On a busy day, the corner of YouTube run by New Hampshire’s Loon Preservation Committee gets hundreds of visitors. Viewers come for the close-up views of loons: striking black and white feathers, ruby red eyes. But they stay for the drama, as the birds mate, lay eggs and protect their nests.
And the day everyone’s waiting for, when a chick hatches. The loon cam has an enthusiastic fandom. But the channel has humble beginnings.
A decade ago, it started sort of as a science project, in an effort to figure out why almost half of loon eggs don’t end up hatching. “Sometimes these things fail in the blink of an eye. And so unless you have somebody who’s watching that loon nest at the instant a wave crashes over that nest, or a gull or an eagle comes down and snatches the egg, you’re often just not going to know,” said Harry Vogel, the head of the Loon Preservation Committee.
The committee was started in 1975, as loon populations were plummeting. The birds were facing new challenges as humans built dams and vacation homes, and warmed up the atmosphere. The committee does research and raises money.
They help loons escape from icy lakes, if they don’t migrate fast enough. And they put out dozens of pre-made nests every year for loons to use if they can’t build one of their own. “We are essentially trying to right a wrong that we have done to our loons,” Vogel said.
The loon live streams have helped add to biologists’ understanding of the birds for a decade. Ane.