Tuesday, May 4, 2010 6:38pm

59 degrees   Mostly Cloudy   Wind W15mph

The sky has clouded over.  The wind has picked up.  And there are small scattered showers roaming about.  But there is not supposed to be anything severe.

There are big whitecaps out on the main part of the lake but the nest is a little bit sheltered so there are no whitecaps around the nest.  But from what you are hearing of the wind on the microphone, I am sure that some of you think that this is a old fashioned Nor'Easter!!

But it is not near as bad as it sounds on the microphone.  It just depends how the wind hits it.  Sometimes I have to turn the speaker off in the house...the sound of it makes me cold.  Even though it isn't really cold.  In fact it got up to 84 degrees here today.  But over the next several days it is supposed to be much cooler.

I know that all of us have our hopes up each time the loon is up on the nest.  Me too!  Every time it is  "Will THIS be the time she lays an egg?!!"  But once again she has gotten off the nest  This is the fourth time she has been on the nest in the last hour or so.  One of these times!

Some of you have been asking some questions.  Let me try to briefly answer a few of them.

Mate for life?  The accepted wisdom for year has been that loons mate for life.  And for the most part that is true.  However recent research indicates that they will sometimes switch mates.  If they lose a mate or the mate dies, then almost for sure they will find a new mate.  Some of the other possibilities are that if a nest is not successful, there is some thought that they might switch mates.  Or is a stronger male comes along they might switch mates.  And there is some evidence to say that a male may be strongly attached to territory as well as to a mate.  But it general, it is still felt that most loons mate for life unless something else happens.

Life Span?  Loons are very long-lived birds..especially compared to other birds.  No one knows for sure how long they can live but at least 25 to 30 years seems to be the norm.

Eggs?  Loons normally lay 2 eggs.  Sometimes one.  And rarely three.  There is one report in research of a loon that had 4 eggs but that is VERY rare!  The eggs are very large and make up 3 to 4% of body weight so it takes a lot of energy to produce them.  The eggs weigh about 5 ounces!

The second egg is usually laid within 1 to 3 days of the first egg.

Head Motion?  Someone mentioned see them tossing their head back like they were swallowing a fish.  It could be a fish.  But the times I have seen them do it they have been brushing off black flies!  That is an AMAZING story and fact that we will talk about sometime, too!

What does all the mating mean?   I honestly do not know.  This is more mating than I have seen in any of the years of doing this.  And there is not a lot of research available because most people never get this view let alone this view for such an extended period of time!  You are seeing things that most researchers even a few years ago would have given anything to be able to see!

What is the nest made of?  The nest is made of plant materials that a loon would find washed up on shore and also cattails which would grow in many of the places where they would make their nest.  Someone wondered if there was enough material for her since she kept pulling at one piece.  There is MORE than enough material for them!!  Like orders of magnitude MORE material than they would ever have available in a 'natural' nest.  So there is no shortage.  At some point, I will try to go into more detail about the nest, the materials and the nesting platform.

Are these the same loons as previous years?  There is no way to know for sure since these loons are not banded.  [That is one of the many projects that I would like to do but amazingly Minnesota does not have anyone who is qualified to band loons.]  But without the proof of banding, I am still 98% sure it is the same pair.  How can I be so certain?  For the last 4 years the loons have come in and swam around the EXACT place where the nest has been each year.  There is NO reason for them to come to that spot unless they remembered the nest from previous years!

You will however remember that one of the first blog entries that I made this year, I talked about one of the most extended chases that I had ever seen in a battle for territory.  I keep wondering who won that fight and whether or not this actually IS the same pair.  I have also mentioned that there has been another pair on the lake and that there has been extensive yodeling [a territorial call that we will talk about when we talk about calls] in the middle of the night.  That indicates a battle for territory.

