OK, this one will be a bit long as I try to catch up on all the loon families and the heron rookery. Please keep going, we’ll check in with the loons, Hank Heron, our moose returned and a few of our other friends.
Thanks to everyone for all the kind words on the Tall Ships post. Perhaps I should give up on the critters and take up marine photography?
I’m looking for a field of sunflowers to try to get some shots of indigo buntings. If you know of one relatively near Newbury, VT, I’d love to know about it.
It is time again for the The 93rd Annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair . It opens this Saturday, August 1 and runs through Sunday August 9. I won’t have a booth this year, nine days is just too much for me anymore. But, I’ll have note cards, my 2027 Wildlife Calendar and a few prints in The Shop At The Fair at the League Fair. And everything is available on my web site, www.IanClark.com. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, please send an email or give me a call. And, be sure to visit all the other craftspeople at the Fair – there’s lots of amazing work to see.
My 2027 Wildlife Calendar has arrived! They’re available on my site at www.IanClark.com. This year, I’ve added a couple photos of bears from my trip to Alaska last fall, including a cuddly-looking little first-year cub I wanted to bring home. But, while never specifically stated, I’m sure that would have broken at least one of my wife’s rules.
When we last checked on the loon families, the Westons had hatched two chicks, the Middletons had abandoned their first nest and were sitting on a second clutch and the Eastons’ chicks had hatched in the last days of June. The heron chicks were getting big.
I went to check on the Middletons on July 8. It was a chilly morning with thick fog.
As I paddled out, I got a great look at Champ, one of the lake monsters that is supposed to live in Lake Champlain. Come on, this is the clearest photo of Champ yet!
Mrs. Middleton was on nest duty. And it was a quiet morning. I headed in early.
On the 9th, I headed up to check on the Eastons.
Hank was fluffed up pondside finishing up his ablutions.
And finishing with a good shake before heading off to perch in a nearby tree.
He decided he’d missed a few spots while preening and set about some touch ups.
If Auguste Rodin sculpted a heron…. what would Hank be thinking of? Tasty fish? I’ve always found herons trying to scratch their head an amazing feat of balance. I’m in awe of their being able to do it perched high in a tree.
Hey! Did you hear the one about the wildlife photographer that got up really early?
I’m not sure what herons are doing when they open wide. They often stretch their necks high up before doing it. I wonder if it is a burp or a stretch or maybe trying to reposition food in their gullet. Sometimes they stand with their mouths open when it is warm, that would seem to be panting to cool. But they’ll often open wide for a few seconds and then return to what they were doing. And wildlife photographer jokes aren’t that funny.
After Hank settled for a nap, I went to catch up with the Eastons. They were feeding the chicks. Here’s Dad for the handoff.
I’ve heard back from the Loon Preservation Committee’s intern. Our banded bird this year is last year’s Mrs. Easton. They banded her late in the season after I’d headed to Alaska.
All gone but the tail… come on little guy! You can do it! Of course he can. And he’s instantly ready for the next meal.
Watching the Eastons I was interrupted when I noticed a visitor to the salad bar at the far end of the pond.
What looks like the moose I’d seen back in June returned – in daylight! There was another photographer out on the pond. We were able to hide in the deep shadows on the east side of the pond to watch. The moose stayed about 90 minutes. Plenty of time for us to go through a couple of camera batteries.
The moose was browsing in the shallow water. Occasionally he’d reach deep enough to get his head under, requiring a shake when he raised his head.
He took his time feeding, and moved around enough to let us get several angles.
This was a great opportunity for photos. I hope he’ll give me a repeat performance after he drops the velvet on his antlers.
I think the sores on his leg and flank are from botfly larvae. I wrote to NH Fish & Game’s Moose Biologist. I’ll update when I hear back.
On the 12th, I went back to check on the Middletons on a foggy morning. Mrs. M was on the nest. She was fidgeting and checking the eggs regularly. I suspect one of the chicks was hatching. I paddled around to see who else might be around. Most of the marsh birds have moved on already. I found just a couple red-winged black birds and several kingbirds.
There were a few painted turtles out basking and looking good.
There were lots of northern flickers chattering in the brush. There must have been several fledglings in the flock. It turns out a flock of flickers is a guttering, a menorah, or a Peterson.
And while I waited for news of the loon chicks, I had time to channel my inner Monet with the water lilies.
There wasn’t any news from the nest by the time I had to head home. The next day, LPC emailed to tell me someone on the pond had spotted the Middletons with a chick.
All too early on the 13th I was up and driving two hours to check in on the heron rookery.
I found just empty nests. And, as birds are wont to do, they left no forwarding address. This was a fun project, hopefully I watch the rookery again next year.
I didn’t get a chance to get back to the Middletons until the 16th.
