Monday, April 13, 2009 8:10AM

Cloudy   39 degrees  Calm 

First of all, let me say that I hope all of you had a very Happy Easter or a very Happy Passover with friends and family.  What a special time of year.

It is also a very special time of year on the lake.  The ice is completely gone, even the last remnants around the edges.  The weather has finally begun to warm here in the great white north and the possibility of spring actually being here becomes more and more real.  Easter Sunday was sunny and close to 80 degrees.

Crocuses have been blooming for the last few days and other plants are beginning to make their way up through the soil.  Further to the north, there is still ice on the lakes so the migration of waterfowl is at a standstill until those lakes gradually open.

I just saw a pair of loons swimming out toward the middle of the lake.  I had also seen a pair on Friday night and on Saturday.  So I can confirm the reports of neighbors that there is a PAIR of loons here.  Are they are "our pair".  I don't know for sure yet because I have not personally observed behavior that would tell me they are.  But once again, from what neighbors have said, it looks like they are our loons.

One neighbor saw the pair swimming right where the nest has been anchored each year.....even without the nest being there.  That is a strong indication that they know where the nest is usually anchored. Also, a neighbor observed a fight between three loons a couple days ago.  They said it appeared that a pair was trying to drive off the third loon.  This would indicate that the pair was already trying to defend its territory.

The nesting platform it out for them!  I was able to put it out on Saturday.  Let me tell you, the water is COLD!  But I guess that is to be expected since the ice has only been out for a week.

There are still a few minor things to do to the nest to have it completely ready the way I would like it.  But if they decided to nest right now, they could.  Everything is there that they need.

It is anchored a couple hundred feet from shore.  There is a bed of cattails and weeds and other materials that have washed up on shore on the platform.  The same materials that they would use if they built the nest anywhere without any help from man.  Now it is up to the loons to come and rearrange the materials however they want.  It is up to them to build a nest that suits them.

We have done about as much as we can do.  The rest is up to the loons.

It is at this stage that I become paranoid.  We have built it.  But will they come?!

There are so many other sites that they could use to build a nest.  But for a number of years they have chosen to build a nest on this platform.

Will they do it again this year?

I become concerned.  I think of so many thousands of you who have faithfully watched the loon cam over the last few years.  And the questions once again race through my mind.  What if we don't have anything to show you this year?  What if they don't use it this year?  What if everyone gets all excited about watching the loons again and they don't build a nest on the platform?   Or if they go someplace else.  What if we get everyone's hopes up and there is nothing to see?

There is one "cattail bog" which has become stuck to the bottom some distance away.  What if they decide to use that instead?  I think it is the same cattail bog that some of you observed live last summer as it went floating by the nest.  I remember a couple of you wrote and thought that *I* was doing something.  You were wondering why I pushed that so close by the nest".  I had nothing to do with it.  The bog had broken lose and was floating and was being pushed by the wind across the lake.

So these are the things we cannot control.

Now the loons are in charge.  Now they will decide what they want to do.  Now they will decide when and where to build their nest.  Or IF they will build a nest.

We simply become watchers.  Watchers of one small part of the great drama of life.  But a small part which becomes so big.  Big with concern.  About will they nest?  Will they lay eggs?  Will the eggs hatch?  And most of all, if they do, will those cute little chicks survive all the dangers that await them.

So once again today.  Get ready to pull up a chair.  Get your biggest cup of coffee.  Or cocoa.  And prepare to be part of the biggest show on earth.  That of new life!  We hope to have the camera online for you very soon so that you can watch all of it from the comfort of your armchair.  Tell your friends and neighbors and teachers to join you!

There is no script.  There is no guarantee.  This is real.

Questions or Comment or Observations?  Post them here or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com

Thursday, April 9, 2009 10:45pm

39 degrees  Wind 9mph NW   Clear moonlit sky 

Tonight I have more good news for you.  Although I have only seen the one loon a couple days ago, neighbors tonight told me that they have seen two loons.  And they were swimming right near where the nest is normally anchored and calling.

As I have said before, there is no reason for them to necessarily be there at that PARTICULAR spot UNLESS it is "our loons"!

