Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 6th Week of Life

The 6th week of life was pretty much like the 5th week. No real exciting episodes, just the chick continuing to add its juvenile feathers and growing overall. So, in this installment I simply focus on a couple of behavioral aspects of the birds. Enjoy!

Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 5th Week of Life

Week 5 brings the development of juvenile contour feathers. The chick is really growing fast as it is the apple of its parents' eyes and the feeding frenzy continues. This video concentrates on the chick preening. So many downy feathers sticking out everywhere and the chick thinking that it is looking rather chic and grown up with its big, new feathers! Enjoy...

Loon Chick at 35 days old (5 weeks)

This photo allows you to compare its size of the chick to an adult.

Wow, what a wonderful morning photographing the loons on Caesar Pond! The loons spent a lot of time in the middle of the pond directly opposite from our dock at about 600' away. This afforded me much better photos.

The poor chick looks so ragged as it is developing juvenile contour and primary feathers.

You can see so many bald patches on its wings!

When the chick finished a preening session, it flapped it wings. You can really see the new primary feathers and their patterning, as well as all the down in patches.

Here you can see the underside of a wing. In another week or so, the juvenile plumage will fill in the bald spots!

Finally, one of my favorite photos from today...

Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 4th Week of Life

In the 4th week of life, there is more physical growth and the chick becomes a bit more independent. Lots of eating and diving underwater!

Rain, glorious rain!

 Whoo Hooo! We got 0.93" of rain. That brings us up to 1.52" for the month of July, thus far. On average, we should get around 3.5" of rain. We have been in such a drought that I can't see that happening, but we'll see! At least our rain barrels are full again and I can water a few flowers in each garden for a few weeks until we get more rain.

This week and next will be in the mid-80s to 90F each day, and that is above average in temperature as we should average around 79F. So hot and dry...

Loon Chick on Caesar Pond - 3rd Week of Life

Yay! It is week 3 of the loon chick's life and it is thriving! I think the parents are oh, so proud! Enjoy this little video from the last week.

Retired life moves at a snail's pace

We were walking down Starbird Corner Road when Drew spied this snail crossing the road. It got me thinking...

In retirement, we are moving at a snail's pace at the moment. We aren't racing from place to place as so many other folks are. 

We are simply trying to enjoy the beauty of nature in all its glory one day at a time. We revel in the patterns, colors, textures, sounds, and scents of the world around us.

We follow trails where they lead us, taking in the landscape as it changes through the summer season. That's where life is at this moment in time. I am content...

Loon Chicks on Caesar Pond-2nd Week of Life

Loon Chicks grew a bit bigger this week. Look at the amount of feathers, the body length, and even bill length. And, don't forget about their huge webbed feet! Because they no longer ride on their parents' backs, they are more vulnerable than ever to predation.

Loon Chick Update

 

Whew! Friday night into Saturday morning was rough. There was so much loon cacophony on the pond that I was sleepless wondering if a chick was killed. Unfortunately, my fears came true. There is only one chick left.

Let's hope this chick makes it through week 2 of life and thereafter! I shot some video this morning and both parents are feeding this chick almost continuously, and the chick is growing fast because of all this attention.