Monday, April 19, 2010 7:35 pm

(for some reason this did not post earlier)

61 degrees   Clear   Calm

 

Sometimes the smallest of things can cause such great concern.

 

Other times, great happiness.  And yet at other times, they just put your mind at ease.

 

I have seen so very little of the loons the last week or two.

 

I know that they are around.  I have heard them calling a couple times late at night.  Other people around they lake have seen them.  But I have seen very little of them.

 

As I have told you, at this stage in waiting for the loons to nest, I turn into this paranoid person.  Full of concern that maybe the loons may not use the nest this year.  That maybe we will get your hopes up and then there will be nothing to see.  That I will disappoint you if you are not  able to watch the loons on the nest.  In my worst, but humorous, nightmare I envision a mob of people from around the world with torches and pitchforks coming down the road if the camera goes down or if the loons do not use the nest so that we can see them.

 

These feelings are not new.  I have them every year about this time.  And it is born out of wanting to give you the best experience possible and letting you see things that you would not be able to see in any other way.

 

But until the loons actually build a nest and lay that first egg, there are NO guarantees.

 

It is the time when I realize anew that what happens is totally up to them and out of our control.  It is what it is.  A live look into nature.  The real thing.  Not some pre-ordained, scripted show.  Not some that we can control....not that we would want to even if we could.

 

And that is what creates the suspense and the  drama of this LoonCam.  This reality is what makes it so special.  So uncertain.  So unpredictable.

 

I mentioned that last Wednesday there was good news that the loons had not only been up on the nest [for the first time as far as I knew] but that  they had mated!

 

Them being on the nest was encouraging.  But them mating on the nest was a very strong sign of taking ownership.  And those two acts dialed the "paranoia meter" down a notch!  But then I have seen almost nothing of them since last Wednesday.  If they have been around or on  the nest, I have not seen it.  Up goes the paranoia meter.

 

But there is good news tonight!

 

Just a few minutes ago, both loons swam in toward the nest and immediately one of them got up on the nest.  (S)he sat there for two minutes while the other loon swam nearby.

 

After 2 minutes (s)he got off the nest and swam toward its mate.

 

Within a minute she swam back to the nest and immediately got up on it.  The male followed her up on the nest and they mated.  The mating took no more than 15 seconds and he got back in the water.  After another minute or so, the female also got off the nest and the two of them swam out into the lake.  The entire episode from coming to the nest until they left was no more than a total of 4 minutes.

 

And now as darkness falls, they are swimming somewhere out there.  I hear them calling. 

 

So these are 'small' events that are very profound and very encouraging!!

 

The 'paranoia meter' has gone down several notches.  And that is fine with me.  Let's hope that it stays down.

 

The fact that the loons have returned to the nest after several days, is very encouraging.  The fact that they mated for the second time [that I know of] is even more encouraging and hopeful that they will use the nest again this year.

 

All of this is not all that unusual.  Something similar happens each year.  But you can never be sure of the outcome.  I think this is the first year that I have been able to blog for you at this stage and to let you know what is happening.

 

Today the technical gnomes brought out some more equipment that is necessary to bring all of this to you live.  They are working so very hard and hopefully very soon you will be able to watch it up close and personal.

 

But catch up on your sleep!!

 

You thought you could not take your eyes off the camera in previous years?

 

Just remember that this year we are hoping to bring you night vision as well.  So you will be able to watch it 24 hours a day!

 

And for those of you watching on the other side of the world, you will not have to wait until the sun rises in Minnesota.  And you will not have to stop watching at the time of a spectacular Minnesota sunset.  Hopefully you will be able to watch at whatever time you log on!

 

So now with more encouraging signs, we wait.  We pray.  And we hope.

 

Who knows what lies ahead and what these beautiful loons have in store for us this year.  But that is all part of what has made this the #1 Webcam in the World!

 

And you are a part of it!