I have not seen them yet, but there is hope that our loons are back for another season and already wondering where their nest is!  So it gives added urgency to get the nest out for them and to hopefully have the cam up and running for you soon.

Just a clue of what to look for once the camera is running.  You probably will not see the loons most of the time when you look for the first 2 or 3 weeks.  It will be a very special treat for you to see them when they visit the nest for just a minute or so and then disappear again.

But then one day will be different.  They will visit more often.  They will spend more time rearranging things on the nest.  And then they will get very serious about nest building.  It usually will not be long after that that they lay the first egg.  And then the suspense begins.  Will they be successful?  Will the eggs hatch?  Will the chicks survive?

So prepare yourself for another wonderful adventure.

Questions or Comments or Observations?  Post them here or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com

Wednesday, April 8 2009 9:48pm

Calm evening     34 degrees    FULL moon/clear sky 

We grow ever closer to the start of a new season of loon watching!

Hopefully you and your friends will join us.  And hopefully the loons will once again agree to use the nesting platform and allow us to be silent observers into the wonder of watching them as they build the nest, lay their eggs and hopefully hatch 2 new chicks this year.

But everything is out of our control except putting out the nesting platform.

Then it is all up to the loons.

Tonight the lake is calm and quiet and the wind has quit.  But the noise from the seagulls on the lake is almost deafening.  There are THOUSANDS of them on the lake.  All of them waiting for the ice to go out on lakes farther north.  Then they will leave and make their way to the northern lakes of Minnesota and Canada.  But for now they wait.  Their route is still blocked.

It has been very windy here for the last several days.  In fact, it was the wind that took out the ice on Sunday, sooner than I expected.  And every day since,  there has been a lot of wind and white caps on the lake.  Most of the ice has finally melted although there is a little bit that still remains along the shore.

But maybe with a little bit of luck, we can actually get the nesting platform in the water in the next few days.  And then we will try to have the camera online as soon as possible.  I know the technical wizards have been working hard to make that happen.

Last night I saw a single loon sitting out in front.  It is the first one I have seen this year.  I don't know if it is one of "our loons" or if it is just a loon passing through as it makes its way farther north.  Either way, it is exciting to see a loon.  At least one of them is back from their winter down south.

That loon may also be one of the chicks from 3 years ago.  The accepted wisdom is that when they come back after 3 years on the Gulf of Mexico they will return to the lake that they were born on.  Yet another of the miracles of loons.  I don't think that that has been definitively proven but it is believed to be true.  And then they may be driven off by the pair (possibly their own parents) who have staked out that lake as "their  territory". 

But it may also be the male of our pair of loons.  The male sometimes scouts out the territory a few days before the female joins him.

So we are getting close.  Now the excitement starts to build.  Now the anticipation grows day by day.  Now we are so close to once again observing one of the great miracles of nature.

But first the loons must return.  Then they must check out the nest.  They must decide that it is theirs.  And they must take ownership of it.

Only then will they begin to build.

And then the real miracles start.  When the eggs are laid.  And the chicks hatch.  Hopefully.  Hopefully each of the crucial steps take place.  And we have two more little downy loon chicks this year!

So settle back in your chair.  Get a BIG cup of coffee or cocoa.  And then gather the kids and your loved ones around you and join us on this wonderful journey of the "Loons for 2009".

Questions or comments?  Leave them here or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com .  Because of the volume of emails and questions that we have see in the last couple years, I cannot promise that I will be able to answer all of them.  But everyone will be read and I will try to answer some of the questions in this blog.

Sunday, April 5, 2009 9:35pm

43 degrees  Windy

Today was a big day here at the lake.  The ice went out!

There are two big days with any lake....the day the ice goes out and the day the lake freezes over.

So now the lake is open for the season.

The ice went out much faster than I expected.  Throughout the day yesterday, the ice sheet remained intact.  Overnight we got about one or two inches of new snow.  But then by this morning, the wind had picked up from the north and began to move the ice sheet and break it up.  By this afternoon, all the ice had been blown to one side of the lake and the rest of the lake was open.

