A few birds seen on the pond this morning

Neighbor Carla accompanied me on my loon survey this morning. The loons are so comfortable being among humans (when there are no chicks present.) This one was preening. The other photos and details are on my Loon Survey # 4 post.

Besides loons we saw a couple of belted kingfishers chattering and swooping down for fish. This one perched on the branch of a fallen tree above the pond.

A mated pair of mallards were happily quacking and feeding on the pond plants.

We motored to the north cove and parked the boat near the beaver lodge. The dead larch trees in this boggy area are a favored spot for birds to perch on as they survey the pond looking for insects to munch on. This is where I always see Eastern Kingbirds. I was not able to get a good photo of the red-winged blackbirds or swallows, but they were present as well.

Loon Survey # 4

I am royally bummed out. This morning, I found one opened loon egg on the bottom of the pond next to the loon nest and some broken egg shells here and there in the nest.

I pulled the loon egg from the pond bottom to photograph it. You can see that it is brown in color. So, it looks like the female only laid one egg.

The mated loon pair was out on the pond fishing, but no chick was in evidence. However, the loons were calling frantically for about a 36 hour period from Tuesday evening until about Thursday morning. I think that part of that cacophony was due to the chick hatching out and part of it was due to the loons trying to protect their chick from predation. No luck.

That is life. Here one minute, gone the next. But, there may be time to initiate a new clutch of eggs if they do so by mid-July. Cross your fingers!

Loon nesting information from Lee Attix about our Caesar Pond loon saga: "If they did hatch a chick, they won't re-nest. If the nest failed (predated), they might try again. Key observations to look for are continued presence of both adults, time/activity around the nest, and courtship. Note; second nest attempts are not always at the same location."

Raccoons at our feeding station

Nightly antics at our feeding station. The raccoons love the grape jelly that we put out for the fruit eating birds! One of the raccoons is a female and we are expecting to see babies soon. 

Loon Survey #3

Here is the path that I take to "sneak up" on the loon nest. When I finally get to my location, I wedge the boat into the shoreline so the wind doesn't blow the boat too much. I was about 200 feet away from the nest. 

Did you know that Common Loons have red eyes in summer and gray eyes in winter?  What!!!

Today, I used the 400mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. I did find it difficult to hand-hold as steadily as I had wished. So, any videos that I took were very wobbly. But, at least I was able to hold it steady enough for some nice photos. I love the morning light on the bird nesting area. (Click on any photo for a more detailed view.)

 I observed the loon for about 45 minutes. She would often raise her nictitating membranes on her eyes to presumably protect them from the brilliant rays of the sun and particles in the air. I was hoping to see her rotating the eggs as I do not know if she laid 1 or 2 eggs in the nest, but I was not able to observe this today.

She ignored me until I turned the boat around to leave and then she looked straight at me.

Now that my boat was on the move, she flattened herself down over the nest to minimize her profile so that I could not see her. Note: I did not see the male out fishing today.

Planted Veggie seeds today

Today we planted our veggies plants and seeds

City Pickers Grow Box #1

Side near railing -  Genovese Basil (Burpee Seeds)

Middle - Winter Density Lettuce (Pinetree Garden Seeds)

Back - Big Italy Parsley (Burpee Seeds)

Side near house - Space Hybrid Spinach (Burpee Seeds)

City Pickers Grow Box # 2

Side near railing - Spacemaster Cucumber (Pinetree Garden Seeds)

Back side near house - National Pickling Cucumber (Pinetree Garden Seeds)

Out on the Lawn

Pot on lawn next to tomatoes - Bell Pepper (bought from Tractor Supply)

Three raised beds - Raven Zucchini (Pinetree Garden Seeds Summer Squash)

Pot - Potatoes - cut up seed potatoes

Heirloom Tomatoes (2) - from Pat Lammers

Cherry Tomato Plant

Planted tomatoes

 We planted two cherry tomatoes (from Home Depot) and two heirloom tomatoes (from Pat Lammers.)

Loon Survey # 2

Wowee! I found the loon nest on Caesar Pond. I went out boating at 6:30am and found the nest at around 7am. I paddled to the south cove and found the nest on the western side near the entrance, behind a long island. I was at maximum zoom with the Nikon P-1000 bridge camera (loooong zoom!)

 Here you see the loon trying to keep cool on the nest as she is facing into the sun. This is about 20 minutes after the first shot. It got warm fast on the pond.

Monthly Weather Update - May

 

This month was a warm one. After crunching the numbers, I found that Bowdoin was on average 4 degrees above normal. The normal monthly average high temperature is 65F, while our May monthly average this year was 69F.

While the average low temperature for May is 44F, our May monthly low this year was also 44F.

Red-winged Blackbird in full serenade

While I was sitting quietly at one of the magic spots in the northern, boggy area of Caesar Pond, in front of a beaver lodge, a Red-winged Blackbird decided to serenade me while perched atop a dead and decaying larch stem. He spread his wings which pulsated with each note he sang. Lovely and special... (Click on the photo for a more detailed view.)

Loon Survey Week 1.

Loons at the north end of Caesar Pond. See the turtle in the background?

I think the loons arrived at Caesar Pond yesterday. They are noisy at night, probably to keep predators at bay. There is one pair of loons at the moment. I just learned that a loon pair that nested successfully one year, may reuse the same nest site the next year, if that male is nesting on the same water area. Males may arrive at Caesar Pond a few weeks before females arrive.

I would motor in the direction of the loons and then sit quietly. They were busy feeding and didn't pay attention to me. I had my Canon with its 70-200mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter on it. I also had the Nikon P1000 bridge camera in case I had to take some shots across the pond. I am so pleased with this photo. (Click on it for a larger and more detailed view.)

Here the loon is starting a dive.

I wish that I had taken our little ApeMan camera (a cheaper GoPro type of underwater camera) with me because the loons swam underwater right next to the boat. I might have been able to get some cool shots. I'll have to remember to use it next time. By the way, I pulled my motor up out of the water so the loons wouldn't bump into it or the blade.

Then, they would surface nearby. This is one of the best loon shots I have ever taken. What a great morning communing with the loons. I am hoping to get some action shots the next time I go boating. (Click on it for a larger and more detailed view.) 

What made this pond prowl more special is that it is the first time that I have been in my boat in two years (2 knee surgeries later.)

For information Loon behavior and breeding, I often refer to the Loon Preservation Committee out of New Hampshire.