 

Now is the time for you to tell your family and your kids and grandkids and their teachers and their schools and their Scout Troops and your friends .... to get ready!  So that they can catch all the action right from the very beginning!!

Friday, April 16, 2010 5:07pm

58 degrees   Sunny    Windy  NNW 20mph with gusts to 30mph

Today has been a bright sunny day with bright blue skies but with wind and a little chilly.

When you are out of the wind, it is wonderfully nice and warm.  But with the wind coming off the cold water of the lake, there is a definite chill in the air.  

I have not seen the loons at all today, but that does not surprise me.  There have been big whitecaps all day long.  The nesting platform has been taking a beating all day long and bouncing up and down.  But so far it seems to be holding together well.  It needs to.  The loons haven't even started nesting yet.  So it has a ways to go.  And this will not be the last day of wind and waves.

One of the neighbors on the 'calm side' of the lake called and said that both loons were over there in the quiet water diving and fishing.  So even though I do not see them, they are still here and doing well

I think we have been spoiled with the warm spring that we have had.  Our normal high for this day is 53 degrees.

Just to give you an idea of how much earlier things are this spring, you will remember that I said the ice went out of the lake on March 30th.  Normally it is more about mid-April (this time of the month) before the ice goes out.  Last year it went out on April 5th and the year before it was April 21st.

But it is this time of year that is probably the most difficult for me.  For about 2 weeks before the loons actually nest, I turn into this paranoid person who keeps wondering "What if they don't use the platform this year.  What if we go to all the work of putting the camera up and there is nothing to see?  What if we get everyone all excited about watching the loons again this year only to disappoint people if the loons do not use the nest?"

I can build the nesting platform.  I can put it where I think they will use it.  I can put all the nesting material one it.  I can do all sorts of things I have learned through the years that I think will encourage them to use the nest.

But I can't MAKE them nest!  I can't make them use the platform.  I can do all kinds of things.  But it is up to THEM whether they use it or not.  You realize how little control you really have over what happens.

These and a thousand and one questions go through my mind until the day that the loons actually build the nest and lay that first egg.  Once there is an egg, we can be assured that we will be able to watch our loons.

But right now it is that "paranoid" period!

i was GREATLY encouraged on Wednesday morning that they were actually up on the platform and that they mated.  That is a STRONG signal that they will probably once again use the platform this year.  But that is the only time I have seen them up there....they may have been up there other times but that is the only time I have seen them up there.

But the fact that they were up on the platform and that they mated on the platform is a very strong signal that they are once again taking ownership of the nest.

Now we wait.

And we hope.  And we pray.

There is no way we can even guess what will happen this year.  Or the drama that will unfold before our eyes.

All we know for sure is that the wonder of life is something magnificent to behold!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 7:33am

51 degrees   Partly Cloudy    Wind SSW 7mph

 

 

There is good news this morning!!

 

Just a few minutes ago, I happened to look over at the television [where I keep the picture on from the LoonCam most of the time] and the loons were up on the nest and mating.

 

This is very good news since it indicates that they are once again taking ownership of the nest and that we may actually be able to watch them again this year.

 

This is the first time this year that I have seen them actually up on the nest.  As I have already told you, they have been in swimming around the nest platform but I have not seen them on the platform before now.   There has been no nest building activity so far.  

 

Right now the female is still sitting on the nest while the male swims a few feet away.  She is not showing any signs of nest building but is just sitting there looking around at the nesting platform....as if she is asking herself 'I wonder if this will work for us?  Yeah, I think this can work for a nest again.'

After a few minutes, she slips off the nest and the two of them swim off together.

 

So there is good news this morning!

 

Later today, the technical gurus should be here to install more equipment that is necessary to make this whole thing run and to be able to send a picture to you....no matter where in the world you are!  Stop and think of the miracle of just that!  That you can watch our loons no matter where you are in the world or how many miles away you are!

 

So hopefully, if all goes as planned, you will be able to once again watch our loons LIVE!