It will be a couple days before the rest of the ice breaks up and melts.  So until that happens, we cannot put out the loon nesting platform.

One of the neighbors called yesterday morning and said that he saw a single loon swimming in open water in front of his place.  I have not personally seen a loon nor have I heard them call yet but it is entirely possible that one of the loons came to check out the lake.

I have seen it in previous years where the loons were on the lake on the day that the ice went out.  How do they know?  How do they do it?  There are some researchers who have theorized that loons keep moving north as waters open up.  When they reach the area of "their" lake, they stay on whatever open water is available in the area.  Then they make daily reconnaissance flights to their lake to see if it is ice free yet.  And once there is open water on their lake, they are there ready to stake out and defend their territory.

This seems like the most plausible explanation to me.

So we are getting very close to the start of a new season.  But first the ice must completely go.  The loons must be back.  And the nest must be put out.  It will be a couple weeks at least before the loons get serious about nesting.  We hope to have the camera available to you by then.

Join us for the excitement of the unknown this year.  Tell your family and friends to join you as together we watch the marvel of the life cycle of our beautiful loons.  What an opportunity this is to let young kids see loons close up, something they could never do in the wild.  And to teach them about the wonders of nature and of creation around them.

Leave your comments, questions and observations here on this site or send them to  LoonCam@yahoo.com

Saturday, April 4, 2009 7:45am

26 degrees   Sunny   Calm

Welcome back as we prepare to follow the loons for 2009.

Your interest over the last couple years has been a wonder to behold.  Who knows what will happen this year!  I guess that is part of the wonder and intrigue of watching the loons as they nest and attempt to raise a new generation of loons.  They are the actors.  They are the ones in control.  All we can do is provide a site that they hopefully will once again use to build a nest.  But beyond that, everything else is out of our control.

So all we can do is sit back and watch.  And marvel at these wonderful creatures.

By now, the loons should be on their way back to the great north if they are not already in the southern parts of their range.

Since we last saw them last summer, they have flown down to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic coast, totally lost their black and white feathers and turned a drab gray/brown, regained their black and white feathers and now are on their way back north.

They went almost totally silent during the winter months on the Gulf but soon will once again be making the calls that are such a signature of the wilds of the northern woods.  To someone who has never heard a loon calling, it is hard to describe to them what the sound is like and the emotions it stirs in almost all of us who hear it.

As soon as the ice goes out of "their lake", they will be there to set up ownership of their territory again.

After a long and unusually cold winter, the lake here still is covered with ice.  There are the first few feet of open water around the edges with some additional open water to the west and the north sides of the lake.  Most of this open water has appeared in the last couple days.  There may even be enough for the loons to return, although I have not seen or heard them yet.

With the cold overnight, the few feet of open water along the edge has frozen over again this morning.  The forecast is for the weather to stay colder than normal for the next few days and even a possibility of a blizzard coming in the next day or two.  However, at this point it looks like the blizzard will go farther south through southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.  But it could delay the return of the loons.

When the weather does return to normal, things will change quickly.  The stronger sun will quickly weaken and melt the ice.  And even a slight wind will be enough to break it up and open the lake.

Once the ice is completely out, we can rebuild and place the nesting platform in the water for the loons.  We will try to have the camera up and running as soon as possible.  The "technical wizards" are already working to make sure everything is ready to go.

If past experience is any guide, it will take the loons a few weeks of checking out the nest before they get serious about building their nest for this year.  That is IF they use the nesting platform again.  Like I said before, we can put it out.  But we can't make the loons use it.  We are totally at their mercy from that point on as to whether they use the platform again.  We have been very fortunate that they have chosen to use the platform every year for several years now.  And they have laid and hatched eggs every year.  Others have not been so fortunate.

All of us together will anxiously await to see what they do.

So, WELCOME BACK to the adventure of the LoonCam for 2009!  Tell your friends and neighbors and school teachers about the loon cam. And invite them to watch along with all the rest of us. But warn them!  They could become addicted!

Questions or Comments?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

One of the wonderful new things that the technical wizards have given us this year is that you will also be able to leave your own messages and observations here.  And soon you will be able to chat with each other as well!