41 degrees F Clear Calm
Sunrise 5:34 am CDT Sunset 8:45 pm CDT
The sun won't be up for another half hour.
But the birds are awake and singing. The frogs add their voices to the morning chorus. The loud honking of the geese carries across the lake.
The last of the night hawks are still flying, but they will soon go to bed for the day.
The lake is like a sheet of glass. Not a breath of air spoils the perfect reflections in the surface of the lake in the cool morning air.
Wisps of fog drift lazily across the surface of the lake.
The first pinks and slight oranges of the sunrise are making themselves known in the eastern sky to tell us that the sun cannot be far behind.
A distant train whistle adds its plaintive sound to the symphony.
And there sits our loon on the nest.
The loon is relaxed but awake - looking all around. Ever mindful. Ever vigilant. All observant Ready for anything.
It apparently is the male, who has been on duty on the nest since 9 pm last night.
Much of the night he slept with his beak tucked under his wing. But even then, he is never totally asleep. His eyes open every few seconds as he stays aware of what is going on around him.
Within the next hour or two, the female should come in and take over nesting duties and give the male a little bit of a break. He has carried the lion's share of the nesting duties this year, especially during the long overnight hours.
For those of you who were awake and watching late last night, you saw that we were able to get the infrared light working again. One more piece of equipment that had burned out after the lightning strike.
So now once again you can have a clearer view of the nest and the loon in the dark of night. Or any visitors that may decide to pay a visit. Like muskrats or beavers! So far I am not aware that either one has tried to come to the nest at night.
Some of you have mentioned the "fish eye" lens this year.
Actually it is not a fish eye lens. It is a normal flat lens but with a broader field of view than the previous camera. This allows us to see more of the area surrounding the lake, even over to the far shoreline. The curvature of the shore may make it seem like a fish eye lens but it is not.
This broader view also allows us to zoom in on the loon or the eggs for a closer view.
I had mentioned how I often wonder what is going on inside the egg at this very minute. The miracle of Creation that is taking place. The appearance of a living little chick out of "nothing". And how I have wondered what it looks like in there and how cool it would be to have a camera inside the egg to watch that miracle of life taking place.
Well, recently I found an animation of what happens inside a chicken egg that I thought you might be interested in watching. It is only about 2 minutes long but it gives a wonderful picture of what happens during the 21 days of incubation of a chicken egg.
You can find it on YouTube at: Chicken Embryo Development
Chicken Embryo Development
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Now a loon egg takes 28 days to hatch versus the 21 days of a chicken egg. But the development of the loon chick would be very similar to a chicken chick. Just make the appropriate allowance for a few more days of incubation and you can get a very good idea of what is going on inside the egg right now.
We are at 11 days since the first egg was laid and about 9 days since the second egg was laid.
What is amazing is that according to the video, the chick's heart starts to beat at only TWO days!
There truly are some things that are too wonderful to behold.
And they are so far beyond my comprehension and understanding.
So I simply stand back and say "I don't know how you did it, but God you done good!"
Have a wonderful day filled with the majesty and glory and wonder of Life all around you!
Questions or Comments? LoonCam (at) yahoo (dot) com
Copyright 2014 Larry R Backlund