Larry's Loon Blog
Larry Backlund brings decades of loon watching experience to his daily Loon Blog. With a view overlooking his nesting platform, he gives a rare look into the life of a nesting loon, with words that can only be described from a man that loves the birds as much as he does.
You may have seen the loon in the full 'hangover' position a little while ago.
It was because there were three huge white pelicans swimming by!
Now she gets off the nest and there is ONLY ONE EGG!!!
WHAT HAPPENED!!
I did not see what happened to the other egg!
62 degrees Scattered Rain Calm
We got some good rain overnight and the forecast is for more this morning.
However, the radar seems to indicate that most of it has already passed over us.
For the loons, this has to be just about ideal weather. Cool and rainy and no hot sun beating down on them on the nest.
We still await the arrival of our chicks! Tonight it will be 28 days for the second egg...at 9:12pm CDT.
I think all of us are ready to see a new little loon chick peaking out from under a wing.
Some thought that they saw a black spot on the end of each egg. And yet others thought the eggs were intact when they were rolled. I could agree with both views from what I saw. One thing for sure, there was no definitive hole in the egg or view of a chick trying to emerge.
So once again, we wait!
Let me finish the story of the loon "rescue"!
[story continued from yesterday]
You will recall that I had been called by someone to rescue a loon that had landed in a small 'pond' in a buffalo pasture....a pond too small for it to take off from.
But then when it came time for the rescue, all that we could find of the loon was a few scattered feathers! Had a predator gotten the loon? An eagle? A fox? A dog?
As I drove home, I was heartbroken to think that we were "this close" to rescuing the loon. Only to lose it to a predator.
I beat myself up over and over. Why didn't I just take the loon when I first saw it? Why did I worry about the 'legalities' and getting permission to take it? Why why why!!!!!
I could not get the thoughts out of my mind!
So close and yet so far. And now the loon was gone!
I didn't want to imagine what its last minutes had been like. The scattered feathers said it all!
Just as it got dark, the telephone rang. The voice on the other end said, "I found the loon!!" I cpuldn't believe what I was hearing!!
The person who had originally called me about the loon had gone back out in the pasture looking for it after I had left. "Where was it?" "It was way back in the corner of the fence line of the pasture! I don't know where it was when we were looking for it." Because it seemed like we had covered every square inch of that pasture and there was no loon!
But now he had seen it hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of feet FARTHER from the water than it had been before. We had searched that area (and all the others) very carefully. I could not even begin to imagine the effort that it had taken for that loon to drag itself that far along the ground.
Now the question was what to do! It was pitch dark.
To find it again in the dark in the brushy area that it was in would be almost impossible. But the experience of earlier in the day of waiting weighed on my mind. Should we wait again and risk losing it again.
Finally we made the decision that we had no choice but to wait for the first light of morning.
It was a LONG night!
As dawn broke, we were out tramping through the pasture!
As we came up over a small rise, sure enough! There was the loon sitting in a small clearing in the brush! Still there. Still alive!
As soon as it saw us, it started dragging itself excitedly along the ground trying to get away. We backed off so it could not see us.
I decided to go around through the brushy, swampy area and try to sneak up behind it. I carried a coat to wrap it in and a fishing net to try to throw over it. It was hard trying to make my way through the thick brush with all of this. Not to say anything of the wet mucky ground that I had to crawl through.
I quietly came up behind the loon still in the small clearing.
But as soon as he saw me, he panicked at tried to get away by flopping and by 'rowing' along the ground with his wings.
However, when he saw that he was not going to get away from me, he turned and faced me! Ready for battle. And he started stabbing towards me with that long sharp beak! He was not going down without a fight!!
I knew that I had to be very careful of that beak. He could do major damage with it!
In short order, I was able to get the net over him and then to wrap the coat around him. But the beak was still free!
I was able to get control of the beak with one hand without any damage to me or him. But the battle was not over yet!
I could not believe how strong he was. The wings and the legs and the head! He was fighting with every ounce of his strength and it was everything I could do to control him. Several times I almost lost control of the beak as he twisted and turned and fought.
Finally, we were able to get him untangled from the net and get the coat wrapped snugly around him. That helped to control the wings and legs. But he continued to try to pull his beak from my grasp.
We hurried back across the pasture with our amazing cargo in tow under my arm! That was a LONG walk...more than a walk but not quite a run.
We reached the house and got into the pick-up. We were off to the nearest lake to release him.
We still did not know how he had gotten in the predicament he was in other than that there had been some heavy thunderstorms move through the area the night before. Probably he had been forced down in that thunderstorm. My friend said he had heard another loon flying overhead calling several times after the storm but did not think much about it until he saw the loon in the small pond.
As we drove to the nearest lake, the loon continued to fight to free his beak. The power was unreal.
But it was then that I realized how serious this was. I am sitting in the truck, the loon wrapped in a coat under my arm and fighting with every ounce of its strength to get its beak free from my grasp. Had he gotten free, my face and my eyes were only inches away!
There is no doubt what he would have done had he been able to get free! The stakes for me were high. I needed to win this battle!
