Wednesday, May 12, 2010 5:21am CDT

 

39 degrees  Cloudy   Wind  NE 9mph

 

As the first light of the morning begins to reveal itself, the birds are in full song and our loon sits quietly with its beak tucked beneath its wing.  Resting but ever alert.

 

Today promises to be a fairly quiet day.  There is more rain in the forecast but probably not until later today.  It will remain unseasonably cold today, as well as the next couple days, with highs today only in the 40s.  It is not predicted get back to normal until this weekend.

 

This weekend is the 'fishing opener'.  Anyone who has lived or been in Minnesota knows that fishing opener is a big deal when thousands upon thousands of people head to the lake for the first time.  It can be a busy time for our loons.

 

Since there have been a number of questions about the nesting platform itself and how to do one, this might be a good time to talk about that.

First of all, there are several questions you should answer before you consider doing a nesting platform.

-Are there normally loons present on the lake where you are considering putting a nest?

- Have they have nested on this lake in the last three years?

-Have you seen any newly hatched chicks in the last three years?

If the loons on your lake have nested in the past three years and have had chicks, it is probably better to let them nest naturally.  You may do more harm than good by putting an artificial nest out on the lake.

If you have had loons on the lake and they have nested but never had any chicks, your lake may be a candidate for an artificial loon nesting platform.  But be sure you check with your state Department of Natural Resources or whatever name it goes by.  Work closely with them for advice and also any permission which may be necessary.  Your local sheriff may also require a permit for you to put a loon nest like this on public waters.  Each state has different requirements.

On the lake where I am, we have had loons for many years.  But until I put the artificial nest out, it had been probably 30 years since anyone had seen chicks.  The lake shoreline is very built up and it is a lake that has a lot of recreational usage.  I think all of that added together meant that the loons were not able to nest successfully.

Once you have determined that your lake is a candidate for an artificial nest and you have obtained any permissions necessary , then it is on to building the nesting platform.

I do not have any blueprints.  I should probably at some point consider developing some.  But when I started I was doing everything pretty much by trial and error.  Since then we have seen some of what is successful and this is what I will try and describe to you.

You can google “floating loon nest” and a number of resources will come up for you.  Some of them utilize logs for the framework of the nest.  These are nice but just be aware that they are heavy and ultimately they will become waterlogged.

The nest that I have has a frame made out of PVC pipe.  It is roughly 5 feet by 5 feet and made out of normal 4 inch PVC drain pipe.  In the center of the 5x5 square, I place construction foam sheets(the pink stuff) about 4 to 5 inches thick.  It is vital that you very carefully seal all of the joints on the PVC pipe so that it is waterproof.  It provides a lot of the floatation for the nest.

The foam in the center of the frame also provides a great deal of floatation.  This is necessary since the nesting material that you will place on top of it will be very heavy when it is wet.

Around this frame and the foam, I wrap plastic ‘snow fence’ that is available at almost any hardware store.  This hold the foam in place and helps keep everything together.  I wrap it completely around the nest in both directions.  I originally used chicken wire.  Do not use chicken wire.  It will barely make it through one season before it starts rusting through.  Then for a couple years I used a much heavier galvanized steel fencing.  But even this started to rust through after a couple years.  The plastic snow fence has now been in place 3 or 4 years and it still looks almost like new.

Over this I wrap landscape fabric.  The main purpose of this is to eliminate any cracks and crevices and holes where a young chick might become trapped.  The last thing you want and nothing would be sadder than to successfully have a loon chick hatch only to lose it because it became trapped in the nesting platform itself.  I also wrap the landscape fabric around the whole platform in both directions, just like with the plastic snow fence.

Pay the extra money to get the heavier construction grade landscape fabric.  The cheap stuff will barely last one season where the heavier material will last at least 2 or 3 seasons.  I am on the second season with this one and it still looks almost new.

By now you should have a nicely finished platform.

Now is the time to place nesting material on the platform.

This is an art more than a science.  Some people have said they have had loons successfully nest without placing any material on the platform.  But why take a chance?  Loons are very opportunistic nest builders and will use whatever materials are close at hand.  So my philosophy is why not provide them with everything they need?