Why hasn't she laid an egg yet?  I don't know.  lol  While I keep wishing and hoping every time she is on the nest that she will lay an egg, it certainly is NOT time to despair yet.  Several years in the past she has laid eggs later than this.  But we all get impatient for her to get on with it.  Including me!  But she will decide when the egg is ready, not us.  Is it possible that she will not lay eggs this year?  Yes, anything is possible.  But if she does not, it will be the first time in 8 years that the loons using this nest have not successfully laid eggs.  That is an amazing track record!

Won't the 'bright lights' on the nest for the night vision scare her?  No, they are not bright lights.  In fact you can hardly see them at all.  They are infrared lights.  I will also talk more about that when I go into more detail about the nest.  And also about an experience I had the first year we did the webcam!  My only question is if loons can see infrared light and I have not been able to find any research to confirm that either way.  I do not think it is going to be a problem or we would not have done the night vision.  There is another loon nest out east that used infrared with seemingly no reaction from the loons.

Well, there are so many MORE questions to be answered and I will try to do so as we go along.  You can post them here or you can also send them to LoonCam@yahoo.com and I will try to answer the questions here in this blog.  Unfortunately when we are in the midst of them nesting, there get to be too many emails for me to answer personally.  But I WILL read all of them and answer as many questions as I can.

But so many of you who have been viewing have become 'loon experts' in your own right so you can help each other out!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 8:46am CDT

48 degrees   Partly Cloudy  Wind SE 9mph

On a quiet northern lake in Minnesota, both of our loons are sleeping.

They  both have been floating not too far from the nest, their heads turned back with their beaks tucked under their wings....sleeping!  They have been this way for the last 10 minutes or more.  

Seldom have I seen both of them sleeping at the same time or sleeping for so long.

Obviously they are calm and comfortable.

It is an amazing and wonderful sight to see these two magnificent birds so unconcerned.  So relaxed.  So beautiful floating on a sky blue northern lake.

As several of you already noted, they already mated yet one more time on the nest early this morning.  This is more matings than I have seen in previous years.  I do not know if that is a good or a bad sign.

It was quite a roller coaster ride of emotions yesterday afternoon, wasn't it.

Every time she got on the nest, I think it was on everyone's mind....'is THIS the time'?!

There were at least three times where I noted small subtle differences in how she was acting that made me believe that we were close to an egg laying.  But nope, each time she got back in the water without leaving an egg in the nest.

So we wait.  And hope.

We observe the reality of nature.

Only in this case, we are 'participants'!

Usually all of this goes on without us ever even being aware that something is happening.  We blithely go about our day without a clue or a second thought of all the miracles and dramas that are playing out right under our noses.  Without us ever seeing or noticing or even caring.

But as you have seen with your own reactions to her laying an egg, this very quickly becomes personal and emotional when you are able to see "up close and personal" what is happening.

Will today be the day?

It is something that we cannot control.  We cannot MAKE it happen.  We can only watch and hope.

And before anyone becomes too concerned, they have laid that first egg well into May several years.

So we are not yet at the point of great concern.  You may be just at the point of 'concern' and wondering.  But there is still a LOT of hope that our loons will raise yet another pair of chicks.  This particular nest has been much more successful than most.  They have nested and laid eggs every year for the last 8 years.  Most nesting platforms are used less than 50% of the time.  So we have been very fortunate!

And even when loons lay eggs, on average they raise only 0.62 chicks per year.  So by either of those standards, this particular nest has been spectacularly successful!

So once again today enjoy what you see and hear.  Take your heart medicine.  Get a cup of coffee and sick back and relax as you enjoy the WONDER of what you are watching!

Sunday, May 2, 2010 8:40am CDT

 

49 degrees  Clear and Sunny   Windy

 

 

On a windy morning with bright sunshine and a few clouds scudding across the sky, our loons have already visited the nest several times.  And they have even mated twice this morning alone.

 

The increased number of visits to the nest and the increased amount of time spent at the nest both continue to be positive signs that the loons will once again use the nest this year.  I know it can be frustrating and worrying that they have not nested yet.  But at this point I do not think there is yet any reason for great concern although I have been surprised that they have not nested yet.

