Friday, October 22, 2010 11:43pm CDT

45 degrees  Full Moon [Harvest Moon]   Absolutely calm

 

 

We have been sitting out enjoying the brilliant full moon, the Harvest Moon, and the absolutely clear sky.

 

There is a nip in the air.  But with it being perfectly calm, it is quite comfortable.  The lake is like a sheet of glass with not a ripple.  The far shore is reflected perfectly in the mirror surface of the lake.  The outline of the trees.  The lights from homes where people are still awake.

There are a couple bonfires on the far shore and the sound of voices of people enjoying the night as well.

 

What a beautiful night after an equally beautiful day with warm sunshine and stunning blue sky.

I have not seen any signs of loons on the lake for almost 2 months now.  Oh, it would be so interesting to know where our loons went and where they are now.

 

I hope that you have been following the loons with the implanted satellite transmitters on the USGS website.

http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html

As you probably know by now, both Minnesota loons that had transmitters implanted have made their way to Lake Michigan.  The first one left unusually early and was subsequently found dead on the shores of Green Bay.  He had died from aspergillosis, commonly just called asper.

 

The second loon left Lake Sagatagan, his home lake, last weekend and made his way to Lake Michigan near Racine, Wisconsin.  His last location was off the far northern suburbs of Chicago.

 

Four of the other Wisconsin loons have also made their way to Lake Michigan.

 

Now it gets really exciting as we watch to see which routes they take and where they end up for their wintering grounds.  So check the website often.  The USGS personnel are going to try to update the website a couple times a week.

 

We have had an unusually mild fall so far.  The last few weeks have been warm and dry and with bright blue skies.  There have been a couple light frosts but no freeze here so far and many of the flowers are still blooming.  About half of the trees have lost their leaves and the red oaks are brilliant reds and burgundies and maroons.  It has been just spectacular.

 

But we savor each day because it will not be long before the temperatures drop and the first snow flurries fly.  In fact, the latest forecast is for the temperature to begin to drop next week with the first possibility of snow flurries.  We can get some heavy snow this time of year but that is unusual.  We usually do not get our first snow that stays on the ground until Thanksgiving.  That is also the same time that the lake usually freezes.

 

So if the young loons from this year have not left by then, they are in trouble.

 

Last week I was taking the dock in when I saw an eagle circling over the lake.  I just sat on the end of the dock that remained and watch.  At first I wasn't positive that it was an eagle.  He was high in the sky and it was hard to tell for sure.  But then as he made a turn, the bright sunlight illuminated his dazzling white head and tail against the azure blue sky and there was no doubt.  It was a mature bald eagle.

 

He circled round and round.  And he dove toward the surface of the lake a couple times.  But I did not see him catch any fish.

 

Then I heard the high pitched squeak of another eagle.  I looked but I could not see him.  Then he came over the trees behind me and the two eagles circled each other over the lake.  After about 5 minutes, a third eagle join them in their aerial dance.  I felt so lucky to be able to sit and watch this on such a beautiful warm fall day with blue sky and blue water and bright sunshine.  The things memories are made of.

 

I have never been able to come to terms with the call of an eagle.  Such a majestic large bird needs a call more in keeping with its look.  Some majestic beautiful call.  Not the high pitched flimsy screech that is the call of a  bald eagle.

 

Soon the three of them gradually flew off to the east and out of sight beyond the trees.  But they were mine for those magical moments.

 

i keep waiting for the seagulls to arrive but they haven't yet.  I am not sure if it is because of the mild weather and they are still coming, or if they just flew over us this fall.

 

Every spring and fall thousands of seagulls arrive and stay on the lake for a couple weeks as they migrate.

 

And what a racket they make!

 

All night long, the sound is almost deafening.

 

And then one day they are just gone.  They have moved on.  North in the spring and south in the fall.  But so far this fall they have not arrived.  Oh, there have been the usual couple dozen seagulls that normally hang around the lake.  But not the flocks of thousands that arrive almost like clock work.

 

But for now these beautiful mild days are wonderful for all the fall chores and preparations.  The last produce from the garden.  The delicious fall raspberries.  All stored away for enjoyment in the middle of winter.  And the enjoyment of the flowers that await that night when frost will end their season with a unchangeable finality.

 

May your life be filled with wonder and an appreciation of all that is around you.  And may you enjoy not only this time of year, may you enjoy friends and family like you never have before.

 

And as we watch the loons, may we once again be reminded of the richness of the circle of life.

