Hi All,

The loon chicks at Paradox Lake are growing very fast and are now about 2 weeks old. The parents catch so many minnows and small sunfish that the chicks are stuffed and often refuse the fish. I have never seen loons catch so much prey as quickly as I saw the Paradox pair do today.

The loon pair is quite tolerant of canoes and photographers, but the trick is to find the loon family. Today they spent most of the day not far from our shore, and I spent several hours early this morning watching them. They are still there tonight. However, on July 5 and 6 they were nowhere to be seen or heard from our shoreline, and the lake is good sized. I am so glad that this first pair of chicks in 36 years of my visiting Paradox are thriving and have survived the July 4th holiday boat traffic. There was an immature bald eagle watching the loon family from a tall pine on the big island on July 3, but fortunately it left without a lunch of loon.

I so hope that they continue to do well and that I will be watching the chicks learn to fly at the end of summer.

Ellie