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The Loons are on the Nest, well almost!
May 14, 2025 by Gene Klco
We didn’t get back to the cottage till May 12th.
Certainly by then the loons would be on the nest. When I looked out with my
binoculars I saw the loons swimming near the nest, but not get on.
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Since the loons seemed to
be avoiding the nest, I thought it best that I kayak over there to see if there
was something wrong. There sure was – black flies – thousands of them! All over
the roof and poles of the nest. No wonder the loons wouldn’t sit on it.
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And paddling around to the
front side, I saw that there was an egg on the nest. Could it be that the black
flies invaded the nest recently and the loons hadn’t got the second egg laid?
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So I went to the store and
got a pest strip and hung it from the top rail. It appeared to chase the flies
away.
But checking later in the
day, the black flies were back as bad as before. Time to find another deterrent.
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Early the next day, I went to another
store only to find that the only product that was close to what I wanted was
the same as I already had. So the best I could figure I got some Sticky Fly
Strips.
Then I went out and sprayed the black flies with
bug spray and then hung the Sticky Fly Strips on al four corners. Almost all the
black flies were gone with the bug spray. Whether they will come back is yet to be
seen.
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It is interesting that there
are now 2 eggs on the nest.
Apparently, the loons needed to deposit another egg
and put up with the black flies in order to do that.
Hopefully, my work will make life more reasonable for them soon.
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Next
Blog – More
loon reports
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