Monday, April 26, 2010 7:07pm

 

I think we are getting VERY close to the first egg being laid!!

 

The loon has visited the nest a number of times in the last two hours.  She has gotten much more serous about nest building.  Already there is a very nice nest bowl that she has formed.  And she has tried it on for size in just about every position conceivable.

 

It is important that it is "just right".  It will be "home" for them for the next month and they will almost never leave it during that time.  One of the loons....either the male or the female....will be on it all the time.  The eggs will very rarely be left uncovered for any length of time.

 

The male and the female share nest sitting duties almost equally.

 

Even as I am writing this now, [s]he came up on the nest from the backside 'like a bullet'.

 

Within a minute the male was also up on the nest and they mated.  I have to look back for my count but this is either the 5th or 6th time they mated.

  

I am still not out of my "paranoid" phase and will not be until they have actually laid the first egg.  But each visit to the nest eases my paranoia a little bit and strengthens the probability that they will use the nest again this year.  Part of the 'paranoia' comes from knowing that less than half of the nesting platforms put out are ever successful! [I will look the exact figure up for you sometime.]

 

And with this nesting platform I have been fortunate enough to have them use it for eight years....EVERY year that it has been out there!  That is something that is almost unheard of.

 

Folks....we are getting CLOSER to the first egg being laid!  This is NOT the time to leave your computer!

 

 

Monday, April 26, 2010 4:11pm

63 degrees    Partly Sunny    Wind  NNE@12mph

I have been gone for a couple days so when I came home a little bit ago I appreciated reading what all of you had posted.   Thank you!

Many pairs of eyes are much better than one pair of eyes in documenting what is happening.  So thank you very much.

I was surprised when I walked in the house.  What was coming over the speaker sounded like a good-old fashioned Minnesota BLIZZARD!!  

I almost expected Laura and Pa Ingalls to walk in the door and stomp the snow off their feet and exclaim, "It ain't a fit night out there for man nor beast!!

Trust me, the wind is not nearly as bad as it sounds sometimes.  It just depends on how it hits the new microphone.

As you have seen, the microphone is very sensitive and even picks up the sound of so many birds.  Most of those birds are some distance away from the nest but you can hear them clearly.  A couple of you also mentioned you hear talking and music yesterday.  Obviously I can't tell you what that was since I didn't hear it but my guess would be that it was someone in a boat on the lake or someone somewhere along the shore with a radio.  If I hear it sometime when I am here, I will let you know what I see or hear.

I went down to the lake to see if I could spot the loons since they were nowhere near the nest.

I 'think' I saw them all the way across the lake.  They are hard to spot sometime under even ideal conditions.  But today with the waves and with them diving, it was even more difficult.  But it is a good illustration of the fact that they are around even when you don't see them.  

I have mentioned several times that I would go down to do something on the nest when I knew that they were not in the area.  And then out of no where they would just appear!  So they see me even when I do not see them.

Just a minute ago, I looked down there and lo and behold there come both loons swimming toward the nest.  But they have  decided not to come in right now and are sitting a ways out from the nest or maybe even swimming back out into the lake some.

They will return to the nest when they want to!

But just know that they are out there.  Looking as beautiful as ever and doing well.

Once the eggs are laid, then you can be almost GUARANTEED of seeing them every time you look for the next 4 weeks!  I still would guess, based on their behavior, that we would see eggs laid sometime in the next few days.

Someone asked about last year.  The ice went out April 5th.  The LoonCam went live April 22nd.  The first egg was laid April 30th.  The second egg was laid May 2nd.  One egg hatched May 26th and the other egg hatched May 27th.

Hopefully that gives you something to compare this year against.

Keep watching.  Keep telling your kids and your neighbors and relatives and friends to watch.

It only gets better and more exciting with each passing day.

And get some sleep!  Some of you won't get any sleep once they are on the nest with NIGHT VISION on!

Sunday, April 24, 2010 8:05am

39 degrees  Cloudy some rain  Wind NE 6mph NE

The loons have been up on the nest a couple times this morning already and are back at the nest now.  They are hanging around the nest more and more.

This is a very good sign that they are going to use the nest and that we are getting closer to the laying of the first egg.

Many of you have now heard the quiet sounds that they have made while they are near the nest....sounds that are relatively new and may what some in the literature have called 'mewing'.  But they are new sounds that do not neatly fit into the standard 4 calls that are known about loons.

What happens next?  Will they use the nest?  When will the first egg be laid?

Stay tuned!!

Saturday, April 23, 2010 10:43pm

49 degrees  Some rain

Last night and today we have been receiving much needed rain.

But for the loons, rain is no problem whatsoever.  Water is their realm.

I was gone for a good share of the day so I missed a lot of the activities.  I appreciate reading through some of your entries of what has been happening.  I talked to a friend tonight who had tuned in about 3:30 this afternoon just in time to see the loons on the nest mating.  His young sons asked, "Are they doing what we think they are doing?!!"  This is nature.  Uncensored.

