They made it to October!  There were four eggs in two nests this year. All hatched but one baby was never seen. These twins were born in late June in the south part of the lake. The twins and their parents were the more approachable of the two loon families. Sometimes they swam toward my kayak, as I sat still and quiet. Once they were so close I heard their soft chortling to their parents. The adults left in September. These two were still on the lake as of October 10th. That is the loon way. The parents take off and leave the young ones behind. They should have already practiced flying, though we haven’t seen them have a go at it yet. It was unseasonably warm, in the 70’s, the day Steve took this photo. They weren’t fishing.  They were very busy vocalizing.  Lots of very quiet yodels.

The twins have thrived.

But we are concerned about the lone chick born on Belly Button Island. He seems a bit runty. Hopefully, he’s got the proper feathers to fly. And the necessary stamina because it’s a long trip south. He was doing a lot of fishing and diving this day. Bulking up for the trip? We gave him the wide berth he prefers.

The loon genders look alike, though sometimes the females are smaller.  So, the runt’s gender is unknown. To me, anyway.