Thursday, May 6, 2010 8:43pm CDT

 

50 degrees   Dusk    Calm

 

Finally we are done with the wind!  At least for tonight.  This is more like it should be instead of the howling winds that we have seen so much the last few days.  [Once again, let me remind you though that the winds are not near as bad as what the microphone has made them sound.]

 

I was gone from early this morning until just a while ago.  So I am sorry that I was not here to observe with you and to answer some of your questions.

 

You need to know that right now the loon is securely settled on the nest and very relaxed.  A little while ago there was still only one egg.  I suppose that there is a possibility of the second egg tonight but I do not think so.  I think it is more likely sometime tomorrow or maybe even on Saturday.  So for what little comfort it brings you, you are not missing anything right now and the probability is that you will not miss the second egg as long as they are able to get the problem fixed within a reasonable time.

 

I am so sorry to hear that you are having problems with the video and audio feeds tonight!

 

Let me assure you that both audio and video are looking good from here.  I have reported it to MN Bound.  I have not heard back from everyone but I am pretty sure the problem lies somewhere beyond them as well.

The last rays of light are fading and tonight should be a much more calm if chilly one for the loon.  

 

From some of the posts that I have read in the chat room it sounds like today was a fairly eventful day.  Let me try to answer some of the questions that have been raised.

 

From the description of how the loon half flew off the nest around noon, that sure sounded like it was caused by an eagle flying overhead.  That would be typical of an eagle scare.  Shortly after I got home tonight, I did see the immature bald eagle flying over the lake.  So without seeing what happened at noon, I cannot say for sure that that is what it was but it sure sounds like an eagle.

 

I am sorry that she scared some of you and scared some of your dogs and cats with her loud cry!  But if you were scared, can you imagine what she was feeling?

 

You are all becoming such wonderful loon 'researchers' and observers!  The amount of knowledge all of you have gained is wonderful.

 

It is great to see some of the classes of students watching!  I hope that you learn a lot and come to like and respect loons even more.

 

The eggs should hatch in about 4 weeks.  So if you are still in school, hopefully you will be able to watch the chicks hatch.  If not, ask your mom and dad real nice if you can watch it at home.

 

Someone asked if the loons have many predators...we will talk about that more at some point.  But today is a perfect example of the bald eagle being one of the loon's predators and there have been instances of a bald eagle taking an adult loon.

 

For the next 4 weeks, the loons will do almost nothing else other than make sure that one of them is on the nest almost all the time.  And even after that, they must take care of the little chicks and feed them.  So it is a LOT of work for the adult loons.

 

Some of you have expressed concern about the egg rolling off the nest into the water or even being kicked out of the nest.  That DOES happen with loon eggs and 'many' are lost to something like that [I don't think there has ever been any kind of study to know exactly how many.]

 

There are several things that might help to put your mind at ease about that happening.

 

First of all, the loons this year have constructed a relatively deep nest.  So that alone should help insure that the eggs are not kicked out of the nest and it is almost impossible that the eggs would simply roll off.  Some nests are flat enough that it does not take much for the eggs to roll off.

 

Several of you have also commented  that you think the nest is way too close to the edge of the platform.  Much of that is an optical illusion with this view from the camera.  The nest is slightly off center toward the 'top' and 'right hand' side of the nesting platform.  But it is much closer to the middle than it looks like in the view we get here.

 

So the possibility of the eggs rolling into the water is a possibility but a VERY slim possibility.  It is WAY down on the list of my concerns and I would be very surprised if it would be a problem.  We have never lost an egg in that manner in all these years of doing this nest.

 

Tomorrow I will be doing a presentation about loons at a major bird club in the Twin Cities area.

 

Then for those of you in the Twin Cities, KARE11 TV has asked me to do two shows on the LoonCam.  A Saturday morning show and a weekday afternoon show.  As soon as they finalize the dates I will try to let you know if you want to watch.  Others of you may be able to watch online...I am not sure if they will be streaming it or not.  The afternoon show will be Ron Schara, the founder of Minnesota Bound, and I so that will be fun to be able to do the program with Ron.

 

So right now  the loon is settled in for the night.  It is quiet.  It is calm.  It is peaceful.

 

 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 

 

 

After I had posted the message above, just a few minutes after 10pm, I heard a 'rustle' over the speaker as I was watching the news...so I switched over to the LoonCam.  At first I did not see anything.

 

But then, SURE ENOUGH!

 

BEADY eyes shining in the water near the top left corner of the nest!  Our dear friend, Mr Muskrat was back.  He looked but he did not try to get up on the nest.  Very soon he reappeared  at the right-hand corner of the nesting platform.  This time he did scramble up on the nest.  I thought to myself, this is going to be interesting!!

 

Would the loon attack the muskrat?  Would the muskrat scare the loon off the nest?  I thought I knew who would be the winner but I could not be sure because I had never seen this type of confrontation before.

 

The loon did not move her body at all.  She simply turned her head all the way around and faced the muskrat.  She let out two tremolo calls.  They were not even that loud for tremolo calls.  But it was enough to send the muskrat scurrying back into the water!  And he was gone.

 

As simple as that, she had taken care of the problem and scared off the intruder!  And told him in no uncertain terms, "This is mine!"

 

For those of you who have asked, it is very unlikely that a muskrat would take the eggs even if he scared her off the nest.  But for tonight, it was Mr Muskrat who got  a surprise and a scare!

 

Now all is well again.

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.