Thursday, May 20, 2010 3:51 pm CDT

85 degrees  Sun with High Clouds   Breezy

I have just returned home from being gone most of the day.

I had to laugh when I read some of your comments about hearing people talking and wishing the birds would be quiet so you could hear.  From what I understand, some of the neighbors part way around the lake were putting in a dock.  I will have to warn them to be careful of what they say!!

I think I told you before that the NBC affiliate in the Twin Cities has asked me to be on a couple of their shows to talk about the LoonCam.  I have now found out that one appearance will be this coming Saturday morning, May 22 and the other is a mid-morning show called 'Showcase' on Friday, May 28.  They told me yesterday that the Saturday appearance is scheduled for 9:44am CDT.  But if you know anything about tv, that can change at a moment's notice.

So if you are in the Twin Cities you may get a chance to tune in and see it.  I am not sure if they will be streaming the shows or if they will be archived on the KARE11.com website for those of you around the country and around the world.

But the main thing I wanted to tell you is that I have just returned from the DNR Headquarters in St Paul.

They have graciously loaned me the mounts of an adult loon and a loon chick ]that I would guess was about 4 weeks old] for use on the upcoming television programs!

As I was on the freeway driving home, I had to laugh as I thought to myself, "How many other cars all around me have a LOON sitting on the front seat of their car?!?!!?!"

So my profound thanks to Lori, Diane, Pam Perry and especially Carrol Henderson [Senior Supervisor for all of the Non-Game Programs in the state] for trusting me enough to loan me the use of these unique taxidermy mounts to teach people even more about our amazing loons.  Their help from day one of the loon nest has been invaluable.

I just wanted to give you a quick update.

Thursday, May 20, 2010 7:48am CDT

 

53 degrees  Clear  Calm

 

 

Once again it is a spectacular day for the loons.

 

The lake is like a mirror that reflects a blue sky with a few high wispy clouds.

 

The loon on the nest already has its beak open panting.  The other loon sits in its own reflection not too far away.  The mayfly hatch is now in full swing as more and more mayflies fill the air in their own mating dance.  Pieces of "cotton" float on the still surface of the lake from trees that are also involved in their own circle of life.

 

The next few days are forecast to be warm and sunny and calm.  Days that we love but that can be a little too warm for a loon sitting on a nest.  The black of its plumage absorbs a lot of that sunshine.  You can expect to see the loons 'panting' more as they sit in the warmth of the bright sunshine and possibly also take a cool dip in the lake once in a while.  They would probably prefer cooler weather but this is certainly something that they are used to and have contended with for eons.

 

With the bright sunshine, this is a perfect time to watch for something else.

 

We know the loons as these birds with the striking black-and-white plumage.  That is true but not totally true.  The black is indeed black.  But not just black.  Plain old black would be too mundane for these amazing birds.

 

When the sun hits them just the right way, you may see two additional colors...almost illusory but very real.

 

The black of the head has a deep green sheen to it.  Almost an iridescent green sheen in certain light.  And the black color around the neck actually turns a turquoise green when the light strikes it just the right way.  The first time you see it you think your eyes are playing tricks on you.  Wasn't that collar on the loon black?  Now it is the brightest turquoise green color.

 

So watch for that today.

 

There is another thing to watch for with the calm water today.  It is the perfect time to see it.

 

As a loon swims by the nest, try to get a view of the loons legs as it swims.  You will see that they are way at the back of the loons body and sort of splay off to the sides.  It is not what we think of when we think of a swimming duck or goose.

 

If you see it, you are also seeing why a loon is so clumsy on land.  You have watched that 'clumsiness' each time the loon has gotten up on the nest.

 

A loon is almost helpless on land and finds it very difficult to get around.  They are unlike a goose or a duck or a swan or chicken who can easily walk around on land.  Why is that?

 

Do something for me as I explain why.  Follow along with the motions I describe.

Hold your arm out and look at it.  Spread your fingers.

 

Let me use a chicken as an example since most people are familiar with seeing a chicken.  Your hand  would be equivalent to the feet of a chicken and your fingers the toes.  

 

Now look at your forearm.  That is the same as the lower part of a chickens leg.  And your biceps of your upper arm would be the same as the 'drumstick' on a chicken.

