Loon Babies !!!

[chasedawg]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

That experience is what keeps my wife and I going all over the lake every summer watching the chicks grow up.... because it is a journey to watch.....

My wife and kids got to watch flight training one afternoon...
We have watched fishing training....
We watch the nice fluffy feathers give way to the Adult feathers
We seen parents tired of carrying the young on their back, and fling them off....

All and all it is very rewarding.

However if you spent large amounts of time watching these lovely creatures, sometime you end up seeing things you wished you hadn't. Nothing is more sorrowful then listening to a pair of loons after they have lost a nest.... We went buy and one of the pair was on the nest, we went back buy about 20 mins later, after a couple of big boats had plowed into the cove, and found the next empty, and found the loons singing a very sorrowing tune...

Nothing like watching Nature, the good and the bad.....

We were so lucky to see a baby loon chick appear on 19 Mile Bay just before the fourth of July weekend. We were so concerned that the chick was so young and for two potential predators that could harm the chick.

One that the store at 19 mile bay had opened and boats, jetski boats (way too many) wakeboard boats, pontoon boats, rental boats, cabin cruisers, boats that have skippers not a clue how to handle a boat in the bay came out from everywhere and heading to the store were all over the bay. It was like a washing machine. In fact we haven't seen that many boats over the last 4 years that the store was closed.

Now we see inexperienced boaters that have no clue what a chart looks like back again. They are back going back over the rocks in the no wake zone between Farm and Chase. It happens about every other day and twice more on weekends. I use to yell "Rocks!"....but I'm not wasting my time anymore.

Ok you get the picture....Now back to the Loon chick.....These new parents of this baby had never seen such activity with huge wakes since the store has been closed. I posted on the Winni forum please watch out for the new chick before the 4th.

Then there was the Bald Eagle coming back to its nest on Farm Island. We were walking along 19 mile Bay beach and we could see the eagle looking above us for the chick. After that weekend we looked and looked for the baby. Nothing for days. We were worried that it was not a good ending. Well the baby is gone got hit or snatched.

Surprise!.... I went in just after sunrise this morning to our dock and there was Mom and Dad hanging out close to the chick. The chick is much bigger and healthy. Unbelievable how it ever survived. So far it has.....