The drive to the lake was only a few miles but it seemed like it took forever!
In the midst of all of this, I would look down and realize what a magnificent creature I was holding for the first time in my life. Maybe the ONLY time in my life! But I could not take the time to fully savor it and enjoy it. Too much was going on.
We finally got to the lake.
We walked down to the shore and I released him into the water.
He immediately half walked, half flew along the surface of the water until he was about 100 feet from us. Then he settled down and started rearranging feathers. It was as if to say, "Look at the mess you have made of my beautiful coat!"
After he had spent some time rearranging feathers, he swam across the lake.
I was a little hesitant to release him on this lake since another friend had told me earlier in the spring that he had seen a pair of loons on the lake. But this was the nearest lake and time was of the essence!
We stood on the shore and watched as he swam across the lake!
There was a sense of relief and accomplishment. He seemed to be doing fine and no worse for his ordeal.
But then it happened!!
[to be continued tomorrow!]
63 degrees Rain Calm
We still wait for a loon chick.
It is the focus of all that has happened over the last 4 weeks.
Right now it is lightly raining. The rain is no problem for the loon. She is used to water. The temperature is mild as well so it is probably very refreshing for her as she sits on the nest. The rain is supposed to last all night and into the morning tomorrow.
There is a possibility of some thunderstorms developing over night. There is a chance some will become severe but lets hope that nothing severe comes near the loon nest.
It looks like we are moving into a rainy period over the next several days. We need the rain badly and it really should not have much of a negative effect on a newly hatched chick. They are ready to get in the water within 24 hours anyway. So a little rain will not hurt them, especially with mild temperatures.
Tomorrow night is 28 days for the second egg. Will tomorrow be the day that we see a chick? We can only continue to watch and wait and hope.
The loon has the night shift.
So all the rest of us can go to bed!
50 degrees Light Rain Wind North 5mph
The mate of the loon on the nest swims very nearby.
Can it sense something about to happen?
Several crows call and the loon on the nest sits up and becomes more attentive. And then starts looking around. Looking up at the sky.
There is a wail from the loon nearby.
And then a tremolo call. And then more tremolos. The loon on the nest looks up at the sky again.
Sure enough, there is an eagle! But fortunately for this morning, the eagle is only interested in searching the lake for a meal of fish and continues flying. Both of the loons relax.
This contest between loon and eagle is one that is rooted in the shadows of history that goes back to ages unknown. But it is deep. It is indelible. It is one the loon cannot and does not ignore.
But for now, the danger has passed and the loon settles back to concentrate on the job at hand. Eggs and chicks.
Today is the 28 day mark for the first egg that was laid.
Can it already be four weeks ago?
But on the other hand, can it be only four weeks ago?!
So much has happened in those four weeks. Snow and heat and wind and rain and drought. The loon has seen it all. And stayed with it all.
So today, the vigil continues.
The vigil to watch for those little tell tale hints that something may be happening beneath the loon. That an egg might be hatching.
I saw one a few minutes ago. That slight twitch of a wing!
But was it my imagination? Or did the loon simply need to move its wing a little bit after holding it in place for so long? How much was actually there and how much was my desire to see some sign?!
So we wait. And watch. And hope.
Another bit of loon lore for you this morning.
As you watch a loon in person on your favorite lake, or maybe if one of the loons is very close to the nest but in the water, watch to see how high or low in the water it sits. It can control how high it sits in the water!
There are times when a loon feels threatened or when they are concerned about something that they will sit with not much more than their head out of the water. Their whole body is underwater. And if you were not watching for it, you would never know there was a loon in the water - maybe even very close to you!
A loon can literally sink out of sight. Not by swimming or diving. But just by literally sinking.
There are 3 or 4 things involved in its ability to do this magical disappearing act.
Unlike most birds whose bones are hollow, loon bones are almost solid and therefore much heavier than other birds. It is part of the reason that a loon needs such a long 'runway' to take off from the water. And because the bones are almost solid, they are less buoyant than a duck or a swan.
But there are a couple other unique things about loons that help them to sink out of sight when danger approaches.
They are able to squeeze the air out from between their feathers and this gives them less buoyancy. But they also have 'air bladders' in some of the muscles of their body. And by contracting the muscles around those pockets of air, they are able to reduce their buoyancy and literally sink out of sight with hardly any other movement.
Watch for it the next time you see a loon.
But today, there are more important things to watch for!
We have CHICKS to watch for!! Is today the day?
Ron Schara, and his trusted black lab, Raven, began sharing stories of the outdoor lifestyle back in 1995. Minnesota Bound is the show that started it all for Ron Schara and he quickly found a passion for putting his words onto the television screen. Today, it remains a trademark program and is now running over 600 episodes strong. We seek characters that have a story to tell. We seek out destinations and find out what makes them special. We share the love of outdoors and those that enjoy it. Yes, it's fishing and hunting, but it's also camping, hiking, canoeing, archery, bird watching, ice climbing and so much more. Minnesota Bound is a fan favorite winning several hundred OWAA awards during its lifespan, including 11 Emmy Awards.
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