The anticipation starts to build!

 

 

Monday, April 12, 2010 7:58pm

60 degrees   Cloudy  Light Breeze  Sunset

The sun has just set and in half an hour it will be almost dark.

Earlier today the temperature was in the mid-70s.  But now a front has come through and on a cloudy evening there is a definite chill in the air.

Tonight I have spent some time putting some finishing touches and refinements on the nesting platform.  However, several things happened tonight that were intriguing, unusual and unique.

As I was heading down to the lake to add some willow branches to the nesting platform [I will explain more about that some other time], I saw one of the loons sitting a ways out on the lake.  I stopped.  I have not seen much of them for the last week.  So I did not want to go out to the nest if  they were checking it out and if my being there would scare them away.

But then I heard a loon call...an alarm call.  But it wasn't the loon that I was watching.  Where did it come from?

Two loons came around the island, one in hot pursuit of the other!  And there were a couple alarm calls.  I could not tell if it was coming from 'the chaser' or from 'the chasee'!  But they were definitely moving!  It was a half running on the surface and half rowing with its wings type of motion for both of them.  Both of them going as fast as they could.

The other loon just sat and watched the two as they raced around.

This isn't in itself unusual behavior when there is an 'intruder loon'.  The resident loon will chase the other loon until he decides it is not wise to stay and he will fly away or beat a hasty retreat to another part of the lake.

But the two turned the corner around the island and headed in toward shore.  The one in front would halfway dive and the loon chasing him would immediately dive as well [once again I will try to remember to tell you a little bit about this behavior sometime],

But the loon in front was a little devious because he would not dive fully...only half way.  Whereas the loon in back would dive under completely.  By the time the loon in back came to the surface, the loon being chased had gained a few feet of distance on him.  And then he would make a turn and the loon in back would cut him off and gain ground and almost catch him.

They looped back out into the lake...only to turn again and come towards shore.  And then back out in the lake.  And then towards shore.  And then UNDER the neighbors dock!  And back out into the lake.  Over and over and over without stopping or slowing down!  Then back towards me.  Once again, back out into the lake.

I could not believe how long this went on and how tired they must be.  But they kept it up.

For at least TEN MINUTES straight, they chased each other all over the place.  The third loon came in closer and just sat and watched.  And I watched...through binoculars.  Just when you think you have seen everything, these amazing loons do something completely new.  I have never seen a chase go so far or so long.  I think with all of their chasing, they easily covered a mile or maybe even two MILES on the surface of the water.

I started to become concerned that one was going to injure the other or they were going to wear themselves out and maybe even go into shock.

Then near shore, they just stopped!  As I watched through the binoculars, they sat about 20 feet apart and "alarm called" at each other - yodel and tremolo calls.  Had they tired themselves out so much that they couldn't move any more?  Were they just going to sit and 'call each other names'?!

When I took my eyes away from the binoculars, I could see why they stopped.  A neighbor's dog had come down to the shore and was in the water!  It was enough for the loons to be as much concerned about the dog as they had been about each other for a minute!

And then they were off on their chase again!

After a couple more rounds of chasing out into the lake, the 'intruder loon' finally made his way off to another part of the lake and the chasing loon settled down.  And the two loons approached each other and swam peacefully together.

I could not believe what I had just seen.  Like I said, just when you think you have them somewhat figured out and have seen all their behaviors, you see something like this.  So new.  So unusual.  So fascinating.  I cannot even begin to imagine how tired BOTH of them must be.

The pair of loons swam out and across the lake.

The encouraging part of all of this is that apparently this pair has once again staked this out as THEIR territory.  And they are not going to let some interloper move in on their territory!  That is hopeful that they will once again nest this year, hopefully on the platform in front of the camera.

So I decided it was safe for me to do the work on the nesting platform that I had originally come down to do over half an hour ago!  I also put out the raft and the buoys to try to keep boats away from the nest.

