Dad loon had been incubating the eggs and then he takes a break and slides into the water. We have excellent closeups of the first egg hatching and the chick working hard at breaking free. It's head was out of the eggshell when Mom loon came back and she sat on the eggs. The chick hatched underneath her and we got our first glimpse when it was peeking out from under her wing! Welcome to the world little loon chick!

Enjoy some adorable coverage of the chick as it peeps and moves around the nest and back under Mom's wing. We do not see a pip yet in egg#2 hopefully that will happen soon.

The loons normally wait until the second chick hatches and have a bit of a recovery before they leave the nest and take off swimming to their summer brooding area. Although we do can't see them on the cam after they depart, LPC does keep an eye on them and will make sure the family is safe & give updates on chat. The first hatch will jump in the water fairly soon and will swim around & hop up on a parent's back as we wait for the second egg to hatch. Thank you for watching!

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The loons are identified by coded leg bands.

Female: Left leg: white stripe (white background with a horizontal black stripe through the middle) over blue
Right leg: Silver over yellow stripe (yellow background with a horizontal black stripe through the middle)

Male:
Left leg: Blue stripe (blue background with a horizontal white stripe through the middle) over orange dot (orange background with a black dot in the middle)
Right leg: Blue dot (blue background with a white dot in the middle) over silver

The female at the Cam 2 nest was banded in 2017. She's been on territory in recent years, with the exception of 2023. That year, she was seen in this territory and in neighboring ones, but no pair ever settled down to nest.

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

Courtesy of LPC Preservation Committee Loon Cam many thanks on this camera! #loonpreservationcommittee #loons #looncam #LPC