That way they are moving into a ‘furnished home’.  All they have to do is to rearrange the furniture to their liking!

That may be part of the reason why this nest has been successful every year for so many years in a row whereas only about half of the nesting platforms that are put out are ever used.

I use a combination of cattails and other weeds and material that has washed up on shore.  As I rake weeds during the summer, I will save some of them for use the next spring.  I figured that whatever washed up on shore is what loons would normally use so if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me to put on the nesting platform.

I place this material over the whole area of the nesting platform to a depth or 5 or 6 inches.  From that point on, I leave it up to the loons to decide how they want to rearrange it.

One thing that you will have to deal with is the tendency for wind and waves to wash all of the material off the nest.  It is a real problem and one that I have gotten better at but I am not sure I have really solved it to the point where I am fully satisfied.  I will always try to keep improving it.

But here are a couple things that I do.  I build the base of the material out of cattails.  It is quite the building project as I criss cross and almost interweave the cattails so that they hold each other in place.  Then on top of this goes the rest of the weedy material.  It is almost an engineering project!

To help hold that in place, I plant growing plants at key points on the nest.  I place plants at the corners of the material, especially on the windward side of the platform.  As the plants grow their roots into the nesting material, it helps to stabilize it and hold it in place.  Be sure you leave clear areas for the loons to get on and off the nest easily.

I am still experimenting with what plants do best.

But what I have used the last couple years are a combination of irises and daylilies.  They seem to be doing well and get enough water from the waves hitting the nest to keep them going.  This year I also used some Creeping Charlie….maybe there is actually a good use for it!!!

If you gather weeds that have washed up on your shore, there will be some plants that start to grow naturally on the nest as the season goes along.

I am not sure which plants the muskrat is so attracted to but I will careful examine those areas after the loons are gone and try not to give him a salad bar next year!

Now you are ready to float your nest.  But you will have to decide how you are going to anchor it.  But before we get to that, let me mention one other thing.  Be sure you float the platform and let it sit in the water for a few days just to make sure there is no leakage in the PVC frame.  I would recommend you do this BEFORE you place the foam and snow fence and landscape fabric.

When I first built mine, it floated wonderfully…for the FIRST day!  By the second day it seemed to be riding lower in the water.  And on the third day it was tipped up on its side as the PVC pipe was filling with water.   This step is crucial for you.

I use two anchors on the nest….partly as a failsafe method to keep it from  getting loose and just floating away.  But just as importantly is to keep it from just spinning around and around in the wind if you had only one anchor.  I use one anchor point that is screwed into the bottom of the lake (after the loons leave, it is used to anchor a huge water trampoline for the ‘loony’ kids!).  The other anchor is simply a cement block attached by a rope.

Leave enough slack in both of the ropes so that the platform can ride up and down on the waves.  If you tie it too short and too tightly, the waves will wash over the nest rather than the nest riding over the waves.

The ability of the nest to ride over the waves rather than be overwhelmed by them is one of the strongest advantages of this type of an artificial nest.

So good luck with your artificial nest.   May you have as much success as we have had with this nest!!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010 1:57pm CDT

43 degrees   Rainy   Wind NE 12mph

 

It is a cold, rainy day.

 

But our loon sits faithfully on the nest.  No chance for a break.

 

The other loon is swimming a little ways out toward the middle of the lake but still fairly close to the nest.  This is fairly typical.  About half of the time, the loon that is off the nest is still within sight of the nest.  The other half, I am not sure where they are.  I look and I cannot find them.  They are probably still somewhere on the lake but I do not see them.  They may be diving or they may have actually flown somewhere.

 

Just a few minutes ago, I watched a the loon off the nest was rolled on its side preening its feathers.  It is a unique position for loons where they roll halfway over on their side exposing their pure white breast.  And they preen to keep the feathers in good condition.

 

Their feathers are absolutely essential for their survival.  It is their rain jacket to keep them dry.  It is their down parka to keep them warm.  If their feathers fail, they will quickly become waterlogged and cold.  They may suffer hypothermia.