 

Now move your hand and arm like a chicken walking.  As you can see, you can move it in almost any direction and a chicken has no difficulty walking because it can do the same thing.

 

Now do something else.

 

Hold your upper arm tightly against your body - pretend that it is taped there or is caught inside your shirt or your blouse.  Don't let it move away from your body.

 

Now try to 'walk' like you did before when you were a 'chicken'!

 

It is a whole different feeling, isn't it?  You do not have near the mobility or flexibility or control that you did before.  Wave your lower arm and your hand around while you continue to hold your upper arm tightly against your body.

 

You have just illustrated to yourself why a loon is so clumsy on land [and you have also probably just illustrated it to all your co-workers and family who are around right now.  They probably are looking at you and wondering what you are doing.  It is a perfect time to illustrate and explain it to them!  Just tell them that you have gone 'loony'!].

 

Unlike other birds, the 'drumstick' of a loon is totally enclosed in body skin.  It is not free to move like a chicken can do.  It is wrapped tightly inside the loon's 'shirt'.  They cannot move it freely.

 

So that is why a loon walks on land with such great difficulty.  They are almost helpless on land.  And the name 'loon' is thought to come from the Scandinavian word 'lum' which means clumsy.

 

And it is also the reason that its legs come out of the body at the very end of its body instead of in the middle.  When you see them swimming like I suggested that you watch for today, you will see the legs are WAY back on the body rather than under the middle of the body like a duck.

 

Just one more of the amazing things about our amazing loons on an amazing spring day.

 

May today be amazing for you in every way!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 6:10am CDT

 

46 degrees    Clear    Calm

 

 

The first rays of the morning sun play with the black and white squares on the checkerboard of the loon's back.

  

One loon on the nest and the other loon slowly cruising through wisps of fog on a surface of glass a little further out on the lake on a stunning spring morning.

 

Ahhhh, the beauty of a quiet spring morning in Minnesota.

 

These are the days that we wait all winter for.  In the depths of the dark and cold and snow of winter, we dream of the peace of an early spring day in Minnesota with the birds in full song proclaiming the start of a new day.  A day filled with hope and promise.

 

It was two weeks ago this morning that the loons laid their first egg!

 

Can it be?

 

Two weeks?!

 

Where has the time gone?  The loons are already halfway to the finish line with their eggs.  Will their dedication and patience pay off with a new generation of chicks?  With new LIFE?!

 

Only time will tell.  But that is the hope and promise, that at the end of these four weeks they will be rewarded with two new chicks.  The indescribably cute and adorable bundles of black down.

 

One can only imagine what is going on inside that egg right now.  The miracle of the creation of life.  Of something out of nothing.  

 

What mind can even begin to wrap itself around something so wondrous?

 

Where just two short weeks ago there was only an egg shell wrapped around an egg white cradling an egg yolk.  Now there are blood vessels.  A heart that is already pumping.  The forming of eyes.  And a head.  And a beak and a brain and a body.

 

Where is the world's brightest scientist who could come close to creating something even a fraction this amazing?  Where is the world's smartest philosopher who can comprehend what is even taking place inside this egg?  Who can explain LIFE?  Where is the world's greatest pastor who can fully explain how Someone does this?

 

Our minds are unable to even begin to fully comprehend what is happening inside that egg.

 

Yet most of the time we never give it a second thought.  We never stop to marvel at the wonder of it all because it is a miracle that is so common.  It is a miracle that is happening in thousands of loon nests all over the northern reaches of the world right now.

 

And that is just with the loons!  Not to speak of all the other birds.  And all the other animals where the miracle of the creation of new life is happening all around us.

 

And exactly because it is so common, we forget that life is truly a miracle.  A gift.  A wonderful inheritance.

 

Maybe we don't think about it because it is too hard.  It is too hard to wrap our minds around something so wonderful.  It hurts our head to think of something so big and so marvelous and so magnificent.  How can such a miracle be happening in every direction we look?  That is, when we even stop to look .... and to wonder.

 

So we don't even stop to think of it most of the time.

 

But that doesn't mean that it isn't happening.  Happening all around us.

 

And all we can do is to stop and say "Thanks" this morning for this wonderful gift of life.  And for the promise of a new day.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 6:04am

 

50 degrees  Partly Cloudy  Calm

 

 

Three yodels break the morning air!!

