Adirondack Chronicles 2023.3: All About Wild Things

For two weeks I watched this loon carefully brooding its eggs on an outlet to Horseshoe Lake along a back road deep in the forest.  The last time I saw this beautiful duck was the day before the storm that flooded so many lakes and streams.  I finally got back to the outlet five days after the storm but the loon was gone and there was no evidence of the nest that I could see.  The water was very high even five days after the storm.  I hope the eggs hatched and that the parents and chicks swam away safely.  But it’s also possible that the flood wiped out the nest prematurely.  I will never know, but what I do know is that the cycle of nature will ensure that the loons will have more eggs next year.

Nature and its wild things can be both beautiful and fierce.   Consider this lovely great blue heron just a few yards away from the loon:

But the heron’s lovely posture was its hunting stance, and soon the big bird found its prey:

But the friendly buck was satisfied with some fresh greens:

Wild things spend quite a lot of time searching for and consuming food.  Butterflies are no exception!  Here’s my first monarch of the season:

And this little moth:

And this damselfly:

Here’s one last look at the loon tending its eggs — here’s hoping the loon family is safely out on the lake teaching the young new skills!

The wood duck mama below is keeping careful watch on her chicks and they learn to swim on Tupper Lake: