Friday, May 22, 2009 5:38am CDT

46 degrees   Partly Cloudy   Wind NE 3mph

The golden red of the morning dawn paints the edges of each of the ripples on the water as our loon looks around, ever vigilant for any sign of danger.

Now we are down to our last few days before the eggs should hatch.  Is the loon aware of what is going on inside the egg?

Can it sense when hatching is getting close?

Does it know?

At what point is there movement in the egg?  When does the developing chick inside start to peep?   Can the chick's eye already see?  Can it make out the difference in light level when the adult is off the egg?  Are the chicks already covered in their black down?  Almost certainly the chick's heart is beating now.   How on earth does this whole miracle of life work? 

A thousand and one questions for which we have no answers.  Questions that remind us once again of how little we really know.  Questions that remind us once again that, as smart as we think we are, we are incapable of creating life!  We can't even fully understand it let alone create it.

All we can do is stand back and observe.  And marvel at the wonder of this gift of life that has been given to us!  Some say it is just "nature".  I choose to believe that it is so much more than that!

Since many of you in the United States may very well be traveling and away from home for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, let's talk a little bit about the hatching.

As you know, the first egg was laid on April 30th and the second egg on May 2nd.  Normally accepted times of incubation for a loon would put the hatching date of that first egg on May 28th and the second egg on May 30th.

The first egg was laid at 6:21am and the second egg was laid at 5:39pm.  So given an exact 28 days, one would expect the eggs to hatch at those times of day as well.

But several things may alter those dates for both eggs.

Based on what we have seen in past years, I would expect that the eggs may very well hatch a day or two earlier than those dates.  Since we have been able to tell exactly to the minute when the eggs were laid, we can also be much more precise in the actual length of incubation.  In previous years we have consistently seen it to be less than 28 days.  In fact, it has been as short as 25.1 days.  To a certain extent this camera has helped to add new knowledge about loons.  And this year will once again add new knowledge about these wonderful birds.

So I will be so bold as to go out on a limb and say that we might see the eggs hatch as early as Wednesday or even Tuesday of next week.

Who knows what will actually happen, but I do not want you to miss the wonderful climax of this whole adventure.  There is nothing like seeing the chick peek out from under the adult loon for the first time.  To see the little black ball of down with the big eyes looking around at a whole wide world that it has never seen before.  Of being ready to explore from the very moment it observes its new domain.

There is something so special about that moment it is hard to even explain or to put into words.

That first observation of new life.  Of independent life.  Of life that was created out of 'nothingness'.  Of life that is able to move and function on its own.  The thousands of questions that we have and do not understand all wrapped up in that little downy package!

So let me give you a few signs to watch for that will tell you if we are near that magic moment of seeing a new little loon chick.

The first thing to watch for is the movement of the adult loon on the nest.

You will see her/him 'twitching' every once in a while.  The wing will jerk.  Or lift up slightly.  Or the whole body of the loon will jump ever so slightly.  It will look like the loon is sitting 'lighter' on the nest.  Slightly raised up.

This will go on for some time.  I assume it is in reaction to the little baby look pecking its way out of the egg.  In fact, did you know that loons (and birds in general) have a bump on their beak called an "egg tooth" for that very purpose?   At least I think loons have it as well.  Once again it reminds me of how little I actually know for sure.  But this egg tooth is there specifically to help the chick peck its way out of the egg shell!  And then it disappears!

But I assume that the motions of the adult loon are in response to the chick pecking its way out of the shell.  Or in response to the first peeps of the chick

In fact did you also know that chicks will actually 'peep' while they are still inside the shell?!  Scientists tell us that they think the two chicks in two separate eggs actually communicate with each other while they are still inside the shell.  Is it true?  Who knows for sure.  Yet one more question to add to our list!

I had one expert on wildlife tell me a few years ago that he thinks that the communication between the chicks in the eggs actually speeds up the development of the second chick!  How much more wonderful and marvelous does this whole miracle become the more we learn and the more we realize how little we really know?  But he felt that it actually helps to speed up the development of the second chick.

Because you see, even though the second egg was laid 2 1/2 days later than the first egg, it will probably hatch within 24 hours of the first egg hatching.

Some of that may be due to the loons delaying the start of "real" serious incubation until the second egg is laid.  But this expert felt that there is also some mechanism that actually speeds up the development of the second chick.  And he felt that the communication between the two chicks while still in the egg may play a part in it.  So one of you may want to do the research that answers that question for all of us!!!

