Tuesday, May 26, 2009 5:13am CDT

50 degrees    Cloudy    Wind  SE 12mph

THIS MAY BE THE DAY!!!!

The loon has raised her wing a couple times.  Ever so slightly.  Right now she is sitting still.

But this could be what I have told you to watch for before.  For lack of a better term "twitching".

I have an idea that we may very well have a chick that is pecking its way through the shell of the egg!!

I am always hesitant to say too much, too soon.  But this is where hope springs eternal!  This is where it gets so very exciting.  This is where the long days of waiting possibly pay off.

Is it the actual hatching? 

We can once again only watch and wait.  Even if we wanted to do something, we are powerless to do anything.  This is not something we can control.  This is not something that we can dictate what will happen.  We are mere observers to this miracle of creation!

Can it truly be that it was less than four short weeks ago that we watched the eggs being laid?  Time that has gone so fast?  Like it was yesterday?  But also like it was SO long ago!

What mind can even begin to comprehend what has happened in those four short weeks!

A simple egg.  An egg like we crack open every morning for a breakfast omelet.  Nothing to it.  Simply shell and yolk and egg white.  Oh sure, it was a little bigger than the eggs in our refrigerator.  It was a different color - olive brown with dark spots instead of white.  But it was like the eggs in our refrigerator.   Nothing more.  Nothing less. 

OH!  But it was SO much more!

And now we dare believe that something might have actually happened over the last four weeks!

That miracle of creation that transformed that yolk and white into a little black downy loon chick.  Who among you dares say that you understand how that happens?

Who among you dares say that YOU can DO that?!!

I think not.

When you actually stop and think about what has happened and what is happening, it becomes almost too much for the simple human mind to fully comprehend.

But the first hopeful signs are there.  This may actually be the time.  This may actually be what we have been hoping for.  Right now the loon has sat still and silent for a number of minutes.  But 15 minutes ago there was that telltale lifting of the wing several times.  Do we dare hope?  Or was it just wishful thinking.

The other loon has been swimming a little ways out in the lake but has now come close to the nest.  Does it sense that there is something more going on?  That there is something new happening.  Will the loon on the nest get off so we can see the eggs for ourselves?  Or at least rise up and readjust them so we can look?  Or is that too much to ask for?

The questions and the hope never end.

But once again I say to you  WE MUST BE CLOSE!

Now is not the time to miss a minute!  This is what you have been waiting for.

This is the time to call the kids and the grandkids and the neighbors and, well, and everyone you know!  This is their chance to be witness with you to something so wonderful and marvelous and miraculous.

There it is again.  Ever so slight.  Almost imperceptible.  That slight lifting of the wing.  While the mate swims right next to the nest watching.

It just raises more questions.

How much do they know?  What is going through their minds?  Is there any comprehension?  Or is it just "nature"?

Timeless questions that men have asked down through the millennia.

While we wait and wonder and hope, let me point out one other thing to you.

You have watched as the loon sitting on the nest has panted with its beak open.  If you haven't watched closely, watch today at how far back that beak goes.  And how big it is.  And how big the mouth of the loon is.

It is big enough for the loon to swallow some pretty big fish.  We are told that they can swallow fish up to 11 inches long.

Let me interrupt my own blog!

*****BREAKING NEWS*******

The loon just got off the nest and there is a definite HOLE in the end of the egg!

AND there is definitely MOVEMENT inside that egg!

WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE CHICK THAT IS TRYING TO MAKE ITS WAY INTO THE WORLD!!!!

He has gotten his first view of daylight and his first view of this big new world through that tiny "keyhole" that he has pecked in the shell of his egg.  His prison and his protector for the last 28 days.

It is now 5:50am.

        ***********

So the signs were there.  And they were right.  The slight twitching and the lifting of the wing did indicate a chick that was trying to peck its way out of the egg.  And the loon on the nest was good enough to get off and give us a view to confirm it!

So what we have been hoping for is coming to pass!!

OK, back to what I was saying about the beak of the loon.

Watch to see how large the mouth actually is!  It is large enough to swallow some fairly large fish.  They tell us they can swallow a fish up to about a pound in weight which is a fish 10 or 11 inches long.  I have seen one picture with a loon with a fish that big in its mouth and halfway down its throat.  It looks like they would choke on it, but swallow it they did.

Most of the fish they eat are much smaller than that.  More like minnows and small perch and sunfish.

But the reason I bring it up now that we are so close to hatching, is for you to watch when the loon brings the chick its first meal.  They will swim up to the side of the nest with the TINIEST little minnow held in their beak.  And they will hold it out for the chick to eat.

So that same beak that can catch and eat a pretty big fish, can also catch the tiniest little minnow and gently feed it to the chick.

