Island Intruders

Good morning all. I've just returned to the office after being away all of last week. Thanks for all the continued blogs and information about loon activity on or near the nest.

The visit over the weekend from non-feathered beings was very disconcerting. We spend a lot of time and energy to educate the public to try to prevent these occurrences, and with good results. Unfortunately, it's never going to prevent it entirely.

Some asked about posting signs. We've done this quite a bit, and we've found that it often creates more problems than solutions. Humans our naturally curious about signs, which draws them in to see what it says, and then we've given away a nest location.

I'm making inquiries to folks that live on the lake, with the hopes that we can spread the word more thoroughly, to stay away from the island during loon nesting season. This is the best approach we have in this case.

Rest assured that the loons haven't nested somewhere else on the island, and the visitors didn't ruin a loon nest. I believe the nest they were referring to was the one from the geese. They nest on the island every year, as well.

The biggest challenge the loons appear to have remains the disruption by other loons on the pond. For the second year in a row, other loons have been challenging this pair, and that can prevent them from nesting, or from having a successful nest.

We're still well within the time frame of historical nesting for this pair, and I remain hopeful that nest activity will increase, and we'll have a loon on eggs soon.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!
Lee

Territorial Disputes

Good morning, all. Thanks for all your keen observations, and blogs that help us all track another breeding season for this pair of Maine loons. Keep it up. Your contributions are a big part of learning about the lives of breeding common loons.

Although there hasn't been a whole lot of activity around the nest, it has been fairly consistent, and right from the outset. This is very encouraging news about the intent of this pair to nest.

Perhaps the most significant development in recent days that has an impact on a pair preparing to nest, is the battle that was reported between the host, banded male, and an intruder. This can be very disruptive to the breeding effort, as the male is distracted defending the territory, and in this case, fighting to save his own life.

The banded male was successful in this case, as the intruder retreated. Let's hope things quiet down, and we see increased visits to the nest!

Lee