A loon incubating eggs on a nest raft in the Lakes Region. Courtesy photo/Loon Preservation Committee

MOULTONBOROUGH — A pair of loons in the state’s Lakes Region recently laid their eggs live on camera.

Operated by the Loon Preservation Committee, the Live Loon Cam is streaming on YouTube and features a pair of loons nesting. The Loon Cam can be accessed at loon.org/looncam. The first egg was laid on May 27 and the second on May 30. Hatching is expected to occur between June 22 and June 24. In the coming weeks, viewers can watch as the birds incubate their eggs and hatch their chicks.

Since 2014, the LPC has set up more than 80 nest rafts on Lake Waukewan, Lake Kanasatka, Winona Lake, Wakondah Pond, Lake Winnipesaukee and Squam Lake.

In addition to watching the loons, viewers also have the option to participate in an online chat to have their questions about loons answered by other viewers and LPC biologists. The chat allows viewers to share events that happen on camera, connect and socialize over their love for loons.

The pair featured on the Loon Cam is one of many loon pairs that are currently incubating nests across New Hampshire. Loons nest on lakes and ponds and build their nests on the ground, usually along the shoreline of islands, in marshy areas or along the mainland shoreline of protected coves. Because they have adapted for life in the water, loons cannot walk on land. As such, they build their nests right at the water’s edge. Their nests are vulnerable to boat wakes and human disturbance.

“Because they cannot walk well on land, loons are vulnerable when they are nesting,” said LPC Director Harry Vogel. “If they sense a threat, such as a closely approaching boat, they will flatten themselves low over their nests, with their heads angled toward the water, to try to hide. If the threat persists in the area, they will flush from their nests.”

If adult loons are flushed from the nest, their eggs may be exposed to predators or temperature changes that can render them inviable.

If a loon nest is found, it should be given plenty of space, at least 150 feet, and more if the loon shows signs of distress, such as lowering its head over the nest. Boaters are also urged to follow the no wake laws in order to avoid swamping loon nests.

The LPC monitors the birds throughout the state as part of its mission to restore and maintain a healthy loon population, to monitor the health and productivity of loon populations as sentinels of environmental quality and to promote a greater understanding of loons and the natural world.