Project Loon Watch - One Baby Missing


Our pair of nesting loons have apparently lost one of their babies. Loon babies sometimes fall victim to predators in the ecosystem.

Birds of prey, including American Bald Eagles are among the creatures that might consider a baby loon a meal. It's not out of the question that a Northern Pike or Largemouth Bass may have taken the bird, but we'll never know. The loon may also have died of injury, illness or hunger. In any case, the loon parents can now devote 100% of their energies toward raising the surviving chick. Given the lateness of the baby's arrival, that's probably not a bad thing. In the shot below, a loon "gets low" before standing up and flapping its wings.




Photo by Jon Okerstrom

Click here for information from the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute on loons.

Posted: Wed - August 3, 2005 at 11:56 PM      

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