50 degrees F Sunny Wind 2mph South
First of all, the important thing.
On this Good Friday, may I wish all of you a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover.
May your time with family and friends be a blessed and very special time.
Now, on to the other thing on your mind - the loons and the LoonCam.
It looks like it will still be a few days before the cam can go live.
But rest assured that at this point, you are still not missing any of the "action". The loons have not yet been real near or up on the nest. From the time they first start getting up on the nest, it is usually a week or two before they lay the first egg.
So you are not missing anything yet.
All of us want to get the cam live for you.
Yesterday the technicians were here working all afternoon and well into the evening.
At one point they thought they were almost ready to go 'live'. But one piece of equipment out of many decided to fail. And it isn't a piece of equipment that can be purchased 'off the shelf anywhere'. It has to be special ordered.
It has been ordered but with the Easter Holiday weekend, it is questionable whether it will arrive before early next week. So that is the good news but also the bad news. We are close but still probably a few days away.
Shortly before 7am this morning, I saw both loons come in and swim in the general area of the nest. Just to put your mind at ease, even if the cam had been live you would not have been able to see them. They were far enough away and in an area that the cam would not show.
But for about 5 minutes they did swim in the area of the nest.
This is the first time that I have been here to see the two loons together although the neighbors had seen them together a couple times when I have been gone.
This is also the first time this year that I have seen them in the area of the nest.
So it is a very hopeful sign.
As many of you LoonCam veterans know, every spring I go through about 2 weeks of paranoia and worry.
What if we put the nest out and they don't use it?
What if everyone gets excited and is watching and the loons never come near the nest?
The fact they they came into the area of the nest early this morning is a very hopeful sign that at some point they may become more interested in it.
Because this spring has been so early and so mild, it is anyone's guess what effect that will have on the loons.
I don't know what to predict.
If you have checked the USGS site (http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html), as of yesterday fully half of the satellite transmitter loons are still down on the Gulf of Mexico or on the Atlantic Coast. They have not even started migrating yet, let alone being close to nesting.
Maybe you want to start a contest to see who can predict when they will nest and lay their first egg. Your guess is as good as mine!
But for today, may I wish you a very Blessed and Happy Easter and a Happy Passover!
Comments or Questions? LoonCam @yahoo.com