The loons were close together this morning and hanging out near the original nest site. I'm cautiously optimistic that they will try again. Despite being so near to their former nest they were especially friendly. This guy was about 5 feet away when I snapped this shot.
As for the turtles: I visited the nest site to take some sand samples and see if I could determine the level of possible contamination from road salts. What I found was that 12 to 14 of the eggs had been dug up and the contents eaten. Most likely culprit I'm thinking is a raccoon that I've seen in the area. Note of interest: one egg that had been "openned" but not torn apart clearly showed that the eggs are almost perfect spheres. About the size of those great Lindt chocolates!
@bardejov
b. I'll have no idea how many eggs they usually lay. Will find out, and clean up the old shells tomorrow so I have a better chance of seeing if something comes back for seconds! Glad you like the loon. Thanks.
@tinagustin@lynnb@betsyg@mandyj92@jillmstruss@amandalomonaco
It's nice to see the interest in the loons. They were still around this morning, though still no sign of nesting activity. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for all your encouraging comments.
b. I'll have no idea how many eggs they usually lay. Will find out, and clean up the old shells tomorrow so I have a better chance of seeing if something comes back for seconds! Glad you like the loon. Thanks.
It's nice to see the interest in the loons. They were still around this morning, though still no sign of nesting activity. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for all your encouraging comments.
Thanks for stopping in and for your kind comments. Still hoping to be able to chronicle a second "nesting" for you.
Thanks, Junan. Glad you liked it!
It was a test, Dominique. Just to see if you were paying attention! ;-)