legs, so I wasn’t sure if Mr. Easton had returned. This time, I got a good look at both legs, this is the same male that’s been here for at least five years.

After preening a bit, he gave a good stretch and went to join Mrs. Easton in real estate hunting.

They checked out last year’s nesting site and discussed it at length. Before I left the pond, I caught them mating on the site, looks like they just got a delayed start this year.

Another family of geese stood guard by the boat launch as I headed out.

Looks like more rain the start of this week, I’ll be back out when we get a decent morning.

bird videos, foxes, loons, nest cam, tree swallows

Shorebirds Courting, Nesting and Chicks

On June 6, 2025 - Shorebirds, Wildlife Photography

Early this past Tuesday morning, I again started questioning my sanity. Getting up and around to be on the road by 2:30 just doesn’t seem to have the thrill I once thought it might. At least traffic was light until I got into Massachusetts. I headed down to look for shorebirds and whatever else might appear. My timing proved to be pretty good.

A little housekeeping before we get to the photos. Several of you have emailed with tips or sightings. It looks like I’m having trouble getting messages through to Gmail addresses. I’m working on figuring out why. I try to answer all the messages I get. If you use Gmail and sent an email that didn’t get a reply, I’m sorry. I was able to track down a few people by phone, but couldn’t find numbers for everyone. If you didn’t get a reply, please send another email with a way to contact you that isn’t Gmail.

Want to learn to take your own wildlife photos? I’ll be speaking to the Upper Valley Camera Club at the AVA Gallery, 11 Bank Street, Lebanon, NH next Tuesday, June 10 at 6:30 pm. The talk is aimed at folks with a 35mm camera with interchangeable lenses. The wildlife we’re going to talk about is almost all within reach of a day trip from the Upper Valley. Sorry, no lions, tigers or elephants. Hopefully, I’ll have lots of useful tips. Free and everyone welcome, but they request you register beforehand at https://avagallery.org/event/june-monthly-meeting/.

And one more, I’ll be at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair a the Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury, NH August 2-10, 2025 with lots of new prints, cards and 2026 calendars. I’m planning on traveling for much of the fall and will miss many of the shows I usually do. The League has a number of amazingly talented craftspeople, the Fair is worth a visit just to gawk.

OK, OK, you want photos.

One of my goals for this spring is to get some cute photos of cygnets – baby swans. With all the rain, I’m ever more behind tracking critters down. I hoped to find some swan families on this trip.

I found two swan families that stubbornly stayed well out in the marsh. I’d left the boat at home, they seemed to know exactly how far to stand off to keep me from photographing them.

Next I went looking for piping plovers. Their chicks start hatching along the New England Coast early in June. I got lucky and found two families each with four chicks that had hatched the day before.

Piping plovers are handsome shorebirds, they’re roughly as big as bluebirds, albeit stockier. They’re endangered – estimates range from about 7,600 to 8,400 piping plovers left. They nest in the grass just above the sandy part of the beach and forage in the grass and along the beach. The chicks weigh something like one-fifth of an ounce (less than three dimes) when they hatch and stand about 2 inches tall – about the size of cotton ball. The little buggers are fully prepared to forage on their own. They scoot along the beach, stopping for just a couple seconds before scooting off several feet or yards in any direction at something like 25 mph.

Both parents tend the chicks, such as they do. The parents watch the chicks as they scoot about and call them to take shelter under either parent for warmth or protection. If the chicks aren’t tucked under and the parent senses a threat, the parent will display like they’re injured. They flare their tail and walk clumsily while peeping to attract attention away from the chicks. This brood has four chicks and there are already at least two tucked under this parent.

This is a very rare photo of a chick taking cover under a parent. My extensive research has proven that 99.99% of the time, they disappear under the parent with their butt towards the photographer.

Some sources online suggest you can tell mom from dad by the size of the black stripe on their head, with the male’s being longer and thicker. Other sources suggest the female is drabber. Others say they’re indistinguishable. So, with that solid reference, this may be mom.

