WILD LIFE

The loons are wailing. Not on Lake Jocassee, but 1000 miles north on a small lake in New Hampshire. One parent is with two chicks, born Friday, who have just teetered off their nest into the water for the very first time. Across the lake, the other parent answers “coming, sweetheart! I’ll be right there!” but he/she has been foraging hard to build strength for raising these two new fluff balls. For several days Brooks has been glued to the Loon Preservation Committee loon cam. He was there for the pipping, he was there for the hatching, he waited patiently while Mom loon kept her baby tucked under her wing. He was there when that chick bounced away from Mom for the first time, and he was there for the discovery of another chick! Brooks was up in the middle of the night, keeping watch over that nest. He propped his phone (linked to the loon cam, of course) on his shopping cart in the grocery store. Now the wails come through the home computer, a larger screen. “Number two is getting up on Mom’s/Dad’s back now,” he announces from the living room. Another first. And then, a ruckus. What is going on? Oh, no! Not a snapping turtle! Where is Dad now? Where is the second chick? Oh, the drama. I can’t take it. ~K