May 28th: loons have abandoned nest and the bay

Our neighbor just reported that the loons are no longer in the bay and the nest has been abandoned. She also reports the eggs are gone (probably eaten) This is very sad. We continue to hope for a 2nd nesting. Will be back at the lake next weekend and will check on the floating nest pair. Hopefully with all the storms we're getting, that nest will survive. Check out my webpage for for loon photos. www.loonphotography.com

May 25th: Nest is swamped...

Neighbour at the lake called with bad news. The water was rising and the nest looked like it was getting swamped. The loons hadn't been on the nest in quite some time so she went to have a closer look at the nest and sure enough, the nest and eggs were wet. The loons did not return to nest the rest of the day, so it looks like this 1st laying is a failure. We can only hope that they will lay again this spring. With all the rain expected this weekend the lake will probably rise quite a bit, so hopefully they will hold off building another nest til after the lake level stabilizes.

Hopefully the floating loon nest will still be fine; will check on it next weekend. Check out my webpage for for loon photos. www.loonphotography.com

May 22nd: Loons still on nest

Well, we're back at the lake and the loons are still tending the nest. We're quite concerned, however, that the water is starting to rise and loons build their nests very very close to the shore. The reason behind the proximity to water is that loons have a very difficult time manoeuvring on land. Their legs are positioned so very far back in their body that they find it hard to walk. The position of the legs, however, allows them to swim like fish! They can go down to 200 ft if required to get food. The lake is very low this year; probably 4 ft below "normal". The egg(s) need to be kept dry at least two more weeks to hatch. (since I saw the egg 2 weeks ago, another 2 weeks would be the maximum time required to gestate). This weekend, it seems the loon(s) are spending much longer periods of time on the nest in comparison to two weeks previous.

We also encountered a manufactured loon nest in Clear Water Bay where another set of loons have set up shop. There is a nest and two eggs in it. The "man-made" nest is a floating nest which will rise with the lake. The chance of survival of this floating nest is much higher than the permanent one near our cottage. We were able to find this manufactured loon nesting platform because the fellow who made it had phoned me about my loon pictures in the Lake of the Woods Owners Association photo essay I wrote/photographed in the May issue. Check out my webpage for for loon photos. www.loonphotography.com

May 9th: egg in the nest

As many of you know, last year I photographed a loon family with their baby chicks in our bay in Lake of the Woods. It was a wonderful experience and I was blessed to have been able to capture the birds relatively close up. The two adult loons are now nesting again in our bay, and there is one egg in the nest. It is interesting to observe their taking turns on the nest, and alarmingly, leave the nest for a considerable amount of time before returning to sit! I've read that they can leave for up to an hour. I was able to photograph the egg and the adults sitting this weekend.

The gestation for loons is 27 days, so hopefully in 4 weeks or less, there will be a baby loon here. The birds also can lay eggs on different days, and the average is two. We're hoping to see more eggs when we return two weeks from now. Check out my webpage for for loon photos. www.loonphotography.com