Lake Vermilion, Minn. (VLA) -- The loons had hidden their nest deep in the brush of a small peninsula. It was hidden so well that in the hours after their chick hatched, Dad Loon couldn't figure out where Mom and baby chick had gone. They apparently had slipped away silently and secretly to the water for swim lessons.
The chick's father hooted softly, calling and looking for them a little past 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27. Hunting the nest area, he lost his footing and crashed into the water of Lake Vermilion. Dad Loon then circled the lily pads calling out for them, bellowing his loudest seconds later to signal his alarm and frustration.
But minutes later, all his anxiety was forgotten when the little loon family found each other and celebrated the chick's hatching with a swim out in the bay. We don't really know exactly when the chick hatched, or if there was ever a second egg lost to a predator.
As Tuesday afternoon unfolded, the chick could be heard learning how to make loon conversation with help from its mother. Dad Loon continued patrolling outside the nest area.
A few hours later, just before 5 p.m., nearby loon-watcher Liz Dahl shot priceless video of the chick and one of the parents. They were focused almost immediately on not only teaching the chick how to swim, but to eat from the bounty of the lake. Then--a close call.
An "intruder" loon neared, threatening to attack the chick in a strange jealous behavior well-documented by naturalists. The parent roared into action, chasing the intruder far out into the bay, but leaving the chick all alone in the water, unprotected. Dahl shot the whole thing, as well as the reunion of the chick and its parent minutes later.
That wasn't the only dramatic threat to the little chick's life that first day. After rain moved through, the loons sensed the presence of a bald eagle high in the sky and began crying frantically. Apparently hiding the chick deep in the brush back in the nest, the two loons made a ruckus until the eagle tired of their noise and left the area.
It was an exhausting and spectacular first day for the baby loon and its parents. It was also full of life lessons for the little one just setting out on its own fascinating life on the lake. It will be a life of spectacular beauty, but one of constant danger.
Негізгі бет Ойын-сауық Loon Chick's Spectacular First Day
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