58 degrees Sunny Windy NNW 20mph with gusts to 30mph
Today has been a bright sunny day with bright blue skies but with wind and a little chilly.
When you are out of the wind, it is wonderfully nice and warm. But with the wind coming off the cold water of the lake, there is a definite chill in the air.
I have not seen the loons at all today, but that does not surprise me. There have been big whitecaps all day long. The nesting platform has been taking a beating all day long and bouncing up and down. But so far it seems to be holding together well. It needs to. The loons haven't even started nesting yet. So it has a ways to go. And this will not be the last day of wind and waves.
One of the neighbors on the 'calm side' of the lake called and said that both loons were over there in the quiet water diving and fishing. So even though I do not see them, they are still here and doing well
I think we have been spoiled with the warm spring that we have had. Our normal high for this day is 53 degrees.
Just to give you an idea of how much earlier things are this spring, you will remember that I said the ice went out of the lake on March 30th. Normally it is more about mid-April (this time of the month) before the ice goes out. Last year it went out on April 5th and the year before it was April 21st.
But it is this time of year that is probably the most difficult for me. For about 2 weeks before the loons actually nest, I turn into this paranoid person who keeps wondering "What if they don't use the platform this year. What if we go to all the work of putting the camera up and there is nothing to see? What if we get everyone all excited about watching the loons again this year only to disappoint people if the loons do not use the nest?"
I can build the nesting platform. I can put it where I think they will use it. I can put all the nesting material one it. I can do all sorts of things I have learned through the years that I think will encourage them to use the nest.
But I can't MAKE them nest! I can't make them use the platform. I can do all kinds of things. But it is up to THEM whether they use it or not. You realize how little control you really have over what happens.
These and a thousand and one questions go through my mind until the day that the loons actually build the nest and lay that first egg. Once there is an egg, we can be assured that we will be able to watch our loons.
But right now it is that "paranoid" period!
i was GREATLY encouraged on Wednesday morning that they were actually up on the platform and that they mated. That is a STRONG signal that they will probably once again use the platform this year. But that is the only time I have seen them up there....they may have been up there other times but that is the only time I have seen them up there.
But the fact that they were up on the platform and that they mated on the platform is a very strong signal that they are once again taking ownership of the nest.
Now we wait.
And we hope. And we pray.
There is no way we can even guess what will happen this year. Or the drama that will unfold before our eyes.
All we know for sure is that the wonder of life is something magnificent to behold!