Loon Nesting

Upon arriving at the cottage, I got the binoculars out and verified that the loons were on the nest. I had one small issue as one on the small buoys had drifted over in front of our cottage. Upon rescuing it, I found that the clamp that held the weights on was open. That meant that I didn’t tighten it down properly or that a fisherman had caught the anchor line and was upset and removed it from the anchor and set it free. I was able with a hook on the end of the pole to rescue the anchors from the lake bottom and replace it – only this time a little closer to the nest (and away from a log pile that the fishermen like to cast to). I couldn’t see the log pile when I put the buoys in as the water was too wavy to see the logs.

	But the loons were changing the guard when I went to see them. They take their time getting on the nest. While I waited, the loon posed with a great wing flap.
Eventually, it swam over to the ANP and decided to hop on.
	It climbed on from the back (non-ramp) side. Apparently, it always wants to face out toward the lake – and any danger. The loon checked the eggs …
... then proceeded to turn the eggs.
	Once they were all adjusted – it laid down on them to keep them warm.
The following morning when I went out to check on the loons, they were changing guard again. The loon, who had been there all night, was out past the buoys and waiting for the other loon to arrive. I took the opportunity to do a quick paddle by and snapped a photo of the nest. It showed two eggs – a more normal number.
With three eggs the last two years and only two surviving chicks, I was happy to see a normal egg count. Note that the loons were back on the nest after I left as I did not disturb the nest in any way.
Next blog: Loon chicks?

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