 

With some of the behaviors we have already seen, I had thought that we were close to egg laying a couple times.  But with every return to the nest, the chances increase that they will once again lay eggs and raise a new generation of loons.

 

It is something over which we have no control.  We can only watch and wait.  And worry!   And enjoy the view and the suspense.  When the time is right, the time will be right.  There is still plenty of time.

 

But with all their actions and behaviors, somewhere deep within the loons is the primeval urge to produce a new generation of loon chicks.  Somewhere deep within her body, in all likelihood two eggs are developing.  And she senses that.   When the eggs are ready, they will come.  Not too soon.  Not too late.  Somewhere in the wonderful circle of life that was given to us, there are mysteries that are too deep to fully understand.  But we watch.  And we learn.  And we try to understand as much as we can.

 

And for what we cannot understand, we just step back and marvel at the magnificent gift that has been given to us!

 

 

 

Friday, April 30, 2010 5:09pm CDT

 

58 degrees   Raining   Wind  W 13mph

 

Under a steel gray sky with rain coming down, one of the loons has just gotten back on the nest as the other one swims nearby.  I assume it is the female but as you know it is almost impossible to visually tell the male from the female.   They are almost identical in coloring and size but the male is just slightly larger.

 

They had been swimming around the nest for about 10 minutes before the one got up on the nest.

 

The one on the the nest is definitely more serious about nest building.

 

They already have a very good depression built for a nest but it seems as if the nesting urge is getting stronger.  This is the most nest building behavior I have seen for several days and it is a very positive sign that we may be getting closer to the first egg being laid!

 

The second loon got up on the nest with the first one by coming in the 'back door' near where the camera is mounted.  After sitting there for a couple minutes, he got back in the water while the other one kept rearranging nesting materials.

 

She left the nest for about 30 seconds and then immediately got back up on the nest and continued her 'mewing' and rearranging materials.  All of these things are very encouraging behaviors.  The 'mewing' call is almost constant.  And then the male gets up on the nest again and they mate once more.  This is the most times that I have ever seen them mating in one season....not to say that this is anything out of the ordinary but just that I have not witnessed it that many times in previous years.  The most that I had ever seen before is 6 matings.

 

So once again we are adding to the body of knowledge about loon behavior.

 

There seems to be a unique vocalization that is almost as if she is inviting mating.  It will be interesting to continue to observe and listen to those calls to see what they actually mean.  There is so much information that the new microphone this year is adding and you are a part of it!

 

Just so that you know, the 'mewing' call sounds very loud on the microphone.  But it is a very quiet call.  Since I first heard it here, I have listened for it from the shore of the lake and you cannot hear it!  Once in a while I have heard the hoot.  But never this 'mewing'.  So no wonder it has been a largely unknown call because people are never able to be close enough to the loons to hear it without disturbing them!

 

And you are among the few people in the world who have ever heard it live!

 

Obviously there is a lot of information that is being communicated through that call.  Maybe one day we will understand some of it.  But for now, we can just listen and watch and learn.

 

Even as I am writing this, she continues to be MUCH more serious about nesting behavior.  Are we close?  Only time will tell.  But this is very hopeful behavior.

 

Keep watching!

 

Go get the kids!  Tell your kid's teachers to use the LoonCam as a wonderful teaching tool in the classroom.  Get grandpa and grandma.   Invite the neighbors over and have a "egg watch vigil" party!!!

  

All of this activity is very encouraging that something will happen soon!

 

Friday, April 30, 2010 7:26am

 

57 degrees   Cloudy   Wind  S9mph

 

 

On a cloudy, overcast morning, the birds are in full song.  So many different kinds.  So many different songs.  All of them different and unique.

 

Our loons have just come in, swam around the nest once, made their 'new' mewing sounds and then swam back out into the lake.  Not a lot of time spent swimming around the nest.  No attempt to get up on the nest.  But still an obvious interest in the nest and ownership of it.  And then they swim back out into the lake.

