Maine Loon Cam

[Waumbek]

The parents fought off mink attacks over the weekend. The minks attacked last year, too. If all goes well, the eggs should hatch June 24th. Stay tuned. I had been watching this loon cam from Gorham ME on a faster computer than home and it was fascinating. Here's the link. You'll need Windows Media Player 9 or higher.

 

[Tom Rankin]

The parents fought off mink attacks over the weekend. The minks attacked last year, too. If all goes well, the eggs should hatch June 24th. Stay tuned. I had been watching this loon cam from Gorham ME on a faster computer than home and it was fascinating. Here's the link. You'll need Windows Media Player 9 or higher.

Cool! Let us know if/when the eggs hatch.

 

[jbrown]

that is awesome! huge waste of bandwidth and work time for me, though...

 

[Artex]

Wow!

That is really neat! Thanks for posting the link.

 

[yam]

Way cool! Loons are such awesome birds.

 

[dougb]

Ain't technology grand? I'll lose my job if they don't hatch pretty quick.

 

[dentonfabrics]

Waumbek, that is really cool stuff! You dont have the mink confrontation archived, do you?

thanks,
denton fabrics

 

[Mr. X]

This is very cool, one of my favorite aquatic birds! Mr. X still says it's really animatronics like in Universal Studios though.

 

[Waumbek]

Waumbek, that is really cool stuff! You dont have the mink confrontation archived, do you?
thanks,
denton fabrics

Unfortunately, no, I was using a public terminal when I found this site. It must have been quite the battle, given the tenacity and aggressiveness of mink. Here's an archived still of what must be a mink sneaking in in 2004, but no loons are in sight.

 

[Artex]

Just a reminder

The eggs are projected to possibly hatch tomorrow.

 

[lumberzac]

Here is another loon cam.

http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/commonloon/webcam.cfm


*EDIT*
It looks like this site links to the same camera.


One of the eggs is starting to hatch.

 

[yam]

way cool. i've sent this link to tons of friends. i didn't realize the egg was already cracking.

 

[Artex]

They're Born!!!

I can see the chick now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jbrown]

The server is busy, I can't see them! Oh well, I hope it was grand.

 

[Artex]

Yeah, I keep getting kicked off. Just keep clicking and eventually you should get on. For the record, the baby just went back under the shelter of the parent's right wing. You can hear the chick making little noises. It's really cool.

 

[Waumbek]

Wow! Just got home and was able to get the cam but can't see the chick(s) yet. Did both hatch out?

Edit: OK, just saw one under the adult's right wing but not the second one.

 

[dougb]

Only one?

I think I just caught the changing of the guard. The loon left the nest & went into the water, a few loud calls off camera, and another one (?) went in. Didn't catch the leg band.

Anyway, the chick was there, but it appears there's one egg still in the nest. Does anyone know if that one'll hatch? I assume they were laid a day or two apart, so they'd hatch a day or two apart.

 

[Waumbek]

They're gone! The adults move the chick into the water within a few hours, for safety's sake I guess. No long nestling phase for loons. Song birds stay in the nest up to 21 days before they fledge. The adult loons will feed the chick but it won't return to the nest for long. It looks to me like one unhatched egg is left behind in the nest. Without incubation I don't think it can remain viable for long.

 

[weatherman]

Do they come back to rest in the nest? My kids wanted to see them.

 

[yam]

drat! i missed the chick! i only got to see the mom sitting on it after it hatched.

won't that last egg be vulnerable to mink, etc?