Monday, June 14, 2010 9:41pm CDT

 

62 degrees  Light Mist   Wind  East 3mph

 

 

And so the clock winds down!

 

In another hour I will make the trip down to the lake and out to the nest to remove the remaining egg.

 

I just read through a number of the chat room posts and I think we all have exactly the same feelings.  As much as intellectually we know it is the right thing to do to let the loons go 'free' for the rest of the summer, the heart tugs and aches.  For a different outcome.  For ANY outcome that produced chicks.  But this year it is not to be!  For who knows what reason.  Or possibly many reasons all coming together.

 

A number of people have told me that 'their loons' have not hatched either nor have a number of other waterfowl.  So we can only guess why.  But at the same time, others are saying that they are seeing loons with chicks on their lakes.  So maybe there is not anything happening other than what is normal.

 

In a way we have gotten spoiled by the success of this particular nest.  Of it producing chicks every year.  And so we take it for granted that we have a right to see two new chicks each year.  But things are not that simple.

 

In fact, in life very few things are that simple.  And this is just a fresh reminder of that.

 

Thank you all for your wonderful words of support and your thoughtfulness.  And to those of you who disagree, some vehemently, I certainly understand where you are coming from and what you are feeling.  I am feeling a lot of the same feelings as are all of us.

 

Thank you also for your concerns for my safety.  I appreciate it very much!  But between you and me, that is very low on the list of my biggest concerns.  But thank you!!

 

 

Monday, June 14, 2010 7:04am CDT

57 degrees  Cloudy   Wind NNE 4mph

Egg #1   Day 40          Egg #2   Day 38

On a cool, cloudy morning, our loon continues to sit faithfully on the remaining egg.

I don't see the other loon right now.  But a boat with two fishermen sits anchored against the light wind out from the loon.  A seagull flies overhead.  And a few other birds are in their morning song.

Everything seems quiet and right.

Right that is except that the hatching date for the loon egg is long overdue.

Does the loon know that?  From all outward appearances today is like any other day.  The loon sits on the egg like it has for the past 40 days.  One wonders how much it knows or understands.  How much is simply instinct.  To sit on the egg no matter what.  From what has been documented in research, it is very possible that it would sit for at least another month or more if the egg did not hatch.  And now there is almost no chance that the egg will hatch.

So tonight at 11pm we will remove the egg from the nest so that the loon can get get on with its life.  

We will duplicate what would happen if the nest were on shore where a raccoon or some other predator would have probably taken the egg by now.  I appreciate the overwhelming support from so many of you to take this action to free the loon to get on with its life.  It is a decision that is not made lightly or done without consultation with experts.

But I FULLY understand the feelings of some of you to not do it.  To wait a few more days.  To give it more time.  Maybe, just maybe it will help to wait.  But then I ask myself, to what end?

So here is what I expect to happen when I take the egg tonight...and some of the signs you can watch for.  As the loon becomes aware of something approaching the nest, she will become more alert and will watch.  When I am about 10 feet from the nest, she will go into the water and swim nearby.  I don't expect her to call immediately but she may.

I will try to find and pickup the egg in the dark [I will have a flashlight but I will use it only in case I cannot see it at all.]  If the loon seems calm, I will try to show the egg to the camera so that you can see it quickly before it is taken.  If there is ANY indication that there may be a chick inside that is trying to get out, the egg will immediately go back on the nest.  But the longer I stay near the nest, the more likely that the loon may start doing  some 'splash show diving'.  So I will try to do everything as quickly as possible.  And to leave as quickly and as quietly as I can.

I would then expect the loon to wait some time .... 10 to 15 minutes ... before she feels it is safe to get back on the nest.  If this were a raccoon or other predator taking the egg, the confrontation would likely be much more violent and distressing and she maybe would not return to the nest for sometime, if ever.  However, I expect that she will return relatively soon.

But from there on, who knows what the reaction will be when she realizes that there is no longer any egg on the nest.  No egg to turn.  My hope and prayer is that there is no great distress and that there is a simple acceptance of it.

The loon may still sit on the nest for a little bit and may even return to the nest a few times to check it out.  But I expect that the bond will be broken fairly quickly.  And that they can get on with their lives.

I have received several reports from other areas where either the loons are long overdue for a hatch or where the eggs did not hatch and they have abandoned their nest.

Is it the unusual weather this spring?  Unusually warm very early and then unusually cool later?  Or is it some other factor that we do not see or know?

Are we aware of it because by simply watching these loons so closely we are aware of every little detail that would have gone unnoticed before?  Surely this has happened a thousand times over through the years.  But for most of us this is the first time that we have ever been able to observe this wonder of nature so close and so personal.  What is out of sight is out of mind.  But because we have been able to watch every minute and every detail with this special pair of loons, we have bonded with them in a unique way and therefore tend to personalize everything.