The dexterity and gentleness is a wonder to behold.  Yet one more wonder!

So, get ready for the ride today!  This looks like it will be the day for the first chick to hatch!  And then the second chick will probably be tomorrow....or maybe even later today!

How much better does it get than this?!?!?!?

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

Monday, May 25, 2009 9:13pm

Some of you have commented about the loon being defensive and then off the nest in the last 20 minutes.

Just an FYI let me tell you what it was about....there was a boat with three people that was fishing in the area for about 10 or 15 minutes. A neighbor came over and told me about it.

The loon was in defensive posture and the other loon was swimming a ways away and relatively relaxed. I watched to see if I should go down to ask them to move farther away but with neither loon being over stressed, I didn't. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt and after all it is a public lake.

Another neighbor came over and we started talking out of sight of the loon and all the way up by the house. The boat finally left on their own. A few minutes after that I heard the loon wail (a good call) and looked and it was off the nest.

A few minutes later the neighbor said he thought he saw her chase something far off to the left side of the nest. Shortly after, she came back half flying, half running from left to right and settled down out from the nest. She then swam in and got up on the nest.

Now at 9:04pm she leaves the nest again fairly quickly. I don't see anything near the nest.....ooops, yodel and tremolo calls....going to go check...........

I went down to the lake and could not see anything that would disturb them. No people. No boats. No eagle. No other loons. At 9:09pm both loons are swimming together farther out in the lake. They gave about 3 calls looking to the left but I could not see ANYTHING over there. They have now calmed down but are still swimming out there.

So right now the eggs lie exposed, the loons swimming farther out in the lake and seemingly relaxed. And there is no hole in either of the eggs that I can see or any other obvious sign of hatching.

What was that all about? I don't have a clue. But apparently the loons do!

9:14pm she is back on the nest.

Monday, May 25, 2009 5:53am CDT

52 degrees    Partly Cloudy   Wind E 5 mph

The loon is off the nest!

Where is she?  Doesn't she know that she has eggs that need taking care of?!  There she is!  Swimming farther out in the lake.  Why isn't she on the nest?  Those eggs are going to cool off in the chill morning air.  What is she thinking!  There are little chicks in those eggs.  They are about ready to hatch.  What if she is off the nest too long?  What if the chicks don't make it!  Get back on the nest!  You can't be out there just swimming around when there are eggs back on the nest.  What if an eagle or a seagull or a crow comes.  They would love to eat the eggs.  And if there is a chick inside, all the better.  Get back here now.  We have watched this too long for us to lose the eggs now.  YOU have put in too much time on the nest for you just to let it go.  Don't you know that you have chicks inside those eggs?  Don't you know that they are close to hatching?  Don't fail me now!

Those are some of the normal reactions and questions of all of us when we see the loon off the nest.  Especially if it seems they are off too long.  The 'mother hen' syndrome of knowing better than the loon what she should be doing.  Of wondering if everything is going to be ok.  Be honest.  You have felt some of those same feelings when you have watched and it just seemed like the loon was off the nest too long.  And you have wondered if everything was going to be ok.

Well, once again after about 5 or 10 minutes off the nest, the loon gets back up on the nest, readjusts the eggs a couple times and settles down.  I guess I didn't need to worry....again!!!  Maybe they did know what they were doing after all. 

That is just part of the roller-coaster of feelings that I am sure many of you have experienced as you have watched this saga unfold before your very eyes.

Let's face it.  Without this webcam, we would be totally oblivious to what this pair of loons goes through minute by minute.  Hour by hour.  Day after long day.  Week by week.  But now through the wonder of technology, we can sit and watch them closer and better than we could if we were right there.  No matter if we are half way around the world!  How cool is that?

And so we worry about "our" loons.  We have gotten to know them intimately.  We have come to know some of their habits and idiosyncrasies.  We have come to care for them.  And, yes, we have come to even worry about them.

But there are thousands of others just like these two that are facing the same challenges.  But because we cannot see them, we do not think of them.

Several years ago when I first started the webcam on the nest, one of the people at LoonWatch said, "These are going to be the most famous loons in the world."  And they have become just that.  But is doesn't seem to faze them.   They haven't developed a prima donna star complex.  They just go about their ordinary lives.  But we have the privilege of watching.  What someone called "the best reality show around".

There is a slight possibility of some rain today with some scattered thunderstorms.  But most of the day should be pretty calm for the loons.  There is more chance of thunderstorms tomorrow.  But all of it something that the loons are used to and have seen many times before.  Rain they can handle.  After all, it is their natural element.  Violent wind, heavy hail or extreme heat are things that pose more of a threat to them.  But nothing like that is expected today.

Yesterday was the loons first "summer weekend" day of traffic on the lake.  While there was an increased number of boats and waterskiiers and canoes and jet skis, it was not an unusually heavy day.

