Larry's Loon Blog
Larry Backlund brings decades of loon watching experience to his daily Loon Blog. With a view overlooking his nesting platform, he gives a rare look into the life of a nesting loon, with words that can only be described from a man that loves the birds as much as he does.
I hope that all of you enjoy the surprise this morning of waking up to the new format player for the loon cam. From what I have first seen of it, I think it is wonderful and the best we have had so far.
A BIG thank you to Travis and Tony and the great folks at KARE11 TV!!!
You can enjoy watching the loons today even more!
It is supposed to be a spectacular Minnesota spring weekend. Enjoy it and watch the loons enjoy it.
43 degrees Partly Cloudy Wind W 6mph
On a chilly spring morning in Minnesota, one loon sits peacefully on the nest while its mate swims nearby. The first rays of the sun start to gild the edges of the nest.
For 24 hours now, there has been an egg in the nest. Now the question is, when will the second egg arrive. Unless we see it being laid, we can only wait until the loon either leaves the nest or gets up to rearrange the eggs. I would guess that there is still only one egg but that is only a guess at this point.
I know a number of you were concerned yesterday about the amount of time the loon(s) were off the nest and what that would do to the egg. I don't think it should cause a problem for several reasons.
Early in the life of the egg, it can be exposed most of the time without much damage. Even to the point of a number of days. But once the chick inside has started to develop, it becomes more and more sensitive to getting cold.
If you have ever raised chickens, you will know that a chicken will lay a number of eggs in her nest over a period of many days. But she does not sit on them all the time - that is, until she has the "right number of eggs", whatever that number is. At that point, she starts to get serious about sitting on the nest and incubating them and will seldom leave. On the farm, we used to call that chicken a "setting hen", "sitting hen" or a "clucker"! I guess the latter name came from the fact that the chicken used to make a clucking sound that was somewhat unique to a chicken incubating eggs.
It is much the same with loons. They are probably more serious about sitting on the egg right from the beginning. But they are able to be off it more at this stage than they are later. And when the second egg arrives, they will be even more serious about staying on the nest. Unless they are frightened off by something or someone.
Some of you already noticed that the loon would lower its head once in a while and wondered what that was all about. Very observant!
That is indeed a defensive posture.
If disturbed, a loon will lower its head, apparently to be less conspicuous on the nest. The more it is disturbed or concerned, the lower its head will be. All the way to the point where it will actually lay its head flat on the nest. From a distance, a casual observer would not even know that there is a loon on the nest. If the loon becomes even more disturbed, it will leave the nest.
What can cause that disturbance? It could be an eagle overhead. Or a person nearby. Or a boat. They could see a dog. Or even if they hear a dog nearby they may go into that defensive posture. Any number of things could cause that reaction.
So if you are out in the wild and you see a loon on the nest with its head down very low, you may have gotten too close to it and it is concerned that you are there. Simply back away and very soon you will see the head come back up. And the loon will relax.
Sometimes we almost love loons too much. They are so special that we want to be near them and see them up close.
A good rule of thumb for you is to stay at least 300 feet away from a loon or especially a loon on a nest. Usually they will not be disturbed if you do that. Closer than that and you will probably see them start to go into that defensive posture. As I mentioned to you, when the loons are on the nest, we do not go out on the dock or out in a boat and we try to minimize that amount of activity near the lake. The lawn has to be mowed and other things need to be taken care of, but we try to keep it all to a minimum to give the loons every chance to hatch their eggs.
So on this gorgeous spring day, enjoy watching our wonderful loons! And remind yourself how good and amazing life is!
55degrees Cloudy and Misting Wind S 9mph
It has been quite a morning already!
On a cool, cloudy Minnesota spring morning, the loons have once again honored us with their presence and have presented us with the FIRST EGG at about 6:20am!!
So now comes the vigil.
The loons will seldom leave the nest for more than a couple minutes at a time. And even when they leave the nest, they will usually be swimming nearby.
The normal, accepted incubation period for a loon egg is 28 days. So that would put the anticipated hatching of the egg somewhere around May 28th.
However, in past years, we have changed some of the commonly accepted wisdom about loons through observation of this nest. We have documented egg hatching (especially of the second egg) in as little as 25 days. So the hatching may actually be a day or two earlier than May 28th. But that gives you a date to shoot for and anticipate.
Here are some of the things that you can look for over the next month.
Unlike many birds, loons share nesting duties almost equally between the male and female. Each one will stay on the nest for 2 to 3 hours. Then the mate will come in and they will exchange nesting duties and the one that has been on the nest will swim out into the lake to swim and fish and relax while the one on the nest settles in for the next few hours.
When they get on the nest, they go through a whole procedure of turning the egg with their beak and then settling down on it. They may do this a couple times until they get it "just right". They will wiggle back and forth until they are satisfied that they have the egg exactly where they want it. Then they will tuck their wing tips under and the egg is warm and secure.