The same thing that would have caused great joy with seeing a little chick after watching for so long, now causes a deep sense of sadness and longing when it becomes apparent that the chick is not to be this year.  If only.  If only.  If only.....

So there is a certain heaviness in my heart today as we look at removing the egg so that the loons can get on with their lives.  But I am also convinced it is the right thing to do.  And I know that many of you feel the same way.

So today let's enjoy every minute of the view of this magnificent bird today.  All of the various behaviors that we have come to know and enjoy and appreciate with a new sense of wonder and knowledge.

I will try to leave the camera on for a few days even after they leave the nest so that you can catch a glimpse of them now and then.   But then this year comes to an end and we will look forward to next year and a whole new set of adventures.

And life goes on.  In all its innumerable forms.  With all its marvelous variations and twists and turns that are impossible to predict.

Sunday, June 13, 2010 5:56am CDT

 

51 degrees   Cloudy   Wind  N 4mph

 

 

Egg #1   Day 39          Egg #2  Day 37

 

The calendar is no longer our friend when it comes to the loon eggs this year.

 

The probability that we could still have a successful hatch of the remaining egg has now gone to about zero.  There is no way to tell if the egg still on the nest was the first egg that was laid or if it was the second egg that was laid.  But either way, we are now 10 days beyond when we would have expected an egg to hatch.

All observations and research done would indicate that there is now almost no chance that the remaining egg will hatch.  The Minnesota DNR agrees that there is almost no chance it will hatch and has given permission to take the egg.  By taking it now, there is the possibility that it could add to the body of knowledge of what is known about loons.

But even more importantly, it will duplicate what would normally happen in nature when a predator would take the egg and free the loons from their nest.  As I have mentioned, there have been 2 cases documented where loons sat on unviable eggs for 66 days and 74 days when they did not hatch and no predator took them.  I would hate to see our loons have to go through that ordeal.

[Someone on here said that they had personally seen loon eggs go 3 weeks beyond its expected hatching date.   Whoever that was would you PLEASE contact me!  And post the information here.  I would like to know the details that can be verified because that would rewrite all the research that has ever been done.  And we owe it to everyone to have this documented if it is true.] 

It seems to be the overwhelming consensus to take the egg on Monday night, although many of you have said 'the sooner the better for the sake of our loons'.

 

So unless something unforeseen happens, I will plan on taking the egg tomorrow [Monday night] at 11pm.  I wanted you to know so that you could be watching if you want to watch and so you could tell others who you want to see as well.

There is the old saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  I think that may sum up many of our feelings.  We would give anything to see a little black fuzzy chick.  To see our loons not tied to the nest day after day with no hope of chicks.  To have a different outcome than what we are seeing this year.  But this is nature.  This happens.  This is "natural".  And so we can make the best of it and learn from it.

 

Is it easy?  Absolutely not.  But we can either 'curse the darkness' or we 'can light a candle' and learn some new knowledge from what is not an ideal situation.  Who knew the 'script' that nature would write this year for this 'reality show'?  I certainly did not.  And I don't think that anyone else did either.

 

I have said it before but I want to say it again before people start scattering back to all of our 'normal lives'.

 

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you to each one of you who have been a part of this adventure with our loons this year!  You have been absolutely amazing.  The depth of your knowledge and understanding and caring knows no limits.  Thank you for your support and understanding in having to make a difficult decision like this.  It is humbling.

 

Thank you is never enough.  But the English language lacks words to adequately express it beyond those two simple words.  To express how I feel about each of you.  And all the expressions of support and caring that you have voiced on these forums and in person.  I am forever grateful.

 

A large number of you have expressed concern for my safety as well as the loons.  And I thank you for that as well.

 

That is part of the reason that the decision has been made to do it at night.

 

Some have said to wait until both of them are off the nest.  But even when they are "off the nest", they are still close by.  And during the day, an 'attack' is more probable.  [Although even at that I have to shake my head a little.  To me it would be an 'attack'.  To them it is just defending their nest!]

 

But here is what I expect will happen....but who can ever predict it?!!

I expect that at that time of night, one loon will be on the nest and the other one will be far out in the lake somewhere.

 

I expect that as I approach the nest, the loon on the nest will leave the nest.  As we saw when I had to adjust the camera, she did not leave until I was about 10 feet away from the nest.  For those who wondered if I 'would reach under her and take the egg', I do not think that will be a concern.  She almost certainly will leave the nest as I get near.  If she doesn't, there is no way I would even take the egg.  Both for her sake and for mine.  Trying to do that would almost guarantee injury to me.  And trauma to her.  If she does not leave the nest as I approach, then we 'go back to the drawing board'.