And this may be dad. Or I might have them backwards.

When the coast is clear – literally – the plovers will go down to the water’s edge to forage in the debris the tide left.

The chicks seem very tiny on the open beach. They’re easy to lose track of as they scurry about. Being flat on my belly trying to follow them with a long heavy lens is not the ideal way to keep track of them.

I’m amazed any of the chicks survive – they can travel better than 100′ from the parents and would seem to be an easy meal for anyone walking or flying by.

When they pop out from under a parent, they head out to explore the world. They’re smart enough to know they have to find their own food, but it takes a while before they learn what is and what isn’t edible. Dried reeds went in the not edible category.

Here our chick has scooped up a fly of some sort. This would seem to be in the edible category. But not so fast….

The fly manages a double-reverse back flip and gets out of the chick’s mouth…..

Our chick seems to be pondering this turn of events……

I think it was the fly’s lucky day. It was last seen riding the chick’s bill as the chick zipped away.

And a few more shots of the chicks as they explored, just because they’re adorable.

Exploring in the grass at the edge of the beach.

Star Wars fans may see the design of the Empire’s walkers in the chick’s build.

The long legs seem to take some learning before they’re mastered.

Still looking a bit wobbly.

The plovers share their nesting area with least terns. They’re also handsome birds, longer and sleeker than the plovers. They’re inclined to go about their business directly up sun from photographers.

They aren’t great at building fancy nests. They lay their eggs in a shallow depression in the grass at the edge of the sand.

This nest was built about halfway between the high tide mark and the grass, out in the open on the beach. Audubon has volunteers that patrol the beaches trying to keep people away from nests and chicks. There were stakes and a rope fence set up around this nest and along the grass for protection.

And, they’re fiercely protective of their territory – which seems to include all of New England according to them. They’re quick to dive at whatever they think is a threat. They’re fast and agile fliers. There are always a few in flight over the colony. They chatter constantly about whatever needs to be said.

Sometimes the colony comes to a consensus and many of the adults will fly off to the water’s edge together. There’s no way to tell how many remain hiding in the grass, but there were several dozen in flight several times.

Courtship consists of the males delivering fish to a lady. Meet Leroy, the world’s most socially awkward tern. He has a fish and has worked his courage up to present it to this pretty lady.

She finds him attractive and turns away from him to present – encouraging him to mate.

Leroy didn’t seem to have thought his plan through to the point of figuring out what do to should she accept him. He spent better than ten minutes waving the fish around while circling her. She patiently kept turning to urge him to get on with it.

He finally got the hint and got down to business.

He delivered the fish as they carried on with the matter at hand.

The guys don’t seem to have a lady in mind when they set out with their fish. They land near a lady and offer the fish. If the lady isn’t interested, she’ll rebuff him – often chasing him off. The guys seem undeterred and move along to the next lady. It turns out a lot of the chatter is actually ‘come here often? Can I buy you a fish?’

When the guys arrive to present the fish, they’ll often make a nifty swoop and fluttering landing.

This lady emphatically declared she was not interested, thank you very much. Buzz off creep!

Here, a couple of guys have spotted a pretty lady and are racing to get to her first.

They also do a little dance together while courting. They flare out their wings, circle each other and mirror each other’s posture.

There was also a small flock of semipalmated sandpipers that were traveling along a large stretch of beach.

Two more semipalmated sandpipers foraging in the debris.

Our tree swallows are holding onto the box the wrens drove the bluebirds from. Mom is sitting on five eggs. The wrens must be sitting on eggs too, but I don’t have a camera in their box. They enjoy perching just outside my window. Wrens never, ever, ever stop chattering. I’ll admit I’m not finding it as cute as it was a couple weeks ago. I’ve been collecting video of the swallow’s box and promise to get around to editing and posting some.

I got out to visit the Middleton loon family yesterday and will post an update on them shortly as well.

If you’re enjoying the blog, please consider passing the link along to some friends. Thanks!

least terns, piping plover chicks, piping plovers, shorebirds

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