 

But as they preen, they take oil from a gland and rub it on their feathers.  And by working the length of the feather through their beak, they reconnect all the barbs along the strands of the feather...almost like velcro.  The combination of the oil and the integrity of the feather gives them a waterproof coat that protects them from the cold and rain and lake water.  It is an amazing feat of engineering and yet simplicity.

 

And so the loon off the nest is taking care of its feathers by preening as it is rolled over on its side with its bright white breast exposed.

 

It is also doing what is known as the 'foot waggle'.

 

The foot waggle is where the loon actually waggles one of its feet in the air as it lays on its side.  No one knows for sure why they do this but it is a typical loon posture or activity.  There are some that say it is a way for the loon to cool off.  But I have trouble believing that.  And on a chilly day like today the argument could be made there is no need to cool off.  Plus, I feel that the leg remaining in cold or cool water will cool the loon off much better and faster than waving it around in the air.

 

But those are just my thoughts and feelings.  There are many people much smarter than me.  But so far there seems to be no consensus of what the purpose of the foot waggle is or what it means.

 

I have watched even young chicks only a few days old do it.  It is so cute to watch the little ball of black down doing the foot waggle.

 

I just looked right now and the other loon that had been nearby is gone.  Then I spotted him all the way across the lake.  He is swimming around another loon.   I think it probably is our "intruder loon".

 

There are a couple of tremolo calls from across the lake.

 

Then our loon on the nest answers with a few tremolo calls of her own but she does not leave the nest.

 

The loon on the nest has a unique hoarseness or "breaking' of her call at the end.  It is one of many  reasons why I have wondered if this is a different pair since I have not heard that cracking in the call in previous years.  It is as if she has a cold and the voice cracks.

 

Her head is held high and she is very much on alert and looking around as if to keep an eye on her mate across the lake.

 

This is probably as good a time as any to talk about body posture and what some of it means.  It will add a lot to your viewing of the loons if you understand some of what their body language is telling you.

 

A loon normally sits with its head upright but not held real high.  There is usually a bend in the neck in its normal posture.  This means the loon is fairly relaxed and comfortable.  The loon will turn its head from side to side, always looking for danger.  Ever alert.

 

There are other times when the loon will straighten its neck with its head held high.  This is a time of increased awareness and concern.  It has spotted something that has raised its level of anxiety.   It may be another loon, an eagle or a fisherman.  The loon is saying I see something that worries me and I am making sure I keep track of it.  A loon may do this while on the nest or while swimming.

 

At other times, the loon may lower its head while on the nest.

 

When it does this, it means that there is something that is making it nervous.  The lower the head is held, the more nervous it is.

 

There is a difference between loons how they will react to things.

 

I can be down by the lakeshore and one of the loons will never lower its head at all.  The other loons is more skittish.  And even though it seems to know me, sometimes it will lower its head.

 

The most extreme of this behavior is when the loon literally stretches out its neck and lays its head on the side of the nest.  It is often called the "hangover position".

 

It is as if the loon is saying "If I lay my head against the side of the nest like this, you won't be able to see me."

 

It will often do this before flushing off the nest and into the water if there is a perceived threat around.

 

If you see a loon doing this in response to your presence, it is telling you that you are too close and it is very nervous.  You should quietly back away from the nest and the loon will soon relax.

 

The most extreme case of this that I have seen happened a few years ago.  We were eating Sunday lunch and usually I had the feed from the cam on the television.  I was sitting with my back to the tv but one of the people said, what is she doing.  I turned to look to see the loon with its head all the way down.  All of a sudden, a pontoon appeared on the screen right by the nest.

 

I went outside to motion them away from the nest.

 

They went by next to the nest, backed up and went by again and then went forward....THREE times right next to the nest!

 

I did not want to yell at them and disturb the loon even more so I kept motioning for them to move away.  

 

There were about 6 or 8 people on the pontoon and they were close enough that I could clearly hear the driver say, "I think she's dead.  Look at that.  She's dead!!!"

