Since 2014, LPC has streamed live footage of nesting loons to the public. Viewers are able to witness the entire nesting process, including nest site selection, egg laying, incubation, and (in most years) the hatching of chicks. Much of the time, once the eggs arrive, the scene is the same: a loon sitting in a nest. Occasionally (often several times per hour) the loon will move around or stand up and turn the eggs. The male and female loons take turns incubating, and nest exchanges happen several times each day and can last minutes or much longer. Sometimes, the loons communicate quietly with each other, and they will occasionally will show agitation when the sitting loon isn’t ready to leave the nest. Watching a hatch and the chick learning to swim are must see events. While the loons on our webcam have historically experienced high levels of nesting success, this is not always the case. We can’t control nature, and nesting loons face many challenges. We have witnessed eggs and chicks lost due to predation, sibling rivalry and water level changes. Nothing is guaranteed. The loon cam can be fascinating to watch and to some, addictive.
Sound is included in the stream, letting us listen in on quiet conversations between the pair. On occasion, the mic will be muted to respect the neighbor’s privacy. Biff, a former LPC biologist periodically posts our looncam blog. The blog can be found at the bottom of this page this page, and entries provide insight, and perspective. Because camera technology sufficient to continuously monitor loon nests is a relatively new development, footage captured by the loon cam might raise new questions about loon behavior. The blog strives to provide insight or hypotheses into these questions.
Along with the streaming broadcast, the YouTube chat window is open for loon lovers, and subscribers to the LPC YouTube channel, to chat about what they are seeing. LPC biologists will occasionally join the chat for Q&A sessions.
The live stream has a replay feature and viewers are able to rewind up to 12 hours to watch an egg turning, nest exchange, or other interesting events. LPC maintains a video archive, so if you miss an event of interest, we may be able to go back and make a clip of it. Over the years, well over 100 video clips have been saved. Many are available on LPC’s YouTube channel.
Please visit LPC’s YouTube Channel.to see the video clip archive. Subscribe to get notified when notable videos are published. Watch a chick returning to a nest and much more. LPC has a large collection of recorded loon nesting activity.
