Thursday, July 10, 2008

Territorial Loon

The Loon is very territorial and you typically won't find more than one mating pair on a lake that's under 50 acres. Sometimes the juvenile loon will return to its natal lake the following year which might've been the case in the scenario below. The mating pair is very protective of their babies and will go after any Loon they perceive as a threat.


Here is the Loon eyeing his invader.




The chase ensues!


I am gaining on you!



Gotcha! (He nipped the invader on the butt seconds after this photo was taken.)




The Loon invader is out of here!

And don't come back!

8 comments:

Christy said...

Very cool shots.

John B. said...

Exciting action!

kjpweb said...

That's a great action series. Well caught! Cheers, Klaus

Shelley said...

Christy - thank you!

John - it was exciting to see!

KJ - many thanks!

Birdlady - I'm glad you like it too!

NCmountainwoman said...

Great shots. Wonder why they need such a wide territory?

Shelley said...

Thanks NC. I know they're very sensitive but what's funny is when the babies get older and it's late summer, a pair of Loons will host a social hour and allow loons from other lakes to come visit. They swim in these patterns, etc. And then it's time for them to leave.

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

Beautiful! I love all the action! Thanks for visiting my blog while I was sick. I'm going to try and slowly catch up over the next week, but there is a lot, so it might take me awhile to get back into a normal routine. Enjoy your weekend!

The Zen Birdfeeder said...

Nice series of shots! Must've been fun to witness.