 

They either did not see me or they ignored my motioning to them.  But they did leave.  Right after they left, the loon got off the nest and would not return for about 15 minutes.

 

Were the people being malicious?  I don't think so.  Were they being ignorant?  Yup!  But it is a case of they were very interested in loons but TOO interested without knowing the impact that they were having.  If this happened just once, it probably would not have too much of an impact.

 

But imagine if that pontoon does it.  And then a boat comes too close.  And then a canoe.  And then a jet ski.  And then a ________.  Each of those encounters takes a toll and eventually it may cause the loon to totally abandon the nest.  It is one of the "dangers" to loons nesting successfully.

 

"My" disruption probably will not hurt.  But my disruption added to all the other disruptions may hurt.

 

So it is just good to be aware of the impact that each one of us has on the success of our loons raising a new generation.

 

So if you and your friends are around a lake or out on the water, read the body language of the loons on a nest.  If you see them drop their head lower and lower, just quietly move away and give them their space and they will quickly relax.

 

A good rule of thumb is to stay at least 200 to 300 feet from a nesting loon and you will have very little adverse effect on them.  Enjoy them with your binoculars or your telescope!

 

 

 

One additional note....

 

Last night Mr Muskrat was back again.  Once again chowing down on the salad bar at the country buffet!

 

The loon was not happy about it at all.

 

It was an education for me to watch how the loon reacted and also how the muskrat reacted.

 

The muskrat seems to be very brazen in being very close to the loon.  I had fully expected that if he got close, she would just stab at him with her beak.  She didn't.  She opens her beak and leans toward him.  But he is just out of reach.   I never saw a full blown stab.  And that surprised me.  Maybe if he came right up to her, she would stab him.  But as long as he was a little ways away she did not.

 

It looked like a couple times she actually did touch him with the sharp tip of her beak but it wasn't  truly a stabbing motion that I expected to see from her.  The couple times that it appeared she touched him with her open beak, the muskrat jumped back.  And the last time he actually jumped into the water and left.  My thought was yeah, poke him good and maybe he will stay away!

Monday, May 10, 2010 4:13pm CDT

55 degrees   Cloudy    Wind SE  12mph

Our loons have had a quiet and uneventful day.

But last night we once again had our favorite uninvited guest....Mr Muskrat!

About 2:30am I was awakened out of sound sleep by a tremolo alarm call from the loon on the nest!

When I got up to see what was bothering her, there was the muskrat on the corner of the nest.  He quickly beat a retreat but just circled the nest and got back up again.  He was along the side of the nest on the upper right part of your screen.  And he was having a feast!

I have forgotten what I planted on that part of the nest but if I remember right, it was Creeping Charlie!

And the muskrat was chowing down like he was at an unlimited salad bar!

Since he was no where near the tv cables, I decided to watch to see how this would play out.

I am not sure how much the loon could actually see him in the dark and how much she was just going by the sound of him eating.  But she kept her eyes in his direction.

I had expected her to make a stabbing movement toward him but she did not.

She opened her beak and reached over toward him.  There may have been a little bit of a hiss...I could not tell if it was from the loon or from the muskrat.  As she reached toward him, he moved back.  But he kept eating.

She reached over several more times toward him with her beak open.

As he moved closer toward her up toward the top of your screen, she became more and more perturbed.  At one point she sort of fluffed up her wings and I may have heard a hiss again.  But then she halfway got off the nest and moved toward him with her beak open.  After some time of this dance back and forth between the two of him, the muskrat either decided it was time to leave or he had eaten all the salad he wanted and he left.

And the loon once again settled down on her eggs.

Let me say just a quick thing about the plants on the nest.  The plants you are seeing now are ones that I planted there to help keep the nesting materials from washing away.

In the upper left corner of your screen are irises and some small daylilies [although I think the muskrat has eaten most of those]>  In the center top of your screen are daylilies.  Along the length of the nest where the muskrat was eating is Creeping Charlie, I think.  In the right center of your screen are some more irises and daylilies and in the left corner of your screen are more irises.

We may actually see the irises start to bloom before the loons leave the nest.