So what does it all mean to us?  To summarize, I would expect that the eggs will actually hatch a day or two before the actual due date.  I would expect that the second egg will hatch within about 24 hours of the first egg hatching.  And I would also expect that the chicks will be off the nest and in the water within about 24 hours of hatching.  And from that point on, they will be totally water birds.

Well, how is that for putting myself FAR out on a limb with all these predictions!  Please do not saw it off!!!  lol

But I just wanted to give you a little hint of what to expect as we near this most magical time!  And what to watch for.

Once again, the first thing to watch for is the "twitching" of the adult loon on the nest. 

And shortly afterwards, watch for that first glimpse of a little baby loon peeking out from under the wing of its mother or father!

How much more wonderful does it get than that?!!?!?

Questions or Comments or Observations?  Post them here or in the Chat Room or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com

Thursday, May 21, 2009 (originally) 6:39am CDT

(well, once again the system ate the blog entry.....but THIS time I saved it!!!!  or so I thought!  The saved part disappeared too.  Hmmmm So let's try a shortened version)

54 degrees  Cloudy   Wind W3mph

Today is cooler and less windy than yesterday.  The high temperature here at the lake reached 99 degrees!  Fortunately for the loons, the nest is somewhat protected from the high winds yesterday or they would have been riding up and down all day on some pretty high waves.

There are scattered rain showers forecast for today but rain does not pose a problem for our loons.

The loon on the nest was showing defensive hiding behaviour with its head held very low earlier this morning.  I could not see anything that was disturbing it so I walked down to the lake.  I still could not see anything that was disturbing it.  So sometimes there are just things we do not see or understand.

One of the two loons definitely seems to be more shy or defensive that the other loon.  I am not sure which loon it is but I think it is the male.

Last night some of you saw the loon in that defensive behaviour with the head held low for quite a while.  I did see what was disturbing them that time.

I was out mowing when the neighbor came over and told me that a group of fishermen were fishing along the shore and approaching the nest.  I watched for a while as they fished by the neighbors dock.  The loon stayed low on the nest but did not leave.  There were about 6 young people in the boat and also wading the shallows.

When they started moving again closer to the nest, I went down and asked them if they could go out around the raft and the buoys because this was a 'protected nesting area'.  They said sure no problem.  As I walked away, one of the young ladies called back, "Thank you for telling us.  We didn't know."  It is always gratifying to see that kind of understanding and response.  And most people have exactly that kind of attitude and caring.

You may have also seen the loons exhibit another defensive behaviour as they swim around the nest.

A loon can control its buoyancy in the water.  Most of the time it swims fairly high in the water and gives us that classic loon profile.

But it can also literally "sink" out of sight.  Not dive but just sink.

It does this by compressing air sacs within its body.  Researchers tell us that loons have a large air sac within their body that extends out into their wings.

By using special muscles they can either fill that air sac with air or compress the air out.  When the air sac is full, the loon rides high in the water.  When they compress the air sac, they can just sink in the water.  Their almost solid bones that we have talked about before also help them just sink out of sight.  I have watched loons swim with just the top of their head above water if they are concerned about something and want to watch without being seen.

Sometimes you may have been looking right at a loon but did not see it because it was riding so low in the water.

This is just one more thing that make loons such special and unique birds.

So enjoy watching them today.  We are down to the last few days of watching them for this year!

The normal accepted incubation period says that the first egg should hatch one week from today - Thursday. May 28. 

However, I would expect that they would hatch a day or two earlier than that based on previous years experience.  So watch very carefully.  You do not want to miss seeing that wonderful miracle of seeing the little chick peek out from under its parent for the first time.  The chicks will usually leave the nest within about 24 hours of hatching so it is a very short time that you get a chance to see them.

Now it gets REALLY exciting!

Questions or Comments or Observations?   Post them here or in the Chat Room or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 5:38am CDT

70 degrees  High Scattered Clouds  Wind South 14mph

Right now it is a peaceful morning just before sunrise for the loons with some breeze stirring ripples for the loon's.

But according to the weather forecast, that is going to change.  There are predictions for today of very high winds and temperatures close to 90 degrees.  All of this ahead of a low pressure system approaching from the Dakotas that will bring the winds before lowering the temperatures tomorrow.

We often call Minnesota "the theatre of seasons", but this year seems to be unusually so.  It is a  multi-act play.

