Posts Tagged: birds
Loon Update June 25, 2025
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.
Mom settled in for a nap, I wandered off to see who else was out and about.
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.
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.
Sunday morning I went back up to visit them.
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.
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.
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.
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 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!
10-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 25, 2025
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.
Nine-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 24, 2025
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.
Eight-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 23, 2025
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.
Seven-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 22, 2025
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.
Six-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 21, 2025
The swallow chicks are now six days old and look to be doing well. We had a hot day here on the hill, the chicks seemed to be fidgeting more. And mom and dad are going all out to bring in the groceries.
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.
Four-day-old tree swallow chicks, June 19, 2025
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.
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. But, hey, they were cheap.
Three-day-old tree swallow chicks
Tree swallows are raising a family in one of our camera-equipped nesting boxes. The chicks hatched last Sunday, here’s a quick look at our three-day-old chicks.
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. But, hey, they were cheap.
A quick look at our swallow chicks
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.
Update on the Loons and Some Cute Fox Kits
Memorial Day, May 26, looked promising when I got up to check the weather at 3:30. The dogs weren’t convinced and slept in. Lee & I set out to see if the road to the Easton’s pond was passable. This was my first visit to see them this year.
The road was passable, but the fog had settled over the pond and there was a chilly breeze. There was a pair of loons traveling together on the pond. Mr. Easton is banded, I couldn’t get a good look to see if he’s returned. A quick check of the nest site from the last several years found no sign of activity. Fortunately, it remains well above high water level. We headed out early without any photos.
By this time last few years, the Eastons had been sitting on the nest by now. Assuming they don’t have a nest I didn’t find, they’re at least a week behind the previous years’ schedule.
Tuesday morning I visited the Middletons. The pair of loons on the pond were banded last summer by the Loon Preservation Committee. On my earlier visits this year, Mr. Middleton was traveling with an unbanded loon.
The Middletons are also at least a week behind previous years’ schedule for laying their eggs.
Wednesday morning found me visiting the Westons. When I arrived, I found one loon sitting on the nest – well above water – and one resting nearby. At first I assumed the loon in the water had shown up to take a turn on the nest.
Friends in Newbury called to tell me they have fox kits and were kind enough to let me set up my blind to watch. While setting up the blind, I was watched by two kits sitting near their den.
Tuesday I returned to watch the kits again.
Thursday I tried again with the kits.
Friday morning’s forecast didn’t look promising when I went to bed. When I got up, the forecast had improved to showing a couple hours of ‘mostly cloudy.’ I decided to give the kits another try. Which was the correct choice as the low clouds cleared and it was soon sunny enough to heat the blind enough to slowly roast me. An added benefit was what seemed like the entire population of mosquitoes and ticks had taken shelter in there with me. The phoebe or kingbird made a reappearance, zooming into the blind, around my head and back out in less time than it takes to write about it. No idea if he’d nabbed a meal.
The cameras in our bluebird boxes are working again, albeit with some kinks. Bluebirds explored the south box for a time and gave up. A few days later I noticed them around the north box and fiddled with the camera to get up and running. They seemed to have claimed the box. There’s third box nearby that has been claimed by wrens. The wrens were successful at driving the bluebirds out. A pair of tree swallows has now claimed the bluebird box and are being very vigilant about the wrens. The wrens seem much less aggressive towards the swallows. Bluebirds would be a direct competitor for food, both bluebirds and wrens foraging along the grass. Swallows hunt in the air. Is that enough of a difference for the wrens to accept swallows as neighbors?
I’ll get around to editing some of the footage of the story so far and start to follow the swallows’ progress with some posts soon.
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. 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/.