As the next couple weeks go along, you will see some other green plants begin to sprout.  They are different plants that sprout on their own from the seeds and roots in the nesting material.

It should start to rain in the next hour or so and rain is predicted  for all of tonight.  There is a possibility of some storms but I think it will be mainly just garden variety showers.

So the loons have successfully made it through another day!  Only 3 1/2 weeks to go!

Sunday, May 9, 2010 5:18am CDT

 

27 degrees   Clear    Wind Calm

 

Morning comes for our loons.

 

The other birds in an increasing crescendo have begun their morning chorus.  Miles away in the clear, cold morning air the plaintive sound of the train whistle echoes across the lake as one of our loons sits faithfully on the nest protecting its precious cargo.

 

The other loon swims peacefully nearby.  It isn't time for the nest change yet.  But it will be soon.  The first glimmers of dawn are starting to brighten the eastern sky.

 

The weatherman's prediction of a freeze warning has come true!

 

It is only 27 degrees right now.  It will be another half hour before the sun even peeks it head above the horizon.  And then another hour or two before it is high enough to begin warming the chill morning air.  In fact, the temperature may very well drop a degree or two before that happens!

 

There is a lot of frost visible on the nest around the loon.

 

But underneath her, everything is as toasty and warm as you could ever want.  And she makes sure that she keeps the eggs covered and protected from the frost.  Her body and her wings and her tail make a perfect cocoon that protects the eggs from even a draft.

 

Most birds have a bare patch of skin on the breast.  When they are incubating eggs, they can spread the feathers so that the warm, bare skin is pressed against the eggs to keep them warm.

 

Loons do not have this patch of bare skin which is called a 'brood patch'.

 

Instead, towards the back of their abdomen, in the  whole area of the belly that rests on the eggs, they have an increased blood supply which keeps the eggs warm.  Yet one more of the unique things about these special birds.  And so each time the loon gets on the nest, it will not only roll the eggs but it will also position them towards the back of its abdomen to that place where there is increased warmth for them.

 

You can see the effect of this warmth this morning as the frost comes almost up to the loon.  But there is a narrow band around the loon that is free of frost because of this extra warmth.

 

Even though the loons share nesting duties fairly equally, research has shown that the female spends about 60% of the time on the nest.  And she is the one who usually takes the long 'night shift'.

 

So I assume it is her on the nest now although it is impossible to tell since their appearance is almost identical.  Soon there will probably be a nest change and she will be able to get some much needed exercise.

 

But until she decides it is time and her mate is ready to get on the nest, she sits faithfully on the nest.  As far as the eggs are concerned, it could be a 75 degree day.  They have no idea of the frost that surrounds them on the nest this morning!

 

Saturday, May 8, 2010 11:07pm CDT

 

It is going to be another cold night for the loons.

 

It is already down to 34 degrees right now and going lower.  There is a freeze warning for a good share of the state of Minnesota.  We are almost guaranteed to get below freezing here.  The official freeze warning from the US Weather Service is from 3 am to 9 am.

 

But at least there is not snow and howling winds like last night.  Tonight is very quiet.  The lake is almost like a sheet of glass and the lights from across the lake are reflected in its surface.

 

So if intruder loons and muskrats and other things that go bump in the night do not scare the loon off the nest, the eggs should make it through the night with no problem.

 

I saw there was some discussion of how long the eggs could be uncovered without being harmed and that the number 6 to 8 hours was quoted.  That figure would probably be true for more seasonable temperatures or daytime temperatures.  With the temperature below freezing, I think they would be harmed much sooner but am not aware of any hard research that would give what that time would be.

 

It would also vary at what stage of development the egg was.  Early on before the embryo has begun to develop very much, they can stand more time uncovered but definitely not freezing.  Then when the chick is more fully developed, it generates some of its own heat so it can also stand more time uncovered.  Probably the most vulnerable time is that mid stage of development.

 

Right now, it is quiet.  The loon is firmly ensconced on the nest.  We can only hope that nothing draws her off the nest during the night!  Here is to a quiet night for you, dear loons!