 

But I fully expect that she will leave the nest.

 

She will not leave the area but she will probably be swimming very close by.

 

If she does not seem to be under too much distress, I will probably even try to take the time to hold the egg up to the camera so that you can see it a little bit closer before I take it.  If she is doing a lot of calling or displaying [or attacking], obviously I will not take the extra time to hold it up to the camera for you.

 

Also, if I see ANYTHING that would make me believe that there is even a chance of a viable chick in the egg...a pip, a crack, a peep, a sound, ANYTHING...I will simply replace the egg on the nest and leave.

 

But I do not believe that will happen.

 

Some of you wondered about the first egg that I retrieved after it had been bumped into the lake and floated awayl

 

I kept it in the warmth for almost two days...JUST IN CASE there was any possibility that there was a chick inside hoping to get out.  But there was no indication of anything.  No hole in the egg, no crack, no sound, no movement.  But most telling, there was no warmth coming from inside the egg itself.  Something that surely would have happened had there been a chick inside ready to get out.

 

After I take the egg and quickly and quietly leave the area, it is anyone's guess what will happen next.

 

I would expect that after 10 or 15 minutes, the loon will once again get back up on the nest as we have seen her do so many times over the last month-and-a-half.

 

But then it is anybody's guess what will happen when she realizes there is no egg there to turn.  That is where we can learn even more.  What would they do if it had been another predator that had eaten the egg and it was not longer there?  I do not know what she will do.

 

A couple years ago, when one chick hatched and the other one did not, the loon returned to the nest after the egg had been taken and if I remember right, she looked around, sat on the nest for a little bit and then very soon afterwards left the nest and swam off with her mate and chick.

 

I would expect something similar to happen this time.  But this time she does not have a chick to swim off with.  This time it will be at night.  That time it was daylight and they were swimming close by with their chick, unconcerned.  So there are differences.

 

So I really do not know what to predict will happen after I take the egg.  We will see.  And we will learn.

 

I know that there are a few of you who have expressed concern that we are taking the egg.  Believe me, no one feels that more than me.  But I honestly think that this is the right thing to do at this time.

 

It is time to set our loons free from a nest and from an egg that will not hatch.  Thank you for your understanding.  And for caring for these beautiful creatures!

 

Saturday, June 12, 2010 3:04pm

Let me give you an update from rainy Minnesota.

It has been raining the last couple hours but it looks like the big "blob" should be moving past us fairly soon. 

The loon on the nest has been sleeping a lot during this rain but has now just adjusted the eggs and has gone into nest building mode again.  So far not the intense nest building that we saw a couple days ago but she is definitely picking and poking.

I do not know what has triggered the seemingly increased nest building at times.  I keep wondering if the rain triggered some need in her to raise the level of the nest.  Once again, way more questions than answers.  But every observation adds to our knowledge and our understanding of loons.

Let me ask your advice on something.

I have been given permission by the Minnesota DNR to recover the remaining egg when I feel it is the right time.  They feel that anything a week or 10 days beyond the expected hatching date means it is not going to hatch.

One piece of information that I did not know before is that even the DNR has to have a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to take a loon egg from the wild!  It is serious stuff.  And I am glad to see that everyone takes it so seriously.

So we have now gotten through all the red tape and legalities and I have permission to take the egg whenever I feel it is appropriate.

So here is my question for you....

I have pretty much decided that I want to take it at night to minimize the stress on the loons and to keep from imprinting on them that I am a threat.  

Also, since the sun does not even set here until 9pm and we have that wonderful twilight until after 10pm, my thinking is that I will take the egg somewhere around 11pm similar to the times when I had to go out and restore the camera.  And with the new night vision camera this year,  you will be able to observe the whole thing even though it is pitch dark!

But my question for you is which do you prefer, Monday or Tuesday night?

I want to give people as much notice as possible and also allow people who are traveling over the weekend to be able to see it.  Also, I want to do it relatively soon to be able to free the loons from their being tied to the nest.

So I lean toward doing it Monday night at 11pm but I am also open to Tuesday night if everyone thinks that is better.  Let me know what you think.  Someone may even want to start a separate subject with that question so that everyone sees it.

By doing it on either one of those nights, we have gone almost 2 weeks beyond the expected hatching date and should have removed any doubt in anyone's mind that the remaining egg MIGHT have hatched if we had just waited another day.

Now it is time to learn as much as we can from this year's experience.  And to let the loons get on with their lives and to be able to enjoy the rest of the summer in the element that they were created to be in.  Not tied to a nest.

So let me know what you think.  But we WILL do it either Monday night or Tuesday night at 11pm.

