This morning was a perfect morning to be a loon on an Upper Valley Pond. Well, I can’t know that for sure, but it was a great day to be a loon photographer… The family I visited – I’m going to call them the Eastons – had the chicks hatch Friday and Saturday a week ago.
I’m trying to follow three families again this summer. Last year, I kept trying to sort out which family we were looking at by the number of chicks. That’s not going to work this year, the first two families each hatched two chicks. (The third is due… yesterday.) So, This family, that had the two chicks last year is now the ‘Eastons.’ The second family in the last post is now the ‘Middletons.’ And the family still sitting is now the ‘Westons.’ (I’ve learned the hard way to be circumspect about where I’m working. I’m now getting something like 10,000 visitors a month and not all of them have the loons’ best interest at heart.
Let’s take a quick peek to see how the Westons are doing.
The home team was still sitting on the nest. There were two intruders on the pond, one interacting with one of the home team and another off by itself. I think this is one of the home team. The stretched neck shows the loon is alerted to a danger. In this case, the other loon is hiding and this one is trying to locate it. This is probably the intruder on the pond. The loon was hiding up against a birch log along the shore. The black and white blended beautifully into the birch bark. Now, did the loon realized the coloring with hide him, or was this just chance? I’m betting loons are smart enough that this was intentional. Along the way, I found a cedar waxwing gathering material for a nest. Apparently, the female does almost all the work on the first nest of the season. If they have a second brood, dad will help building or rebuilding the nest. A hairy woodpecker peers out the front door to see what I’m about.
Moving east to this morning’s outing, one of the great blue herons on this pond usually gives me two nice photo ops a year. I think I collected one of them today.
The great blue heron wading through the fog shortly before dawn. One adult was baby sitting while the other was off foraging as the sun rose. We’ve got on chick on back and one under the far wing. Our chick woke up with a big yawn…. Our second adult soon appeared to serve up breakfast. Today’s menu was mostly fish – and all small enough for a chick – along with a few insect nymphs. Both adults were soon busy foraging for the chicks. This looks to be another insect nymph. Our chicks have greatly improved their skills at taking the handoff from their parents. Last week, they fumbled the handoff more than not, today they were on their game. And another fish. After a time, everyone settled in for a quick nap. The adults were floating about 25 feet apart, each with one chick. One of the birds on the pond last year was banded. Today was the first time I got a good look this season. Our banded bird has returned. The Loon Preservation Committee banded this bird over on Lee’s Pond in Moultonborough, NH in 2015. They were unable to determine the sex. One of our chicks gives a foot wave. Lot’s of growing to do before that foot fits. Foot waving is thought to be a way for the bird to cool down. After a bit of feeding, the chicks started to ride the babysitter’s back while the other adult continued to bring food for them. Another shot of a chick riding. One of our adults stretching. And one of our chicks giving a stretch.
And a few more stretching shots, just because they’re fun…
Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!
Linda
Another great series of loon pics! Stunning!!!