That would be at least the fourth time that they have mated.  This is an encouraging sign that they are more and more bonding with the nest and taking ownership of it.

When I came home just before dark, both loons were swimming a couple hundred feet off to the right of your picture.  The fact that they are spending more time in the area of the nest like that is also a sign of taking ownership of the nest and is encouraging that they will probably nest on it again.

Shortly after I saw them swimming there, they gave several tremolo calls which is normally an alarm call. It was shortly before dark and  I went down to look to see if I could see what was disturbing them.  I thought it might have been an eagle flying over.  But I did not see an eagle nor did I see anything else which should be disturbing to them.  But they obviously had seen something.  I am sure many of you heard the calls.

Someone mentioned it sounds like a beaver gnawing on the nest!

I think the sound that they are referring to is actually the squeaking of the foam which helps support the nest.  When there are waves it produces enough movement and the foam rubs making that squeaking noise.

In years past, I have known that the foam squeaked but once the nest was out in the water, it was out of sight out of mind.  When I first started to hear it over the microphone, it was so annoying.  Now it has become sort of comforting in a strange way.

But obviously it is something that does not bother the loons because it has been there every year.

I would guess that we are within a few days of laying the first egg.  But who knows?  It is impossible to predict with any certainty.

There are several things for you to watch for.

The first is nest building activity.

You already saw some of that within the first couple hours that the cam was live.  That was the FIRST of any nest building activity!  And you were able to witness it.

There will be some more of that type of activity when they are on the nest.  Moving material with their feet.  Turning.  Settling down in a different position.  Making sure it is comfortable from every direction.  Getting up.  Turning again.  Using their feet to dig a nesting depression.  Picking up material in its beak and placing it along the sides of its body.

But then one day, you will notice that the nest building becomes much more serious, purposeful and intense.  Almost as if an urgency has come over the loon.  That usually means that egg laying is getting close....possibly even within a matter of hours.

Then when the egg is about to be laid, the loon will sort of climb up on the edge of the nest.  It will spread its wings against the nest for stability.  You will see the body straining.  It is obvious at this point that the egg is moving inside the loon.

Then you will see the end of the egg appear.

And all of a sudden, the egg will just POP out!

The loon will sit there shaking and obviously exhausted for some minutes before it gets back in the water and swims away.  Usually the male will be swimming near the nest when all of this is going on and you may actually be able to see him swimming there....like an expectant father.

I remember the first time I saw an egg laid....it looked like it was made out of pure 24k GOLD!  This was literally the 'goose' that laid the GOLDEN EGG!

So there are a couple things for you to watch for in the days ahead....increased time on the nest, nest building activity, serious nest building activity, the loon up on the side of the nest with wings spread and then finally...the actual laying of the egg.

I am going to be very interested to listen with the new microphone to the sounds that the loon makes [if any] when she lays the egg.  Once again it will add so much to our knowledge about loons.

I appreciate all of you watching and sharing what you see with everyone.  With that many eyes watching, we can document so much more than with just one person trying to watch.  So thank you for that.

Every day that goes by gets more and more exciting!

Friday, April 22, 2010 7:02 pm

64 degrees  Cloudy    Chance of Rain

These loons never cease to amaze me!

The cam is now LIVE and for those of you who were lucky enough to be watching, you just saw MORE of the loons around and on the nest than at any time since they came back on March 30th!!

It was as if they knew that they had guests from all over and being the hospitable hosts that they are, they spent some time with you!!

You read in the previous entry that early this morning they were by the nest but did not try to get up on it.

Then at 8:25am they were back for 5 minutes and mated on the nest.

They were back 25 minutes later and on the nest for just a few minutes. 

I was down making an adjustment on the camera when they swam in from somewhere out on the lake as if to check out what I was doing.  So I left and they swam back out into the lake.

Then I did not see anything of them for most of the afternoon.  I wanted to put in the dock because I thought it might be the last chance I get if they get serious about nesting.

I was putting in the last section of the dock.  When I turned around both loons were sitting quietly about 30 feet away from me.  They just sat and watched me.  Not concerned.  Not upset.  Not agitated.  Just sitting watching.  So I hurried to finish the last section and within 5 minutes I was done and left to go up to the house.

They stayed in the area although out of sight of the camera for a little bit.

Then as if to announce their presence to you, they swam into view and spent about an hour and a half around and on the nest.  This is the MOST time that they have spent around the nest this year!  They did it just for YOU!  There was even another attempted mating at 6:11pm and at 6:50pm they swam back out into the lake and they are out there somewhere right now.

But one of the times when she was on the nest while you were watching, that was also more nest building activity than she has done so far.

All of these things are encouraging signs.  I think we are getting very close to them nesting and hopefully laying a couple eggs.  I would not be surprised it she gets real serious about nest building and laying eggs in the next couple days.

Special thanks to the techies for getting the camera up and running live just in time to see the most exciting events start to happen.

Hang on for the ride!! 

This is only the beginning!