I spent some time doing the work and then headed up to the house.  Just as I finished putting the tools away, I looked down to the lake and saw both loons coming from out in the middle of the lake.  It looked like they had been sent for!  They were making a straight line toward the nest and they were not wasting any time.

They swam around the raft and checked it out.

Can they really remember all of this from year to year?  Were they watching me the whole time I was working on things?  After checking the raft out, they swam straight to the nesting platform.

Side by side they swam all the way around it THREE times!

They looked up at it.  They even looked UNDER it.  They swam and they looked.  But they did not try to get up on it.

Apparently they satisfied themselves because they started to swim away.  Did they approve?  Did they recognize this as the place where they had nested so many times before?  Oh, to know what was going on inside that 'loony brain'!

As they swam away, they checked out one of the buoys as well.  And then they were off to another part of the lake.  Who knows....maybe they went to see their 'loon realtor' and started signing papers for this year!

Whatever they did, whatever they thought, the encouraging part with this behavior too is that they are definitely interested in the nest and gave hints of taking ownership of it.

So now we watch and wait and hope and pray.  Maybe again this year 'our loons' will grace us with their presence!!

In the next few days we will do some of the final testing on all of the equipment and making sure everything is connected properly to bring the view (and the SOUNDS) of our loons to you.

Stay tuned.  Tell everyone you can think of to watch a new season with our amazing loons!

Friday, April 9, 2010 8:52pm

54 degrees   Calm and Clear

The sun set an hour ago and there is just the slightest hint of glow in the northwestern sky.  That will become more pronounced as spring progresses until we reach the point where we have that magical twilight most of the summer. 

But right now it is dark and somewhere out on the lake our two loons are swimming.

It has been a beautiful, bright sunny warm day with the high about 72 degrees.  We have been blessed with an unusually mild and warm spring.  But we do need rain.  It is so dry here.  But as of now the lake level is near normal.

Since it has been a week since I last wrote, I wanted to bring you up-to-date on what has been happening.

This is that sort of  'in between time' without a lot of activity to report.  I haven't seen a lot of the loons. Once again even before the nesting platform was out, the loons came in and swam right over the area where it always is anchored.  It is like they know exactly where it has been in previous years.  But they are around and I see them once in a while and occasionally hear them.  To hear that haunting call immediately transports you to the northwoods and the memories of camping and fishing trips through the years.  That amazing call that speaks of all that is wonderful and wild.

They  have not gotten serious about nesting yet.  It will all come in due time.

The nest is out and ready for them.

The last several weeks I have done a major rebuild and renovation on the nesting platform.  You won't notice much difference on the surface but hopefully this rebuild will keep it in good shape for a couple more years.

I wish you could see what I am seeing on my television right now.  The night vision camera is working well and I think you will enjoy this new addition.  As we have been hinting at and telling you, we have two new features this year that we hope will make the LoonCam even more special for you.....night vision and sound!

Very soon you also will be able to see what I am watching right now.  The technical gurus are working on all the things that are necessary to be able to get the picture and sound from the nest to your home and your computer.  I know that they are hoping to have everything online very soon.  So keep watching and checking.

In the meantime, feel free to use the chatroom to share your experiences with others.  And let us know when you see loons showing up for the first time in your area or your lake if you are in loon country.

You may be interested in a website that tracks the northward migration of loons and other birds and allows you to report your sightings.  It is Journey North at  http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/spring2010.html?layers=loon

I expect that in the next couple weeks the loons will start to get more serious about nesting and by the end of the month hopefully we will once again be witness to one of the miracles of nature as the loons lay their eggs and hatch new loons chicks.  It is a tense time as well.  The nest is out.  But now everything is up to the loons.  There is nothing I can do to MAKE them use the nest.  They are the ones who decide IF and when they will use the nesting platform.   Everything is now in their court.

So stay tuned and join us in this amazing journey and this unique look into their lives.