LPC Loon Cam 2 ~ Egg Hatching! AMAZING VIEW Of Loon Chick's Bill Breaking Through Eggshell 🐣 7.14.24

The first egg from LPC loon cam 2 began pipping late yesterday and today we get to see the slow & steady progress the chick is making! Mom Loon slides off the nest for a break and we have great zooming showing the loon chick's bill working away inside the eggshell as it methodically works to free itself. Loon chicks do not have an egg tooth like other birds do. Mom will return a few minutes later to resume incubation!
Loon egg hatching is slow and can take 8-12 hours of hard work to hatch! How egg-citing it is to see loon chicks enter the world! There is no sign of a pip on egg#2 yet. Perhaps we will see that pip tomorrow! Thank you for watching!
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The loons are identified by coded leg bands.
Female:
Left leg: white stripe (white background with a horizontal black stripe through the middle) over blue
Right leg: Silver over yellow stripe (yellow background with a horizontal black stripe through the middle)
Male:
Left leg: Blue stripe (blue background with a horizontal white stripe through the middle) over orange dot (orange background with a black dot in the middle)
Right leg: Blue dot (blue background with a white dot in the middle) over silver
The female at the Cam 2 nest was banded in 2017. She's been on territory in recent years, with the exception of 2023. That year, she was seen in this territory and in neighboring ones, but no pair ever settled down to nest.
Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk
Courtesy of LPC Preservation Committee Loon Cam - many thanks on this camera! #loonpreservationcommittee #loons #looncam #LPC