Thursday, May 6, 2010 5:23am CDT

 

37 degrees  Wind N5mph

 

As the first glimmer of the light of dawn paints the northeastern sky, a loon faithfully sits on its new egg on a chilly northern lake in Minnesota.  It has almost made it through the first night.

 

Where less than 24 hours ago there was only a mass of dead vegetation, this morning there is a nest with an egg under a loon.  An egg with the promise of new life!

 

All night long, the loon has sat faithfully on that egg.

 

Ever vigilant through the dark night, the loon has closed its eyes for only seconds at a time.  Always watching for danger that could come out of the dark at any minute.

 

And now with the first glimmering of the dawn...the first full day of sitting on the egg...there is the hope of not only new life from this egg.  There is the hope that somewhere deep inside this loon, there is yet another egg forming that will be laid in a day or two.

 

But for now there is enough to worry about to keep this egg safe and warm.  The worry of a second egg can wait for a day or two.

 

Because for the next 28 days, this loon and her mate will remain faithfully anchored to this nest and this egg.  They will almost equally share nesting duties.  And very seldom will the nest ever be left uncovered.  Research has shown that upwards of 99% of the time, they will be sitting on the egg.

 

So on this spring morning in Minnesota, it is hope that springs eternal.

 

Hope for the miracle of the creation of new life!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 9:15pm CDT

49 degrees

 

On a chilly evening, we are in the process of passing one of the biggest hurdles with this year's LoonCam!

 

No, it isn't that the first egg was finally laid this morning.

 

Nor is it that the wind is still blowing...when it should know to quieten down at this time of night.  Frankly, I am getting tired of the wind.  One front after another passing through.  And even the possibility of some SNOW flurries late in the week!  That is not funny.  But I guess we are not the only part of the country having to deal with it.

 

No, the biggest hurdle is the night vision!!

 

As I mentioned to you before, it was a question in my mind....whether loons had enough vision in the infrared range that the infrared light source that allows you to see in total darkness would bother them.

 

I never could find any definitive information in any of the research about whether loons had infrared vision.

 

I didn't think it would be a problem or we would never have tried it.  But the nagging question was still there.

 

And now fully 30 minutes into complete darkness, she is still on the nest....seemingly unconcerned and unperturbed.  Sitting on today's egg as solid as can be.  So I think we are home free with the night vision camera.  If it had been bothering her, I think she would have been off the nest by now.

 

Unfortunately, if it had bothered her, that would have been VERY serious because there is no way I could have allowed the cam to continue.  We would have had to turn it off!!  It isn't as if we can just turn off the night vision by flipping a switch.  The only way to do it would be to go down, take the camera apart and rewire it to disable the night vision.  And that ain't gonna happen as long as she is on the nest.

 

We could shut the whole site down at night but then you would not be able to enjoy the new night view or the sounds at all and there is a question if we would be able to successfully power everything up every morning without glitches.

 

Ok, that is way more than you wanted to know!

 

But just know that it seems to be working without bothering her and that means I sleep a LOT better tonight!!

 

Enjoy this stunning close up view of a loon on a nest in the middle of the night!!  Very few people in history have ever seen something like this!  And you are one of them!!

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 5:25pm CDT

54 degrees  Partly cloudy   Still windy

 

You may have just heard the loons calling and I assume the loon on the nest DOVE off the nest...I didn't see it because I was outside.  But with what just happened, I assume she made a pretty hasty exit from the nest!

 

Here is what was going on outside of your view on the cam ....

 

I heard the loons alarm calling and came around the house to see what was disturbing them.  It was then that I saw that she was off the nest.  And it was then that I saw what was disturbing them! 

 

And what was disturbing them was an eagle!

 

It was an immature eagle that at first I thought was  targeting the nest...because he was hovering right over it.

 

But it soon became apparent that he was fishing and not targeting the nest.

 

He was watching the surface of the water and hovering.  Then he would move a little bit and hover.

 

At one point it looked like he dove on one of the loons that was swimming and calling below him!

 

The loons were out in the lake some distance by now and they were calling....obviously trying to distract him.  But his mind was on fish and his mind was on a meal.

 

He kept moving and then hovering.

  

Finally he dove and with his talons grabbed something.  I could not see exactly what it was but he had something in the firm piercing fatal grip of his talons.

 

Then he flew back over the nest [the loons did not like that at all!] and he landed on my dock with his catch!!  Only then could I see what he had caught.  He was clutching a bullhead in his claws and began tearing it apart and eating it.

 

It did not take him more than a couple minutes to completely devour it.  As he came to the end of his meal, a crow landed on the dock only a few feet away from him to see if it could steal any scraps!  BRAVE crow!

 

I stood and watched because I did not want him to think that he had an easy meal of fish and loon eggs.  When he took off he flew right over the nest.  I was ready to run down to scare him away if he tried to swoop down on the nest.  The loons seeing him once again over the nest started calling once more!  But he kept moving and kept looking for more fish and finally flew away!

 

So our loons have had their first encounter with an eagle since they laid the egg and everything seems to be ok.  The loon should be back and on the nest in a few minutes

 

Loons HATE eagles.  I "hate" to use a term like 'hate' when it comes to ascribing feelings to animals.  But in this case I think it fits.  Loons hate eagles.  Probably more than any other threat.

 

Now if the eagle wants to come back and take....oh, let's say....a MUSKRAT!  That is ok with me!!!

 

But for now, the loons are ok.  And just as importantly the egg is ok.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 9:10am CDT

49 degrees   Mostly Cloudy   Wind SW 20 mph

It is a chilly windy cloudy spring day in Minnesota with temperatures only forecast to reach the low 50s.  There is only a slight chance of rain today.  But the forecast for the whole central part of the country for the next few days is for it to be quite cool.

Several times I have written the words that I am about to say only to discard them!

Let me go out on a limb!!

The female is sitting on the nest now.  That is nothing new.

But there is a difference in the way she is sitting.  Small subtle changes that are so easy to miss.

Could it POSSIBLY be that we are getting close to an egg being laid?!!  Or is it too much to hope for?

Stay tuned!