June 4, 2023: We have a Loon Nest

The pair of loons we identified several weeks ago, the "northern" pair, has nested! 

Photo by Marge and Dave Thorpe

It's in a rather remote part of the lake that will have minimal impact from motor boat traffic, and probably not a lot of kayak traffic either, so at this point it won't be marked with signs in an attempt to minimize disturbances.  The nest is so well hidden that it was only discovered when someone paddled so close that the loon not on the nest started to act up and gave away the location.  Many thanks to Shayne Duggan for being aware of the loon's behavior and knowing what it meant.  The Loon Preservation Committee has a description of loon behaviors on their website that will help you understand what different behavior means.  You can find it here:  Loon Watching the Responsible Way:  A Guide to Understanding Loon Behaviors.

And now a second pair of loons is starting to exhibit nest-building activities.  I was able to see bands on one of them - it's the male that was banded here last year, and raised the chick Maddie.

We haven't been able to see whether there are bands on his mate, so we're still waiting to confirm if last year's banded female is back.  

Something that is back are eagles.  There were multiple sightings of an immature bald eagle soaring over and divebombing the loons.  Adult loons should be fine, but loon chicks are quite vulnerable to eagles as well as to hawks.  I'd much rather have the eagles go after this critter I saw swimming in the lake on one of my paddles this week:

Northern Water Snake

Northern water snakes are harmless and don't bother me one bit, but they are much more plentiful than loon chicks!

As always, the geese are well ahead of loons in their breeding; I saw three geese families on another paddle, two swimming in the lake, and one up on an island foraging for food.

A family with four goslings on Sheep Island.

The little chicks are awful cute when they are so small and fluffy.

When the parents on the island saw me they encouraged the chicks to move along into the bushes for safety, which they did only reluctantly and with significant prodding - they clearly wanted to continue to find food in the warmth of the sun.

In need of a little prodding.

"Move along junior!"

What amazed me was that the parents were perfectly silent the whole time - you know how loud they usually are when they feel threatened, but not when there are chicks to hide.  A second family with four goslings, and a third family with six, were side-by-side, out for their morning swim.

That makes 14 new geese on the lake this summer!

The late frost we had a couple of weeks ago killed the leaves on quite a few of the beech and oak trees that were exposed to open sky.

One of many oak trees damaged by the late freeze.

I've been watching to see if they would put out a second set of leaves, and this week they started to do that.  

I'll keep an eye on them as the season progresses to see how they do.

Finally, birds aren't the only animals working on nests right now.  Watch out for turtles crossing roads to get from water to the perfect site to lay their eggs!

Momma Painted Turtle laying her eggs on the shoulder of the road.

It's almost peak time for new life on the lakes!