Some of you commented yesterday about the loons open mouth.  The loon was panting a lot yesterday in the heat and sun.  It reached 88 degrees here at the lake while in the Twin Cities it shattered the record with a temperature of 97 degrees!  So our loons were indeed warm sitting on the nest.

But to give you an idea of the contrast, the highs in northern Minnesota near the Canadian border were only in the 40's and 50's yesterday!!    There was a great temperature difference across the state.  So I am not sure if the "theatre" qualifies as a 'comedy' or a 'tragedy'.  It has been a different spring.

But the loons just seem to take it in stride.  It is all in a day's work of sitting on and incubating and protecting their eggs.

I have promised you that we would talk about feet and legs and to try to reconstruct some of the blog that was lost a few days ago.  So are you ready?  Here we go.

Yesterday we talked about one of the possibilities of how the loon got its name.  From the Scandinavian word for clumsy.

And they are very clumsy on land.   Most of that clumsiness is due to their feet and their legs.

Some loon researchers have figured out that if our feet were the same size as a loons foot, we would have feet that were a size 45 triple R!!!  Can you say "clown feet"?!!!  Their feet are huge.

But this is one of the things that makes loons such powerful swimmers.  With feet that large, they are able to use them to swim very fast and those large feet also allow them to make turns very quickly underwater as they chase small fish.  Their feet are webbed and it gives them their own built-in swimming flippers.

But their is something else that helps to make them powerful swimmers.  And that is their legs.

If you watch closely when they are swimming near the nest, and the water and light are just right, you can see their feet and legs underwater.  You will notice that their legs look like they are way at the back of their body.  They sort of just 'hang' off the very back of the loon's body and go a little bit off to the sides.

This gives you the first hint that there is something different about the loon.  Ducks and other waterbirds have feet that are more under the middle of the bird.  But a loon's feet and legs are way at the back of the body.

Why is that?

OK, do this exercise.  Stretch your arm out in front of you.  Imagine for a moment that your arm is the leg of a chicken.  The upper part of your arm is the 'drumstick'.  The lower part of your arm is the lower part of the chicken's leg.  And your wrist and your hand are the chicken's foot.

Move your arm around.  Think of how a chicken walks as you do it.  (The picture in my mind right now is thousands of people sitting at their computers in the office or at home waving their arms like a chicken walking.  With their coworkers and family looking at them out of the corner of their eye wondering if they have finally gone crazy.  Or "loony"!)

A chicken has full movement of its leg to walk around.  And the leg is placed centrally on its body so that it can balance as it walks.

Now hold the upper part of your arm tightly against your body.  Pretend that there is a towel wrapped around your upper arm and your body that holds your arm there.

Now try the same movement that you tried before.  You can move the lower part of your arm - the forearm and your hand - but you cannot move the upper part of your arm because there is a towel holding it next to your body.  Wave the lower part of your arm and notice how much different it looks and feels.

This is what a loon is faced with.

Because you see, a loon's upper leg or 'drumstick' is encased inside its body skin.  It is held tightly against its body.  It cannot move it like a chicken or a duck or a turkey does.  All it can do is move the lower part of its leg.

Now this has advantages and disadvantages.

By enclosing the upper part of the leg within the body skin, it makes the lower part of the leg look like it comes off the comes off the very back of the body.  The advantage is that this placement of the leg helps the loon to be a very powerful swimmer.  So the combination of the large foot and the leg placed near the back of the body, makes the loon one of the most powerful swimmers around.

But it puts them at a distinct disadvantage when they are on land.  Unlike a chicken or other birds which can easily walk around, the loon does not have the movement or configuration of its legs that are built for walking.  Swimming yes.  Walking, no.  To see it once again, hold your upper arm against your body and wave your lower arm around and imagine the difference in mobility for the loon.

You get a great view of this when the loon gets on the nest during a nest change.  The leg is way at the back of the loons body.  And this is why it looks so clumsy.  And not only 'looks' clumsy, it is clumsy on land.  This is why it just sort of waddles and flops as it gets onto the nest.

It also helps you understand what we talked about before as well - that if a loons happens to land on dry ground instead of water,  it is almost helpless.  It can only waddle with great difficulty and actually moves more by just flopping as it thrusts its body forward.  And without water to take off from, it cannot become airborne.

So now you know about the loon's feet and legs.  And you know more about what makes the loon even more special and different.  So go back to waving your arms around and showing your coworkers what it is like for a loon to walk!

Have a great day watching these beautiful birds.  And marveling at all that is unfolding before your eyes!