But you saw it in the increased amount of time that the loon was in a defensive posture.

Some of it was from boats or people going by on the lake.  But none of them came too close to the loons.  They maintained a very respectful distance.

Some of it was from family and friends that were here for a picnic.  And I have to say that all the kids were great in their understanding of the situation.  I know they were disappointed that they could nto go swimming or just splash around in the lake.  Or even be down by the shore.  Some of them went to the park on the other side of the lake so they could swim.  And they took the canoes over to the neighbors to launch them just so they wouldn't disturb the loons.  But just the fact there there were new and strange people around was enough for the loons to go into defensive postures.

It is amazing but it seems that they really can recognize people.

Several years ago when I realized that they seemed to know and tolerate me but would lower their head when someone else was in sight, I questioned how much was just in my imagination.  But it was such a relief when the neighbors said that it seemed like the loons knew who they were.   And they did.  I have since talked to a couple of wildlife professors and they said that they think that is very well possible.

So you wonder what goes on inside that brain.  What do they see?  What do they know?  What do they "understand"?

Then there are other times when they lower their head and adopt the defensive posture when there seems to be absolutely no reason to do so.  But I have to just remind myself, that I understand so little about these great birds.  And the more I know, the more I know how little I know!

So today, we are one day closer to the hatching of the eggs.  When will it be?  I don't know.  It could be today!

But my best guess is that it will be sometime between tomorrow and Thursday.

And if anything, I would guess that it would be earlier rather than later in that time frame.

When the loon was off the nest this morning, there was no sign of any hole in the eggs or any sign that a chick was trying to make its way out.

So we can just watch and wait.  And hope!

Now the real excitement begins.  Now the suspense builds.  Now the vigil comes close to bearing results.

We can only wonder what is going on inside those two eggs.  Are there chicks?  Are they healthy?  Are they peeping inside the egg and communicating with each other and with the adult as well?  Questions, questions, questions!

And to all of you in the United States, may you have a wonderful and meaningful Memorial Day as we remember all those who have given so much!  Some who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009 8:59am CDT

55 degrees   Sunny   Wind E 3mph

This one is going to be short.

When I logged on early this morning to do the blog, I am not sure what was going on but it seemed like the whole site was down and I could not get in.  With a lot of people coming for Memorial Day picnic today, my time is limited...or non-existent right now.  So I apologize for this being so short.

But I did want to quickly assure you that the loons are doing ok.  It looks like it is going to be an absolutely spectacular day today with bright sunshine, no rain, temperatures in the 70s and light breezes.  I doesn't get much better than this.

Also, there is no sign of the eggs hatching yet either.  The loon is sitting solid and contented on the nest with no "twitching" that so often foretells that something is going on under her.

Hopefully the cam will be up and running soon, too, and that you can continue the adventure.  But for now, be assured that you have not missed the hatching or the chicks.

Have a Happy Memorial Day weekend!

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

Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:39am CDT

55 degrees  Partly Cloudy   Wind  North 6mph

No one knows for sure when our loon eggs are going to hatch. 

All we can be sure of is that we are one day closer to whatever is going to happen!

If everything goes well, we should see something by next Thursday, May 28th.  But I fully expect that we may see them hatch on Wednesday or even Tuesday.  Or even Monday is not outside the realm of possibility given what we have seen over the last few years.

It is once again a reminder that we are just spectators in this great adventure.  It is not us calling the shots and deciding what is going to happen and when.

Monday morning would be 25.1 days which we have seen as a possibility of the first egg hatching in the past.  Thursday would be the commonly accepted 'norm' of 28 days.  I would expect it to be between those two dates although it could be later.  If it goes later than next Saturday, then there would be cause for concern if they are going to hatch or not.

So now the suspense builds.  Now it gets interesting.  Now the guessing and the wondering really begin.  Now it pays to watch closely.

We are getting close to that amazing event of seeing a gorgeous little chick for the first time.

No matter how you prepare yourself, there is no way to fully prepare for that first glimpse of a little chick peeking out from under a wing.  It is a heart stopping moment.

This morning an 'intruder loon' flew in and landed on the same side of the lake as our loons.  That was enough to draw the loon off the nest and out of nowhere the mate also appeared.  There was some swimming around and excited diving but that was about it before the intruder decided that there "was nothing to see here" and kept moving along by flying off to the west.

Our loons had formed a phalanx of protection - one near the nest and one a little bit farther out.  They held their positions until they were sure the intruder was really gone and then one of them promptly returned to the nest to resume its guard over the precious treasure under its care.

So as they settle back onto the nest, you can settle in for the final vigil over the next few days.

A vigil that hopefully will end with two new loon chicks entering the world.

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