 

And our loon on the nest leaves the nest and slides into the water.  It swims out to where the other loon is swimming.  It looks like they are having a conversation as they swim together.  But what were the yodels about?  The yodel is a strong territorial call given only by the male.  But these two loons seem to be just swimming together.

 

Then out of the west comes a third loon on a glide path.  Incoming!

 

With wings outstretched, he gracefully glides in and skids to a landing not too far from the two loons.

 

Heads held high, they swim toward each other.

 

Three loons circling each other in the early morning light on a still lake.

 

Circling and diving.

 

There is no more calling.  But who is who.  It is hard to keep track of which loon is which as they circle and dive.  Each one looks identical.  Is that the one that just dove over here?  Or is he the one that just surfaced over there?  Another dive and both of the other loons dive.

 

It is too confusing to keep track of which loon is which.

 

Obviously they knew but I find it impossible to keep track.  I also find it impossible to completely understand this kabuki dance.  Oh there is so much that we don't know about what goes on.  What is happening in their minds and in their interaction.  But for now, two eggs sit exposed on the nest because of this dance.

 

After 11 minutes, the loon returns to the nest, rolls the eggs and settles down.  But almost immediately there are more calls from out on the lake.  It looks like s/he is going to leave the nest again.  But he doesn't.  He halfway turns and settles on the eggs again.  And does it again until it has done a 360 degree turn on the nest.

 

The third loon has gone somewhere else by now.  And the mate is preening and rolling on its side as it is swimming out toward the middle of the lake.

 

To understand what just went on is almost too complicated and hard to piece together.  But right now, our loon is back in charge on the nest keeping the eggs protected and warm.  In the end, that is all that matters.

 

To most people still soundly asleep in their beds around the lake, nothing has happened.  They are totally unaware that the loons have already written a couple chapters in their book this morning.  Written chapters that we can see and read but that we are incapable of fully understanding.

 

And when the humans wake up and look out at a peaceful, quiet lake with hardly a ripple on it and see the loons swimming, they have no clue of what the loons have already been through.  The human's exclamation, with a cup of coffee in hand, of "Oh come and look!  The lake is so quiet and the loons are swimming so peacefully out there.  I wish I had it as easy as them.  I wish I didn't have a care in the world like the loons!" statements betray that most of the time we do not have any understanding of what is happening around us every minute of the day.  The drama that is being played out.

 

The tiny snapshot in time of our observation when we see them usually comes with no context of what happened just before or what will happen in the next few minutes.  For the loons, every minute brings new challenges.  In a split second they can go from the boredom of sitting on the nest hour after hour, to being locked in a serious battle over territory.  Whether the challenge comes from another loon or from an eagle.

 

And then just as quickly, things can return to 'normal'.

 

For now, it is 'normal'.  One loon on the nest.  The other swimming and preening on a peaceful, quiet northern lake in Minnesota.  "Without a care in the world."  Other than the "cares" all around it every minute of the day.

 

But in a way, this time off the nest is time to be enjoyed.  To relax.  To preen.  To dive.  To fish.

 

Because in another couple weeks, the chicks will hatch and then it becomes a 24-hour job to keep track of them, to protect them and to feed them non-stop.  Then the hard work really begins.  A task which will last for two or three months until the chicks are old enough to catch their own breakfast.  Until they are adept enough to dive from danger.  And until they are old enough to take their first flights.  The first time in their lives that they will ever leave the water and try something new.

 

But right now there are more important things.

 

Things like keeping the eggs warm so that there can even be chicks.  Things like keeping the eggs protected, safe from intruders and predators that would sweep down from above.  "Things" that are all around.  Things that we never see nor understand.

 

But for right now, it is a "peaceful" morning on the lake.

 

"Oh look at the loons out there.  Isn't that a beautiful sight?   I wish I had it as easy as they do!"

Monday, May 17, 2010 6:18am CDT

 

43 degrees  Clear   Calm

 

A single wail pierces the stillness of the morning air.

 

As usual, our loon on the nest is awake and aware of everything going on around it.  Is the wail a call to its mate telling it that it is time to come and exchange places on the nest?  Or is there some other meaning?

 

There are all other kinds of birds singing and calling.  Red-wing blackbirds and purple martins and finches and robins and orioles and crows and Canada geese.  There is even a dog yipping somewhere in the distance.