Questions or Comments or Observations?  Post them here or in the Chat Room or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 6:36am CDT

45 degrees   Clear and Sunny   Wind  NE 11mph

As the bright morning sun just begins to touch the loon on the nest, it sits there ever faithful.  Carefully taking care of its two precious eggs.

It has now been almost 3 weeks of sitting on the eggs hour after hour.  Day after day.  Week after week.

But now the loons are in the home stretch.  In only a little over a week, the eggs should hatch.  And if all has gone well, there should be two little black downy loon chicks!  One can only begin to imagine that wonder of what is going on inside those eggs.  The majesty of creation of new life.  Of something out of nothing.  Things that are so far beyond our understanding and comprehension.  Oh. we know some of the "mechanics" of it.  But how does it all work?  We don't begin to have a clue.

But in another week or so, we will hopefully see the results of that miracle before our eyes!

You have watched how the loons get on and off the nest.  How they turn the eggs ever so carefully.  How they wiggle and rock as they settle down on them until they get them just right.  But what just doesn't fit with the grace and beauty of the loon swimming or sitting on the nest, is the awkwardness of the loon as it gets up on the nest.

Which brings us to where the loon got its name.

Sometimes we wonder why they are called loons.  We associate the name with someone being "loony" or crazy.  But it has nothing to do with that.

The description "loony" comes from the old belief that during the time of a full moon, some people would go crazy.  Hence, "loony" from the word "lunar" meaning moon.

However, linguists seem to think that the name loon actually came from a Scandinavian word "lum" or "loom".  One of the meanings of that word was "clumsy".  And clumsy sure fits the description of a loon on land.  They are very clumsy.  Almost to the point of being helpless on land.

As you have seen, they just sort of waddle and flop as they get up on the nest.  They definitely are not built for getting around on land.  And they are very clumsy.

But put them in the water!  That is a different story.  Here they are in their element.  Here they are at home.  THAT is their realm and their kingdom! 

So I don't really like the other associations of the name loon.  Crazy or clumsy.  Take your choice.  They don't do justice to these magnificent birds that we know as loons.  But now you know the probable origin of the name.

Questions or Comments or Observations?  Post them here or in the Chat Room or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com

Monday, May 18, 2009 9:51pm CDT

68 degrees    Dark     Wind SE 3mph

Tonight has been one of those magnificent Minnesota twilight evenings.

That magical time of day when the sun has gone.  Technically it is night.  But there still remains a long period of twilight.  An in between time.  A restful, peaceful, relaxing time.  It is a time that people who live in the great north are familiar with in the summer.  But people at lower latitudes do not experience twilight in the same way.  In lower latitudes, it is light.  And it is dark.  With very little transition in between.

You have watched that long transition on the webcam tonight.

Even now at 10 o'clock in the evening, there is still a slight glow in the northwestern sky.  It is hard to make out any stars in that part of the sky because of the twilight glow.

The lake is like a sheet of glass.  Still as can be.  The frogs are in full song tonight.

And during this special time, somewhere out there our loon sits on the nest.  No wind.  No waves.  No cold.  No rain.  No snow.  In fact it got to 86 degrees here today!   No boats.  No eagles.  All is quiet.  Just very quiet.  And peaceful.

I am sorry that I was not able to do a blog this morning.  I have been out of town since yesterday.

I got home for just a few minutes this afternoon before I had to leave for another meeting tonight.  Just in time to hear the loons give an alarm call.  Both of them.

As I go to look to see what has alarmed them, I see two great blue herons fly almost right over the nest.  Very seldom do they alarm call over a great blue heron.  But they sure did this time.  Apparently flying right over the nest was enough to do it.  The loon on the nest never left.  But along with its mate it sure was making its concern and displeasure known.

But there was something strange.  I wish I knew what had happened to alarm the loons.  The mate qas swimming in very close to shore.  Much closer than it ever swims.  That is the area where the great blue herons usually stalk their prey.  Small fish.

Why was the loon there?  I don't know.  I would like to know.  Had there been a confrontation between the heron and the loon?  The loon would quite possibly come out on the short end of the stick in a confrontation like that.  I have never seen such a confrontation.  So once again the unknown.  Whatever it was, the loons did not like it.  But as soon as the two herons were gone, they quickly settled down to their main task - making sure that two eggs were taken care of.

But right now, in the dark, all is quiet.  And one can only assume that all is well on the northern front.

Questions or Comments or Observations?  Post them here or in the Chat Room or send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com