Loon Chicks at 11 & 12 Days Old

On July 2, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

Let’s check in on our loon family. On June 29, the chicks were likely to be 11 and 12 days old. They’ve grown rapidly and are beginning to venture a few yards from their parents. Both chicks appear to be doing well, both about the same size, both learning to be loons and taking cute little loon dives. The morning I visited, the parents were feeding larvae, fish and crayfish to them. The parents would often carry fish or crayfish a far distance back to the chicks, but would offer the larvae if they were caught close to the chicks.

It looks like largemouth bass was the catch of the day.

The fish is a big meal for a little loon.

Yawning chicks give a good idea of how large their mouths are.

Foot waiving is thought to be a technique for cooling off. It was in the 80s by early morning, and all of the loons repeated waived their feet.

Some traits are shared by siblings of all species…

And a few pix of the chicks just because they’re cute.

After preening, loons of all ages will stretch their wings.

Sometimes it is just fun being a little loon….

After a busy couple of hours, everyone settled in for a nap.

Yet More Loon Pix, June 30, 2021

On June 30, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

This is a second loon family that I follow. They’ve got a chick. I must have missed the nest for a few days, I expected the chick to have hatched the day before these photos were taken, but it looks a few days older.

Surveying the pond from a parent’s back.

The little family took a slow paddle around the pond as the sun was coming up. The chick is barely visible on the back of the parent in the back.

The chick takes to riding on a parent like its riding in a palanquin.

The parent the chick was riding set out to forage, the other parent tried to encourage the chick to come aboard.

The chick was more interested in breakfast.

It looked like the parents were catching damselfly or dragonfly larvae for the chick.

Hey! Where did Dad go? The parent that the chick was next to just dove.

The chick fed, for now, the parents took some time to preen and stretch.

Then, some time just to watch the little one.

Tree Swallow Update June 29, 2021

On June 29, 2021 - Tree Swallow Cam

Checking in on our swallows today. Both parents have been busy feeding the chicks. Still can’t tell how many chicks there are. There are at least three.

https://youtu.be/IysWF4dMMHw

Tree Swallow Update, June 28, 2021

On June 28, 2021 - Tree Swallow Cam

A quick peek in at our tree swallows. Mom and dad have been busy hauling food in throughout the day. We’ve had catbirds and kingbirds perching on what the swallows think is their perch not far from the box. The swallows have been very careful not to leave the nest untended. There’s almost always an adult in the box. When one returns, it calls on approach to the box and the one inside heads out. Not sure if that’s how swallows always work, or if the outsiders have them keeping a closer eye on the chicks.

https://youtu.be/NvPotCreJH8

We’ve Got Tree Swallow Chicks! June 27, 2021

On June 27, 2021 - Tree Swallow Cam

At least some of the tree swallow chicks have hatched. Still can’t see what’s going on through all the feathers, but watch closely and you’ll see some tiny chicks. Here, dad pops in to give mom a break. She comes back by the end of the video.

Swallow Update, June 26, 2021

On June 26, 2021 - Tree Swallow Cam

Not much news from our tree swallows. They’re still sitting on the eggs, which we can’t see. This clip shows Mrs. heading out for lunch and Mr. coming in to sit while she’s out.

https://youtu.be/SmcM8jJNpbI

A Morning With The Loon Family, June 24, 2021

On June 24, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

Thursday morning I got to spend a few hours following our little loon family. Best guess is that on 6/24, the chicks were five and six days old. They’ve already grown noticeably. Both seem active and were eagerly feeding.

Check back regularly. There’s another pair of loons with eggs due to hatch as soon as tomorrow. I’ll be following both families when I get the chance.

My research suggest that loon chicks in the Upper Valley are fully 18% cuter than other baby loons 😉

Easy to believe when you get a look at them.

The parents take turns foraging for the chicks. This pair seems partial to feeding crayfish to the chicks. Loons aren’t strong on the concept of ‘volume,’ many of the crayfish offered are almost chick size.

Our chick has to lean out for the crayfish….

…and falls off and swims over for breakfast.

The crayfish appeared to object to being eaten, and managed to get free. The other parent retrieved it and offered it again.

It was a job to get it down, but our chick was up to it!

The parents are still keeping the chicks very close, and often on the parent’s back.