 

Not a breath of air is moving and the surface of the lake reflects every detail.

 

But what stands out in all of this is that single cry of the loon.

 

It is hard to miss.  And it is impossible to ignore.

 

With everything else that is happening, that is the one thing that captures and demands your attention.  It is the thing that stirs something deep within you.  A call that goes back through the ages.  A call that brings back the memories of untold canoe trips through the wilderness.

 

A call that brings back memories of fishing trips.  And of summer weeks at the cabin.

 

No other sound on this spectacular Minnesota spring has the capability of evoking all those emotions and feelings that the call of the loon does.

 

Several have already posted links and information about the different calls so I will not repeat it all here.

 

But let me just summarize the 4 calls of the loon and what they mean.

 

There is the wail (which we just heard), the tremolo, the yodel and the hoot.  (Click on the name of the call to hear it.)

 

The wail is a call which says to another loon 'I am here.  Where are you?'

 

The tremolo is a call which expresses concern from the loon.  It may be concern about something in the area that is too close or it may be concern over an eagle that is flying overhead.  It is often referred to as the 'laughing call' for obvious reasons.

 

The yodel is a call that is only made by the male.  It is a very aggressive call that says, 'This is my territory.  Don't come near.  I am ready to defend my territory.'

 

The hoot is a very quiet call that most people have never heard.  It is used by the loon to communicate with its mate when they are swimming close together or for the parent to communicate with the chick as they swim together.

 

I often times refer to them as two 'good' calls and two 'bad' calls, although there is really no such thing as a bad call.  They are simply calls which speak volumes when you know what they are saying.  But I call the tremolo and the yodel 'bad' calls because they are alarm calls.  When you hear either of those calls, it means the loon is concerned or upset about something.

 

I have to admit that I enjoyed loons calls a whole lot more when I didn't know what they meant!  I could just sit back and revel in the laughing tremolo of a loon echoing across a northern lake as we sat around the campfire.  And listen to it echo back and forth.  Then would come the tremolo from another loon on some other part of the lake.  It was magic.

 

But now when I hear a tremolo or a yodel, the two alarm ('bad') calls, I now immediately wonder, 'What is wrong?  Where is the trouble?'.

 

The two 'good' calls are the wail and the hoot.  They do not convey any concern or alarm from the loons.  They are simply ways for the loons to talk and stay in touch with each other.

 

All of the calls except for the hoot are high volume calls meant to be heard across great distances.  And that is why they are so distinctive and stand out from all the other calls.  It is almost impossible to ignore the call of a loon as it carries across a still lake at night and echoes from one end of the lake to the other.  And immediately transports us to another place and time.

 

But there is yet another call that you have heard on the LoonCam microphone this year.  A call that is not well documented at all.  I called it 'mewing' based on a single reference from a study published in the 1950s.  Mewing is an appropriate name since it almost sounds like a cat mewing.

 

I think that a case can be made that it is a fifth call that is separate from the other four.  It seems to be used mainly during the nest building and mating period.  It is used sometimes after but its frequency is greatly diminished.  Iit deserves to be studied and analyzed some more.

  

There may be some who would classify it with the hoot.  But I would submit that it is a distinct call from the hoot.  It certainly needs more study.  But in the wild one would very seldom ever have the opportunity that you have had to hear this unique call since it is so quiet and seems to be used only when the loons are close to each other.

 

I have listened from shore, only a hundred feet away, when the loons have been mewing to each other and I cannot hear it...even at that close distance.

 

There is also yet another call that you may have heard this year.  It is a short two or three note call given by the female that seems to be almost an invitation to the male to mate.  I have heard it at no other time.  It is close to a hoot call but it is distinctly different.

 

So once again there is new information that may be coming from the wonder of the LoonCam!

 

Information that adds to our body of knowledge about these wonderful birds that we call the Common Loon ...... but they are anything but common!

 

But today on this beautiful morning, rather than getting all wrapped up in the minutiae and details of every action and sound of the loons, just sit back.  Watch and listen with a renewed sense of wonder about the miracle that is happening right around you if you will only take the time to relax and to drink it in!  

 

And realize one more time what a magnificent and stunningly wonderful world we have been given.