Having just posted about our discovery that loons with chicks are in a desperate struggle to protect long-term territory ownership by hiding their own chicks and “spotlighting” neighbors’ chicks, I kept thinking: “That is pretty cool! How can I let others in science know about it?”

In looking for a suitable journal where I could submit our new paper detailing that finding, I came across the high-impact journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Our entire data paper turns out to be too long and the subject matter not appropriate for a full-length paper in Frontiers. But, while leafing through the journal, I saw that it also publishes 150- to 250-word blurbs accompanied by crisp photos that together describe an “Aha!” moment you had as an ecologist — a moment when you discovered some pattern that answered a burning question or opened up a new field of study.

That piqued my interest. Since I study the most photogenic animal on the planet and work with a talented photographer, I thought I would take a flyer, work up the nasty neighbor story, include a couple of Linda’s photos, and see what the journal said.

The writing was sheer agony. 250 words is a laughable number for explaining a tricky concept like spotlighting of neighbors’ chicks, because you have to introduce the species, explain the territorial system, describe loon chicks and their behavior, and — most challenging of all — explain the complex system of information-gathering by floaters and intrusions by territory owners that underlies the nasty neighbor story. I wore out my “delete” key writing this tiny, unbelievably dense piece.

But it was worth it. Less than 24 hours after I sent the blurb in, the editor accepted it. Linda and I are thrilled. I think my tofurkey will taste a little better this year! Sorry…..I am unable to show you the piece here because we have signed a form preventing that until publication. I promise to post a link as soon as Frontiers publishes it.