56 degrees F Rain Wind 5mph NW
Sunrise 5:32 am CDT Sunset 8:48 pm CDT
The entire day today has been foggy, rainy and moody.
The perfect kind of day for a waterbird like our loons.
No hot beating sun. No blackflies. And few boaters to disturb them. Although a couple kayakers were very curious.
The forecast for today had been for the rain of the last few days to end and the sun to come out this afternoon. Instead it seemed the rain intensified. All due, forecasters tell us, of a low pressure system that refused to move east as forecast and instead went 'retrograde' and backed up right over us.
This has not been a problem at all for our loons. And this has been a perfect soaking rain that really helps to put a dent in our drought, which might now officially be over.
While we finally look forward to sunshine tomorrow, I am sure the loons would much prefer the weather today and the last few days. Tomorrow the forecast is for temperatures to reach 85 degrees F. We will see if it makes it or not.
If it is sunny and 85 degrees, expect to see a lot of panting by the loon on the nest. And also possibly more water breaks by the loon to cool off.
It is hard to believe that it is already 3 weeks since the first egg was laid.
We are definitely in the home stretch of the countdown to hatching of our loon chicks.
If we are going to have a successful hatch, I definitely expect the eggs to hatch within the next week. Or less.
If we go much beyond a week from today, then there would be reason to be concerned about a successful hatch.
The wonders going on inside the egg are truly that - wonders! By today downy feathers have almost completely covered the little chick's body.
Legs and feet and wings and beak and eyes formed sometime ago. And the chick's heart has been beating since just after the first few days.
One of many miracles of development is something called 'catchup'. Even though the eggs were laid over 2 days apart, the chicks will probably hatch within a day of each other. It has been well documented among many birds, and presumably with our loon chicks as well, the chicks actually 'talk' to each other through the egg shells over the last few days of development before hatching.
So we await that miracle of life happening.
Unlike eagles where we can watch the young eaglets grow for weeks or even months, our loon chicks will normally leave the nest within a day or two. And from that time on they are what they were created to be - waterbirds.
But for those magical few hours we have the chance to see these wonderful, cute little chicks up close and personal.
An experience that we are so fortunate to have through the magic of the LoonCam
Copyright 2015 Larry R Backlund