36 degrees F Rain/Snow Wind NE 7 mph
Sunrise 6:01 am CDT Sunset 8:20 pm CDT
It is a cold, windy, rainy/snowy start to the month of May.
The loons have already visited the nest once this morning. But it is not a pleasant day for them. Or for anyone.
During the night something happened that I don't think that I have ever seen before. Two small birds spent the night on the nest in the rain. I have seen small birds visit the nest during the day. But I have never seen them stay on the nest during the night before.
There are widespread rain showers across the area and snow in some areas. Some areas have gotten several inches of snow. So far it has been only a few snow flurries here. But you might see some occasional snow flurries this morning.
Beginning tomorrow the rain should move out, the temperatures begin to rise and it should be more like spring in Minnesota. Forecasts are for temperatures near 70 this weekend.
So things are looking up!
Now, what would really make things look up is for our loons to nest and lay a couple eggs.
At this point I am not concerned at all about the progress of our loons. Although at times I do tend to be paranoid. lol I always worry about getting everyone excited about the loons and then the possibility that they may not use the nest. But that is something that is totally out of my control. I can provide the nest. But beyond that I cannot do anything.
From that point on, it is out of my hands. It is totally up to the loons from that point on as to whether they will use the nest or not.
So we can only cross our fingers and hope.
It has been encouraging so far. The loons have taken an obvious interest in the nest and some ownership of it. But I think they are still getting used to it. Remember that this is a new pair of loons on the nest. If it had been previous occupants of the LoonCam nest, I think they would be more familiar with it and more at home.
I would expect things to speed up this next week.
Watch for the visits to the nest to become more frequent. We have already seen some slight nest building activities with the loons starting to move material around and a little bit of "digging" with their feet. But it has been pretty minimal so far.
Expect that activity to increase.
Then one day it will probably be obvious that they have become much more serious about building their nest. That is a good sign that we may be getting close to the first egg being laid.
Once it starts to happen, it goes pretty fast.
So don't miss a minute of it.
Until then, enjoy the brief glimpses of the loons that we may get. Enjoy the rain. Enjoy the lake.
And even enjoy the snow!
Copyright 2017 Larry R Backlund