I found both parents sleeping and floating together. I watched for the chick….
Dad woke and headed off to handle some loon affairs.
Mom awoke and stretched. Sadly, there wasn’t a chick.
On the 17th, I headed west to check on the Westons. A lone loon flew in as I was leaving the boat launch. The loon was feeding with determination and covering a lot of the pond. This was the only loon I saw that morning. On my last visit, the Westons had been at the very far end of the pond. I didn’t get all the way down there this trip. Friends on the pond emailed later to tell me the Westons and their chick had moved back to the main part of the pond.
There was a handful of solitary sandpipers out feeding in the shallows. This one seemed to be doing quite well in the water lilies.
The 20th found me back on the Eastons’ pond. The morning started quietly, with the chicks getting breakfast and the adults preening and stretching.
But things soon took a turn for the worse.
An intruder flew in. The confrontation escalated quickly, with lots of vocalizations and wing rowing. The dispute is between two females. Both went wing rowing up the pond out of sight. Shortly after, two loons came flying back down. I’ve never seen a dispute take to the air. I’m not sure if one of these is the intruder, or if it is the home team. The dispute soon resumed with lots of wing rowing. A couple times, the intruder dove and reappeared between the home team and the chicks. The home team didn’t approve of this and both would go after the intruder.
Here they come wing rowing back up the pond. That’s Mrs. Easton out front getting chased.
And back down the pond – this went on for about 45 minutes. You can see the bands on Mrs. E’s leg, she’s the loon on the left.
Eventually, the intruder departed, circling the pond several times tremoloing. The Eastons had some time to stretch and rest. I headed home.
I went back on the 25th. Once again, the morning started quietly with the parents providing breakfast for the chicks.
Hank was foraging nearby.
The chicks fed, one of the Eastons went off for some time alone. I didn’t see the bands to know who was who, but I’m betting it is Mrs. Easton – she always seemed to do the minimum needed with her chicks.
Hank relocated to a tree to preen.
First the left side…..
Then the right….
Finishing with the back.
The chicks settled in for a nap.
Dad has spotted a threat!
Mom has alerted and is looking for the threat. It was the intruding loon again. The confrontation soon escalated again.
The intruder coming up the pond. I’d estimate loons get going about 25 mph when they’re wing rowing. This one was making good time. A change of tactics! The intruder dives! Mrs. Easton dove too and they resurfaced out of sight.
But soon came rowing back down the pond…
Mrs. E making time as she goes by. With the intruder close behind!
The intruder again…..
They’ve turned around and are coming back down the pond. This is the intruder again.
Mrs. E starts to turn. To turn, the loons put one wing into the water which quickly turns them towards that side.
Mrs. E has her right wing in the water, she’s lifting her left – probably for balance.
And off she goes about 75° off her original course.
With the intruder matching her turn and continuing the chase.
This was another extended fight, with them rowing up and down the pond.
Mrs. E is in the foreground – you can just barely see her orange band in the splashing water.
When the chasing loon catches up, they’ll attack with either their bill or by ‘punching’ with the joint in their wing. Here the intruder has caught Mrs. E and is hitting her with her wing. The fight still isn’t settled. They resumed rowing for a time before the intruder left for the day. I suspect she’ll be back until one of the loons is exhausted or dead. It is tough to watch, but we’ve got to let nature take its course. That doesn’t stop me from rooting for the home team.
With the intruder gone, I went back to check on the chicks. One was sleeping, this one was flexing his wing.
Dad was keeping a sharp eye out to make sure the intruder didn’t return.
Mom didn’t trust the intruder either and was keeping watch too.
After several minutes, the home team relaxed and took time for a quick preening and a stretch. I had to head home. I’ll get back up when I can, looks like we won’t have good weather until the end of the week.
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A slower week this past week. I had a chance to visit the Weston loon family on a foggy morning and visited the great blue heron rookery.
I’ll be at the Berkshires Arts Festival at Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4, 5. I’ll be in booth 212 lots of prints and note cards. Stop by and have a look.
Tuesday morning found blue skies over the hill in West Newbury and the Weston’s pond in deep fog.
The Westons weren’t to be found on the main part of the pond. I continued on to the cove where they nest. The off duty loon was promoting a shift change. You can see the loon on the nest at the far right hidden in the brush. I never did see their legs; without seeing the bands – or lack of them – I couldn’t tell who was who.
They did the nest exchange after a few minutes and the loon coming off duty stretched. And then set out to find some breakfast. Looks like he? came up empty this time.
An outsider loon flew over and called which set the Westons to tremoloing. The outsider flew on and the pond quieted. Very quiet. I paddled around looking for photos. Seems most of the critters had taken the morning off.
After a time, I found a red-winged blackbird out and about. He alternated foraging with calling out to announce his presence. As the fog lifted, painted turtles started climbing out of the water to bask.