Once in a while during their "shift" on the nest, they will stand up on their legs and using their beak they will turn the egg and then settling back down on the nest in a new position. It is believed that turning eggs helps the chick develop properly and prevents them from becoming stuck to one side of the eggshell.
I would expect to see them lay the second egg in a couple days.
Now the real drama starts!
Will the eggs be safe? From storms. From eagles. From cold water and waves. From unknown predators, including human. From any other disaster. And then once the eggs hatch, will the chicks survive all the challenges that they are faced with?
So stay tuned for this year's episode of the soap opera "As The Egg Turns"!
If you want to see some wonderful pictures of the actual egg laying taken by Pam in the UK, check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/sets/72157617425259836/detail/ Thank you so much, Pam, for the beautiful pictures of this special event!
Enjoy these next few days. They will be special. And exciting. And rewarding. And nail-biting.
Questions, Comments, Observations? Leave them here or in the Chat Room or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com
Darkness falls across a moody northern lake in between rain showers. And the loons are well.
Many of you have noticed the increased activity of the loons around the nest. Swimming around the nest more often. Up on the nest. Getting more serious about rearranging materials on the nest and forming it just right. Sitting there for a few minutes. Getting off the nest. Getting on the nest. Mating. Getting off the nest. Only to return once again shortly after.
I think all of the activity is very hopeful sign that we are getting nearer and nearer to actual laying of the eggs.
Once we have eggs, then everything changes! Things are much more serious. The stakes are higher. Everything that the loons have is poured into those eggs. And the loons will then be nestbound for the next month! After eggs are laid, you can be almost bevassured that everytime you check on the nest, one of the loons will be there.
Tonight, in between rain showers and loon visits, I was trying to put in some sections of my dock. I try to get as much done before they nest because once the loons are on the nest, everything stops. No one goes out on the dock. No boats or canoes or pontoons are used. On Memorial Day, the traditional start of summer in Minnesota, if the loons are there the kids know they can't go swimming. Everything belongs to and revolves around the loons.
So tonight, the loons had disappeared somewhere out on the lake. And in between rain showers, I tried to get more of the dock put in. Then, out of no where, one of the loons was there watching me from just beyond the nest. Since the loon (I think it was the female) did not seem to be distressed or upset at all, I wanted to finish installing that section before I went back up to the house. Plus it was starting to rain again. So I hurried.
Then the second loon was there. Neither one of them seemed to be concerned at all. They simply floated. And watched. They came to within about 15 to 20 feet of me! I talked to them as I hurried to finish. But they just sat and watched. Without getting too over the top, let me say that it is a humbling feeling to have them that close. At THEIR choice. If they showed ANY signs of being disturbed, I was out of there. But they simply sat and watched.
Trust me. If a loon is upset, you will know it. By their alarm calls. By their displays. By their frantic diving. But they were totally at ease. I would never suggest to anybody to try to get that close to a loon. But, like I said, it is humbling when THEY make the choice.
So I finished the work in a few minutes and left. After a little while, they swam out into the lake. Content that all was well with their world.
So, once again I say to you, enjoy this wonderful opportunity for a close look into the life of the loons and the miracle that will unfold before your eyes.
Both loons are up on the nest and they mate once again.
Several of you have asked about the mating. It is normal for them to mate several times. I have observed as many as 5 times in previous years. However, already this year, I have observed 6 times and with the observations of some of the rest of you, it is up to 8 times at least.
This is one of the wonders and advantages of the cam.
Behaviour that scientists would never be able to see or document in the wild without phenomenal time and effort, can now be observed by you and them in the comfort of your home. Over the last few years, there have been things which have been documented on this cam that are starting to change the "conventional wisdom" of what we know about loons.
As she is sitting on the nest right now, there are body movements and 'twitches' that make me wonder if she is getting near the time to lay the first egg. One can only wonder what is going on inside her body. The miracle of that alone is something that is hard to comprehend. I would guess by now the first egg is almost fully formed and a shell is being formed around it.
What you can watch for when she is close to laying an egg is that kind of body movement and very subtle twitches.
Then as the time to lay the egg approaches, she may sort of "climb" up on the edge of the nest. She will spread her wings slightly to steady herself. And then all of a sudden, the egg will be laid. The whole process takes only a couple minutes. And when the egg is finally laid, it happens very quickly.
For now she has just left the nest and the pair has gone out into the lake to swim and to fish.
So once again, we can only watch and wait. It is out of our hands. We are only spectators in this fascinating look into the life of a loon.
Ron Schara, and his trusted black lab, Raven, began sharing stories of the outdoor lifestyle back in 1995. Minnesota Bound is the show that started it all for Ron Schara and he quickly found a passion for putting his words onto the television screen. Today, it remains a trademark program and is now running over 600 episodes strong. We seek characters that have a story to tell. We seek out destinations and find out what makes them special. We share the love of outdoors and those that enjoy it. Yes, it's fishing and hunting, but it's also camping, hiking, canoeing, archery, bird watching, ice climbing and so much more. Minnesota Bound is a fan favorite winning several hundred OWAA awards during its lifespan, including 11 Emmy Awards.
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