With the beautiful weather we had last week, I was out morning and evening every day checking in on all three loon families along with their neighbors. The Forest Service road to the Easton’s pond is now passible so I finally got up to check on them.
A raft of new subscribers joined us this last week. If you found me from the Paradise City show, thanks for stopping by. For the new visitors, to protect the loon families, I don’t publish their location on the web. Not everyone on the web has wildlife’s best interests at heart. The three families I follow are the ‘Eastons,’ on the easternmost pond I frequent, the ‘Westons’ are on the westernmost and the ‘Middletons’ are in the middle.
The first visit to the Eastons was last Tuesday evening. There was a strong wind kicking up the occasional whitecap. On my first lap around the pond, I didn’t spot any loons and last year’s nesting site was untouched. After time, one adult loon appeared, foraging lazily. The chop was too much for photos and the black flies had decided I was the buffet, so I called an early quit and headed home.
Wednesday morning, I headed out to see the Westons.
A broad-winged hawk settled near the boat launch as I was putting in. It didn’t take long to find a single adult loon foraging and preening out on the pond. The other loon was sitting on their nest. After a bit, the loons swapped nest duty and the newly released loon had a good stretch before settling in for a nap. I wandered off to see who else was out and about. Many painted turtles were hauled out around the edge of the marsh and several snapping turtles were floating with their heads and top of their shells out of the water. Mrs. hooded merganser was out in the clear – rarely do they stay out of the reeds when someone is in sight. She even gave a good stretch before heading off to forage among the lily pads. Female red-winged blackbirds are sitting on their nests. The males are keeping watch nearby. Male common yellowthroats are plentiful in the marsh and are happy to announce their presence. Leaving the pond, I saw something I’ve not seen before; a hawk or raven was dive bombing a kettle of turkey vultures. By the time I pulled over, the corvid was gone – of course.
Wednesday evening, I dropped in on the Middletons. It was well into the 90s. In previous years, the nest was fairly exposed to the afternoon sun and the loon with afternoon nest duty often sat in full sun for a couple hours. I headed over to check on the nest. On my way, the resident osprey took a fish from just a few yards in front of me. Of course, I didn’t see him until he was just a few feet above the water, I had to watch instead of taking photos.
This year the grass has grown up considerably giving them some afternoon shade. But, not enough to keep them from getting hot enough to pant. Loons will pant like dogs do, holding their bill open and breathing quickly to try to cool off. Our other loon was floating around the pond and eventually gave a stretch. With one loon on the nest and the other just killing time, it was time to see who else was around. Eventually, the loons swapped nest sitting duty and with my binoculars I was able to see two eggs. Red-eyed vireos are actually very common, but somewhat rare to see – apparently because I’m always looking on the top of the branch…. They spend most of their time high in the tree canopy, you can hear them regularly. This one ventured down almost to eye level briefly to forage. Looks like he’s trying to pull a spider out its hidey hole. He eventually pulled something free and promptly returned upstairs. I encouraged him to take some black flies along, but he declined.
Thursday morning I headed back to visit the Eastons, hoping both had returned. There was no wind, it was a perfect morning just to be out on the water, even better for photos. As I headed down the pond, I quickly spotted a loon sitting on the bank a couple hundred feet from the previous nesting site. Studies of banded loons suggest that if they are successful in hatching chicks in a nesting site, they’ll reuse the site. The literature says the male picks the site, I hoped our male had returned (I want all my critters to live long happy lives before retiring to Boca Raton.) The male on the pond the last few years was banded, I wanted to get a look at their legs.
Our loon on the new nest. A loon was preening a few hundred feet from the nest and stretched as I went by. I got a good look at her legs, no bands. Nearby, one of our spotted sandpipers was foraging along the rocks exposed above the water. Checking each rapidly before moving to the next. Our loon not on duty did a slow tour of the pond. Before heading towards the nest.
The off duty loon wandered over to confer with the loon on the nest. They exchanged hoots, apparently discussing the shift change. The loon on the nest agreed it was time to hand things off and left the nest. Free of having to sit, he stretched and then scratched an itch – letting me spot the bands on his legs. Our male is back. Mom climbed up on the nest and checked on the eggs. Mom took time to turn both eggs. We think birds turn their eggs to both help distribute nutrients to the developing chick and to keep the chick from adhering to the side of the egg. Mom got them arraigned properly and settled in. I scouted for other wildlife. Pickings were slim. Merlin claimed there were lots of warblers around, all I could find was common yellowthroats. There was a lone duck foraging along the grass. Thursday evening I headed back to see the Westons. Their nest is well camouflaged and usually provides good shade. With the temps in the 90s again, the loon on duty was hot and panting. Hank Heron, or maybe his cousin, Wade, was working through the marsh nearby. I guess he didn’t like the looks of me, he decided to be elsewhere. There was an eastern kingbird that was picking perches in beautiful light, I watched him for a time. Kingbird numbers seem to be down on all three ponds this year.
The loons had company for breakfast, a bull moose was browsing along the edge of the pond. Conditions were good to let me get relatively close, there was a slight wind blowing towards me and I was in deep shadows with him looking up into the sun. I was able to watch him for a time. After dunking his head under to get a mouthful of underwater plants, he’d give a good shake, scattering water almost as far as a soggy husky can. Another head shake. Most of the time when I encounter moose in the morning, they’re out before sun up and wander back into the shade before the light hits the pond. This fellow stayed out about 20 minutes after the light reached the pond, then headed back into the woods. I returned my attention to the loons.
Once again, our male had taken the night shift and was on the nest waiting to be relived. When he was relived, I waited for the stretch. He cooperated nicely and found a spot with beautiful light. I set out their nest sign and headed home for a much needed nap.