The outsider loon returned and landed well up the pond. All three loons started calling. The loon on the nest left the nest to join the other home team loon on the main part of the pond. They were well separated from the intruder. I snuck back into the cove with their nest to see if I could see how many eggs they have. I took a quick look to find two and turned around to leave the cove. Only to find Slappy Gilmore the beaver entering the cove. He? circled the entrance to the cove, slapping regularly. If he’d gotten out of the way, I’d have left……
Here’s his tail making contact for the slap.
And each slap pushes his butt up out of the water. You can see his webbed feet clearly here.
The loons mostly called at each other before a brief skirmish with some wing rowing before the intruder departed.
Thursday morning, I was up early and headed to see the great blue heron rookery. I’ve been inundated with requests for the location of the rookery. I think I’ve answered everyone. I’m reluctant to share locations with folks I don’t know. Most are likely to be responsible, but the internet has more than a few bad apples.
On three of the four nests with herons, an adult was standing on the edge of the nest. The fourth had a heron still sitting.
After watching for a time, chicks started stirring. The three nests with adults standing guard all have at least three chicks. The chicks are still small enough that they can’t be seen when crouched down in the nest. They appear, then disappear fairly quickly, keeping me on my toes. The chicks are funny-looking gawky birds whose body parts all seem to come from birds of different sizes. I suspect they were designed by Jim Henson.
Two of the chicks in another nest. Here’s a shift change on the first nest. Both herons will birdsit the chicks and bring food. When one returns to the nest, they go through a ceremony where they stretch and bob their necks to each other. The returning parent brought back a sunfish which would seem to be much too large. The chick in back put it away without effort. Back at the second nest, the chicks were getting restless… This guy seems to be thinking that if breakfast isn’t delivered promptly, he’ll have to go get it on his own. Poking their parent, and pulling feathers, didn’t speed things up.
The parent alerted to something…. The mate returned. The parents swallow the chick’s food and regurgitate it for the chicks when they return. As the chicks get bigger, the parents will bring in larger food that they haven’t swallowed. The parent that had been on duty wasted no time heading off. The chicks have been fed, time for everyone to settle back in. And a returning parent feeding the chicks in the third nest.
The fourth and fifth nests had parents return, but I didn’t see any chicks. Guess I’ll have to go back.
And we’ve hosted bluebirds in one of the boxes on our deck again this year. I haven’t been posting, it seems like many people have cameras in their bird houses now. And, something is amiss with mine, the video quality has degraded. But, here’s a clip of the chick’s final few minutes as our guests before they fledge.
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With a week with mostly nice weather, I was able to get out and visit both the Middletons and Westons as well as the heron rookery and a couple fox dens.
This week, you’ve got two chances to see my slideshow, Travels with Ian 2025, with some of my favorite images from last year. We’ll see lots of wildlife around New England and lots of brown bears from Alaska – including Brown Bear no. 925 who made ursine history last year. There are even images of a steam locomotive working in the incredible scenery along the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway.
The first show will be at the Bugbee Center in White River Jct. Wednesday May 27 at 1:30 pm. The second presentation will be at the Blake Memorial Library in Corinth, VT Friday May 29 at 6 pm. The Library would appreciate an RSVP sent to khotellingbml@gmail.com. Both are free and open to the public.
And I’ll be exhibiting at the Berkshires Art Festival in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4 and 5. I’ll have note cards and prints large and small for sale. Please come by and have a look.
A week ago Saturday, I called on the Westons. One was feeding at the south end of the pond, the other turned out to already be sitting on the nest towards the north end of the pond. I wandered off to see who else might be around.
About the only excitement – if cormorants can be exciting – was this double-crested cormorant who finished breakfast and departed. Both loon parents share sitting on the eggs. Our off-duty loon finished at the buffet and headed towards the nest for a shift change. This turned out to be Mom. Dad is banded and I could ID him when he came off the nest. Dad is hidden in the brush. His head is the dark spot in the brush above mom’s head.
Mr. Weston came off the nest and stretched as Mrs. Weston settled in on the nest.
A friend tipped me off to a fox den, I headed down Monday morning to see if I could find it. There are supposed to be seven kits. Mom has been busy. So far I’ve found five of her holes. Without knowing where anyone was, I sat and watched the wrong hole for a time. This guy popped out of one of the holes down the field, and I gave up on what may have been an empty hole.
This sibling joined the first kit and both stretched out to enjoy the sun – after moving far enough back in the brush to keep me from getting more photos.
Tuesday morning, I was on the road early to visit the heron rookery. I missed when they started sitting on the nests. I was hoping for chicks. No such luck, the latest they should hatch is early this week.