This little one takes a moment to preen. Loons, like other waterfowl, have a gland, called the uropygial gland, that excretes a waterproof oil that the loons spread over their feathers. They have to do this regularly to remain waterproof.

One chicks swimming along with a parent, one tucked under the wing.

One chick has climbed aboard preparing to nap.

Climbing all the way up can be a challenge for a little chick.

Shortly after the babysitting parent took the chicks aboard and got them settled, the other parent returned from foraging with another crayfish for the chicks – waking everyone up again.

And inbound again with another crayfish.

After feeding again, the babysitting parent gathered up the chicks, and after a bit, got everyone settled again. And I had to call it a morning.

Swallow Update June 23, 2021

On June 23, 2021 - Tree Swallow Cam

Mrs. tree swallow continue to sit on her eggs in her feather bed. We still can’t see much, but here’s a quick update.

First Loon Chicks of 2021

On June 23, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

UPDATE: When I first posted this, I didn’t know which loon was banded. I contacted the Loon Preservation Committee with the band information. They wrote back that this bird was banded on Lee’s Pond in Moultonborough, NH, in 2017. The were unable to determine the sex while banding. I eventually observed the banded bird yodeling. Since only males yodel, that let us determine the banded bird is dad. I’ve updated this post to reflect that in the captions.

Loon chicks are hatching around the Upper Valley. One of the pairs I follow had two chicks last Sunday morning. They were still on the nest, the chicks probably hatched Friday and Saturday. They stayed on the nest for a bit Sunday morning, before heading out to tackle life.

A note on photographing loons. Please give them their space – keep well back. Even if you aren’t a threat, you may distract the parents from something that is a danger to the chicks. Loon chicks face tough enough odds, don’t make it worse. These images were all taken with an 800mm lens on a crop 35mm body, comparable to a 1,280mm lens on a traditional 35mm camera – something like a 26x scope. And, they’re heavily cropped. You can get good images without crowding the loons.

Here’s our little family, still on the nest. That’s dad with the chicks, we can one of his leg bands.

The chicks ventured into the water a few inches from the nest when the mom brought food. Here they’re working to climb back into the nest. Loons’ legs are placed far back on their bodies. Perfect for swimming and flying, but they have real trouble walking on land. This shot gives a good look at how far back their legs are.

The loon sitting on the nest turns out to be dad, identified by his bands. The silver band on the close leg has a nine digit number to give the bird a unique identifier. But, it is next to impossible to read unless you catch the bird again. Loons are banded with two bands per leg, with different colors to increase the odds of being able to ID the bird without catching it. This bird has green over silver on the starboard side, yellow over green on the port side (way back on the left of the photo). Traditionally, loon banders put the silver band on the right leg if they band the bird as an adult, the left if they band a chick.

The chicks seemed to grow a bit restless, venturing further from the nest after each feeding. Eventually, the loon on the nest decided it was time to go. The family probably will not return to the nest.

After leaving the nest, dad got a well-deserved stretch.

Loons are very attentive parents. Both loons will guard and feed the chicks. They spell each other, a few times a day one parent will wander off to forage, preen and occasionally fly a couple laps around the pond.

Loon chicks have some sibling rivalry and will occasionally squabble.

One of the parents bringing a crawfish to the chicks. This crawfish was too big for the chicks to handle. They both made valiant efforts to swallow it, but it was too big. They kept dropping it. The parent probably retrieved and offered again it 10 times before just eating it.

After the crawfish, the parents tried what appeared to be damselfly and dragonfly larva. Which worked much better.

And another morsel…

It takes a long time to get a chick full on tiny tidbits.

Stretching out a leg – notice how far back the chick’s legs are.

The parents keep a close eye on the chicks when they’re small, one of the parents is usually within a few feet of them.

The chicks learn to be loons by mimicking their parents. You can often see the chicks at it, if a parent turns to look at something, the chicks are likely to turn as well.

The chicks will hitch rides on both parents’ backs, often tucking in under the wings to keep warm.

And sometimes riding high to enjoy the view.

Swallow Update, June 21, 2021

On June 21, 2021 - Tree Swallow Cam

A little hard to tell exactly what’s going on in our boxes. Both the swallow and the wren are sitting on their nests. But, I can’t get a good look to see how many eggs they’ve got.

Mrs. Swallow has imported a number of feathers into the box. The last time we could see the eggs, there were four. Swallows usually lay five to seven, so your guess is as good as anyone’s.

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