 

Someone else on the lake reported that they had seen a confrontation between 'our' loons and another pair of loons on the lake.  I have not seen the other pair myself but it would explain something else.  For the last couple nights, there has been a lot of calling in the middle of the night.  While it is so beautiful to hear, it consisted of a lot alarm calls including the male's yodel [I will talk more about the different calls of the loon sometime soon].  The yodel is probably the most extreme of the loon calls and is made only by the male.  It is very much a territorial call.

 

So if there is another pair of loons on the lake, that could explain all of the calling in the middle of the night.  It is yet another sign that this loon pair definitely feels that this is their lake.  You will remember that I told you a couple weeks ago about an extended chase between two loons.  The chase easily went on non-stop for 10 minutes or more....longer than I had ever personally observed.

 

While such scenes are spectacular to watch, they can also use a lot of energy from the loons.

 

So if there is another pair of loons on the lake that is trying to establish their territory, it could mean conflict with 'our' loons.  If it is just another pair of loons passing through, there will be periodic conflict until they move on but no long term impact.

 

The loons seem to have formed a very nice nest 'bowl' on the platform.  All that is necessary now is for the loon to decide it is time to lay an egg.  Last year, this is the day that the first egg was laid.  In some other years, eggs have not been laid until well into May.

 

It is interesting to note that loons in far northern Minnesota, Canada and New England often do not lay eggs until much later....many times even into June.  

 

This particular pair of loons has a history of laying eggs in early May or even late April.  Why the difference?  That is just one more question in a long list of questions for which I am not sure anyone has a definitive answer.

 

So we continue to learn.

 

There has been a visitor to the nest several times.  A visitor that I can do without!

 

A muskrat once again last night decided to visit the nest.  It is not his first time and it probably will not be his last.

 

But what concerned me last night is that he seemed to be very interested in something in the lower right part of your picture....that is the corner of the nesting platform where the camera mount is.  It is also where all the video cables and the sound cable come down and go into the water!

 

I happened to be watching when he got up on the nest so I went down there with a very bright light and a convenient stone!  Between shining the bright light on the nest and throwing the stone out toward the nest, the muskrat decided that it was time to leave for greener pastures.

 

I saw that some of you were watching at the time and were very insightful about what was going on!

 

Loons are quite familiar with muskrats.  They will often use an old muskrat house to build their nest on.  So they know all about muskrats.

 

While there is not too much danger to the loons from the muskrat, my greatest concern is the damage that they can do to the platform itself or worse yet that they might gnaw through the video or sound cables!  If they would do that while the loons are on the nest, the 'show' would be over for the year.  I would still try to keep you up-to-date here in the blog about what is going on.  But if the loons are already on the nest, there is probably no way to repair such damage.

 

Muskrats are like a "small beaver".  They have a formidable set of incisor teeth and like a beaver, are great at gnawing.  One bite could be enough to sever the cable.  I know it all too well.  A few years ago muskrats did over a thousand dollars damage to my pontoon when they gnawed through the wiring on it.  And they did the same to a number of other boats and pontoons around the lake.  So we definitely do not need this muskrat feeling comfortable around or on the nest.  [Several of you are convinced that it was a rat that you have seen.  But it is a muskrat.  I sure hope that we don't have rats like that around here!]

 

Speaking of beavers, we do have beavers in this lake and this area.

 

A few years ago I think a beaver had actually been up on the nesting platform!  I did not see it happen so I cannot say for sure.  But a number of the willow branches on the nest had been gnawed off at a height that was too high for it to be a muskrat.  You could see the teeth marks on the stubs of the willow that were remaining.  But it was the perfect height for it to have been a beaver sitting there having a meal!

 

So the challenges that the loons face are almost endless and of an amazing variety.

 

Today there might be the chance of a challenge of weather.

 

We had some wonderful rain overnight but no storms here, although there were severe thunderstorms around.  Today there is a possibility of severe thunderstorms most of the day.  But at this point, I do not think [and I hope not] that we will be getting anything severe.  

 

But stay tuned.  You never know what the next few minutes will bring!