And let some of your family and friends  and others know about it when we set the night to do it.  It may be a once in a lifetime thing to watch.  At least I HOPE it is once in a lifetime.  I don't want to have to do it again in MY lifetime!  And I hope future years we are talking about how cute the chicks are and not about when to take the unhatched egg off the nest!

After the egg is off the nest, I would expect that the loons would return to the nest but fairly soon leave when there is nothing to keep them there.

I will plan on leaving the camera running for at least a few days after we take the egg so that you may be able to catch of glimpse of them now and then.

AND that we can learn from their behavior and see exactly how they will deal with the egg being taken.  Yet one more opportunity to learn about our amazing loons!

Saturday, June 12, 2010 5:34am CDT

53 degrees    Cloudy    Wind NE 5mph

There is a haze of fog that drifts across the lake this morning.  It is just enough to give it that "mood".  And just like any other morning, our loon still sits faithfully on the egg.

In fact, it is almost as if they have gotten better at staying on the egg and making a quick change of shifts in the last week or so.  There have been fewer extended periods of time when they have been drawn off the nest.

Unfortunately, it may be too late for that to do much good.

We are now at Day 36 and Day 38 for each of the eggs respectively.  It is impossible to know if it is "egg #1" or "egg #2" that is still on the nest.  But whichever one it is, the chances of it successfully hatching become less and less with each passing day.

In a couple days, we will probably remove the egg from the nest so that the loons can get on with their lives.  I will let you know before we take the egg so that you can watch if you want.  Now taking a loon egg is not something you just decide to do on your own.  Even the DNR needs a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to collect a loon egg.  All of that has been taken care of and we have all the permissions necessary to collect the egg when the time is right.

So we will wait for a few more days to make sure that there is absolutely NO chance that the egg is going to hatch before we remove it.

But it is unfair for us to leave the loon 'chained' to the nest if there is no chance of the egg hatching.  Since we provided the nest that was relatively safe from predators, it may be only fair to provide a "predator" to finally take the egg.....even if it turns out to be a 'human predator'!  There are no easy choices when an egg does not hatch.  Everything would have been so much easier and better all the way around if we had two new loon chicks.

But nature doesn't always make it 'easy'.

While we wait, you may be interested in a couple more interesting facts about loons.

You have seen how clumsy they are on land and that my be, in fact, how they got their name from the Swedish word 'lom' meaning 'clumsy'!

But as you have seen them get on and off the nest, you may have also gotten a glimpse of how big their feet are!  Their feet are webbed and are approximately 5 inches by 3 inches.  This is truly 'bigfoot'!

Someone has calculated that in human terms, that would be equivalent to you having a size 45RRR shoe!  Imagine yourself trying to walk with 'clown shoes' like that!

But for the loon, it is ideal.  They are birds of the water, not the land.  And a huge foot like this gives them the ability to swim very fast with such powerful 'swimming fins' at the end of their powerful legs.  As we have said before, loons have been documented diving to depths of 250 feet.  And they have been known to stay underwater for 5 minutes.  Try holding your breath that long to see how long of a time that really is.

Try holding your breath for even 30 to 45 seconds which is the average length of a dive.

Loons also have powerful wings.  But they do not use them underwater.  They keep them tucked close against their body and they are almost like a torpedo.  They are fast and they are able to maneuver there large bodies with amazing speed and they can make turns on a dime.   You only wish that you drove a race car with such maneuvering ability!

You have seen how a small minnow can dart around.  Back and forth.  Now imagine a huge 10 pound bird being able to do the same thing.  Loons can!  They can outmaneuver that minnow and catch him with their long bill.

A loon will eat up to 2 pounds of fish a day!

Some fishermen have blamed loons for poor fishing.  But then don't all of us fishermen want to blame anything other than us for poor fishing.  Even though loons eat a lot of fish, no studies have ever shown them to have a significant impact on the number of fish.  Their absolute favorite food is small perch.  A fish that fishermen complain about taking their bait anyway.  And small sunfish.

Loons have a wing span between 4 and 5 FEET!

Their wing span is much larger than most people think.  And they are very powerful flyers.  It takes a long 'runway' for them to become airborne.  But once they are in the air stand back!  Because in bird terms they are more like a jet than a slow propeller-driven airplane.

They can fly 90 to 100 miles per hour!

In flight, they flap their wings 260  to 270 times per minute!

Put your arms out and try doing that.  And see how long you can keep it up.  That is almost 5 times a second that they are flapping their wings.  A second!  Can you do that for even a few seconds? For ONE second?  Let alone for minutes and HOURS at a time?  Loons do.

These are only a few more of the things that make our amazing loons so amazing!

Continue to enjoy this close-up view of this amazing bird for the next few days.  How much richer are our lives because this beautiful and amazing bird is in our world!