46 degrees Clear Wind Calm
Sunrise 5:29 am CDT Sunset 8:53 pm CDT
Surprisingly we had some sunshine today, the first in some time. But the wind still remains. Hopefully as the systems equal out the winds will also die down.
For the most part, it has been a quiet day for our loons.
There have been a couple incidents of eagles soaring over and causing concern for our loons. But there was no swooping down on the loons where the loons felt it necessary to leave the nest.
But this morning, we once again had a third loon - an intruder loon - in the area that did cause both loons to go out in the lake and confront the intruder.
For about 10 minutes, there was a lot of circling each other, splash diving and even a couple instances of a penguin dance. But they succeeded in driving him off.
And the female loon returned to the nest and once again protected the precious eggs and kept them warm.
If only we could see what is going on inside those eggs!
By now, if the eggs are fertile and developing, the loon chick is almost fully formed.
For sure it has had a heart beat for some time. And it may actually be making its first peeps or sounds from within the egg. Some researchers believe that the chicks actually talk to each other while they are still in the egg. And they think that is part of the reason for "catch up".
"Catch up" is when the second chick develops faster inside the egg than the first chick. The eggs may be laid 2 days apart but then hatch only 1 day apart.
Whatever is happening inside the eggs, we are now within days of hatching. Not weeks. And at a moment's notice it could happen.
My best guess is that they will hatch any time between tomorrow and Monday. I would be surprised if it is tomorrow but it could happen. But the loons were off the eggs quite a bit in the first few days and I think that may have delayed development.
But we are now down to that VERY CRITICAL time of hatching.
You do not want to miss a minute of it.
Copyright 2017 Larry R Backlund