One of my favorite parts of summer is my morning swim at Highland Lake.  Many mornings, the loons swim along with me, sometimes as they feed their loonlings.

Unfortunately, this year the loons abandoned their nest after five days of sitting when a boat did big power turns in a no wake area.  Last year, this happened too, and the loons did rebuild their nest and have a successful hatch later on.  I hope they rebuild again this year.

I have read a lot about loons, but I had never seen their eggs up close like this photo to understand how large the eggs actually are and what an exquisite color.  I am including the notes from our local loon watcher, Donna Baker-Hartwell, who works with Mrs. Shedd at Woodcrest.

“One is of the nest. As you can see, it is very close to the water’s edge. Wake from boats can easily wash the eggs out. The second photo is of the two eggs that I found submerged under the water about 2-3 feet from the nest. Please note that no one is allowed to take eggs from a nest site unless given special permission to do so. Phil Keefe, loon biologist, gave me permission to retrieve them. They are being kept in my refrigerator until he can pick them up on Monday. He told me that there is a $5000 fine if someone is found with loon eggs and are not authorized.” (D. Baker-Hartwell)

(Photo:  Donna Baker-Hartwell)

(Photo:  Donna Baker-Hartwell)