51 degrees F Clear Calm
Earlier this evening, I put the nesting platform out in the lake!
It still is not completely ready but since I am going to be gone the next couple days, I wanted the loons to know that it was here for them.
I am waiting to hear when the new camera will be ready and when we can get it to mount it on the platform and finish the preparations. Once the camera is on the platform there are still technical things that must be done before we can send you a live picture.
But I wanted you to know that things are progressing and that hopefully very soon you can watch the camera and be part of another year's adventures and dramas.
Early yesterday morning a neighbor said they saw a pair of loons on the lake.
Today I saw a single loon across the lake.
So whether there is a pair or not or whether they are 'our loons' remains to be seen.
Only two of the USGS satellite transmitter loons have started moving north. But obviously others are already up here. I think the loons may be just as confused as all the rest of us by this unusually early spring.
For those of you aroung the world or even in other parts of the United States, normally we would still be contending with the last of our snow drifts and the lake would still be solidly frozen.
But I have daffodils and crocuses and forsythia blooming. Nankin cherry ready to bloom. And grass that was dormant seeded last fall is already green and up and growing. So we are well ahead of our normal schedule as is much of the country.
When I was getting ready to take the nesting platform out into the water, I had second thoughts.
A pair of beautiful white swans was swimming straight out from where the nest is anchored. Suddenly they started honking and noisily took flight.
The reason they left was that another pair of swans was coming in for a landing and they had decided that they wanted the same spot. And right behind them was a Canada goose honking as he came in.
The swans swam closeby as if waiting for me to put out the nest.
I do not want them or geese to claim the nest before the loons can claim it. Although it would be pretty spectacular to have a pair of trumpeter swans on camera. They are huge birds. So majestic and so beautiful with their stark white plumage and black beaks.
But this is meant to be a LoonCam and a nest for loons.
Hopefully it will be just that in the very near future.
Stayed tuned.
Stay hopeful.
Let your friends and family know that we are getting close.
Questions or Comments? LoonCam@yahoo.com