It was a warm morning and most of the herons on nest duty were standing up in the nests. Both heron parents take turns sitting on the nest. The last time I visited, the bird on duty at dawn was still on duty when I left about 9:00.
This morning, all of the off-duty birds returned early to relieve their partners. The shift change comes with a “nest relief ceremony.” The partners stretch their necks and/or raise the plumes on their crest. They may preen each other and sometimes exchange sticks. But, the bird that’s just been relieved doesn’t stick around long.
This heron’s mate has just returned to the rookery and is perched in a tree to the left of the nest. The birds stretched and clapped their bills at a distance before a quick exchange at the nest.
Another pair making a nest exchange.
The birds reporting for duty all spent several minutes tidying the nest.
When the nests are in order, the birds settle in and catch up with their neighbors.
On the way home, I stopped to visit the foxes again. They weren’t to be found.
The next morning I headed out to see what the Middletons were up to. They’re sitting on their nest. They’ve moved from where the nest has been for several years. They’ve found a new spot on a hummock deep in the brush and are well hidden. I didn’t see the nest until Mrs. Middleton relieved Mr. Middleton.
As Mr. Middleton left his cove, a pair of Canada geese flew into the pond and landed not too far from the loon’s nest. That pair of geese was rapidly challenged by another pair of geese that flew across the pond to object to the newcomers.
The newcomers objected right back and went after the second pair of geese.
It was a serious fight, with geese biting and striking with their elbows – the joint in the wing.
In the midst of the fight, Hank Herron flew in right where the geese were fighting and staked out his position.
One of the geese chased Hank off his log into the brush nearby. Then appeared to go over and converse…..
Mr. Middleton returned, keeping low in the stalking pose. He’s checking the battlefield – notice Hank in the back right.
Mr. Middleton went over to see what Hank was up to. One of the pair of geese got out of the water and stood on the log near where the whole shebang started. Mr. Middleton dove…..
I’m not sure if Mr. M actually goosed the goose, but he made it clear that the goose had to go.
Hank seemed unfazed by the hullabaloo and went off to see what was for breakfast.
There didn’t seem to be anything appetizing nearby, so Hank waded off.
After some more skirmishing, one pair of geese convinced the other to go away. Quiet returned to the cove. Mr. M headed back out to get busy with his day.
And Hank took up position waiting for a meal to swim by. I headed home.
A chilly Friday found me paddling down the Waits River before dawn. Where I met Mrs. Mallard and her brood paddling upstream.
I had to make way for ducklings as she lead her brood past.
A large flock of sandpipers – called a fling, a bind, a cluster, or a contradiction of sandpipers – was spread along the banks and islands. Most of them were least sandpipers with others mixed in.
Sandpipers eat insects and their larvae, small crustaceans and other invertebrates like snails. They forage in and near the river, happily poking their bills into the muck to find the tastiest snacks.
They forage with rapid movements. And often seem to think the menu is better somewhere ‘over there.’
Here I found a few least sandpipers – the bird on the right – foraging alongside a spotted sandpiper.
One of the least sandpipers heading to the next bit of mud to check out what’s on the menu there.
An osprey circled overhead a few times before looking like he’d spotted his meal below.
A male red winged-blackbird didn’t like the osprey in the area and flew up to challenge him. The osprey spent a few minutes dodging the blackbird before the blackbird gave up. I’m a little surprised that the red wings challenge the osprey. Osprey eat almost exclusively fish (I have seen a video of one grabbing a snake from the water.) Birds usually know who is a threat and who isn’t. Loons can tell the difference between eagles and osprey at a considerable distance. They alert and call at the eagles and ignore the osprey. I wonder why red-wings object.
A common grackle joined the sandpipers looking for breakfast. I can’t identify what the grackle caught. But it wasn’t to his liking. He carried it up on the bank and abandoned it.
As I was heading back to the boat launch, I caught up with the mallard family again. Mrs. Mallard had the ducklings out of the water to preen. Dad was paddling nearby.
The ducklings finished preening and settled in for a nap.
Mom kept an eye on them as they huddled – she seems to think the little guy on the right is up to something….
An eagle appeared flying downstream. Mom gave a sharp call and the ducklings took cover under a nearby log. They hid for several minutes before remerging to huddle for their nap. I headed home.
Yesterday I headed back to check on the fox kits.
I quickly found one resting directly on top of the den’s hole.
Something caught his attention and he stood to look things over.
A false alarm! He settled back to nap in the sun.
A ways up the field, another kit was lounging near another of their holes.
This guy was laying in the brush at the edge of the woods.
With yet another sibling nearby.
Another kit was snacking on something near yet another of their holes. He’s finished and is off the the next item on the agenda. The parents will bring food to the den and if the kits aren’t out, the parent drops the food and leaves.
The next agenda item was a nap.
The clouds were moving in rapidly and the light was fading, I headed home.
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