 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 11:03am

55 degrees  Partly Cloudy   Wind NE3mph

Another update on the satellite tagged loon from Minnesota, the one from Lake Sagatagan.

He has now moved to Lake Michigan just east of Racine, WI! 

Here is a map of his migration route [you can get a large view of the map by clicking on the thumbnail below and opening in a new window]: 

Now it gets more and more exciting!

Monday, October 18, 2010 2:19pm

 

60 degrees  Partly Cloudy  Wind N2mph

 

I am sorry that I do not have time for a more detailed update and it has been a while since I updated you.  I will try to say more in the next few days.

 

But I wanted to give you an update that I just received about one of the Minnesota loons that we surgically implanted with a satellite transmitter.

 

He has finally left his home lake [Sagatagan Lake]  and has flown east about 75 miles and was on Forest Lake in eastern Minnesota on Sunday.  [As you will remember from before, the other Minnesota loon with a satellite transmitter was found dead on Green Bay of Lake Michigan.  He died from aspergillosis which is a fungal disease which overwhelms the loons respiratory tract in the lungs.]

 

I assume that this will be just a stopover on his way to Lake Michigan but that is pure speculation on my part.

It will be interesting to see how long he stays on Forest Lake and then if he actually goes to Lake Michigan or takes some other route.

 

Interestingly, in order to get to Forest Lake from Lake Sagatagan, he probably flew right over the lake where you have watched the loons on the LoonCam!

 

And speaking of "our loons", I have not seen any loons here since about the middle of August.

 

I will try to update you more later but I wanted to give you this update.  The loon tracking page should be updated in the next few days and will probably show this movement of the Sagatagan loon.

 

http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html

 

May you have a wonderful day and enjoy these beautiful days of fall!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 4:15pm CDT

61 degrees   Cloudy   Wind E 6mph

The yellows of ash trees and the reds and oranges and golds of maple trees are now starting to come out of hiding.

It definitely is a sign that fall is on its way.  In fact it will be here officially in a few hours.  At 11:13pm tonight fall officially begins.

This beginning of fall is unusual in that tonight there is also a full moon....the Harvest Moon.  This is the first time since 1991 that a full moon has fallen on the autumnal equinox.  So if you are in an area with a clear sky tonight, you should see a spectacular sight.  It is also a perfect time for you to find out what is exact east and exact west.  For this day and the beginning of spring (vernal equinox) are the only two times of the year that the sun rises in the exact east and sets in the exact west.

Here in Minnesota we will probably not see the sunset tonight nor the Harvest Moon rising.  It is cloudy and heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  Some of the forecasts are saying that we may get 3 to 4 inches of rain tonight.  So it will be a wet one.

There is not much more to tell you about our loons here.  I have not seen nor heard them for over a month so I think they have moved on.  I have been traveling a lot so they may have been around some but most of the other people on the lake tell me that they have not seen them either.

It does not surprise me that they left early since neither of the eggs hatched this year.  That freed them up from all the responsibility of feeding and raising chicks.  So our loss was probably their gain.

Now we are at the time of year when fall migration is in full swing for so many birds, including our loons.

I expect that many of the loons are already on larger lakes in the area, gathering with other loons on these "staging lakes" before beginning their migration.

If you have not already seen it, the map is now "live" on the USGS website to track the loons with the satellite transmitters.  The address is 

http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html

For those of you who may not have been following the story, let me recap.  Last summer I had the privilege of being part of a project to catch and band some Minnesota loons.

In addition to banding, we surgically implanted satellite transmitters in two loons (we had hoped to do three but we "ran out of night").  We also placed data recorders on the legs of some other loons.

These satellite transmitters and data recorders will track the loons on their migration this fall and hopefully their migration north next spring.  There is a chance that they may actually still be operating to track their migration in the Fall of 2011.

The website above will let you track them as they migrate and to know where they go during the winter.  Locations will be updated a couple times a week.

In addition to the 2 loons in Minnesota with satellite transmitters, there are another 8 loons in Wisconsin that had transmitters implanted.

Already three of the loons have moved to Green Bay on Lake Michigan within the last few days.  So the migration has begun.

In addition to the 3 loons currently migrating, there is a fourth loon where tragedy struck.  I mentioned it in my last entry.  On Thursday, August 26th the Minnesota loon from Stumpf Lake was found dead on Lake Michigan in Green Bay.  He probably died on the day that I was writing my August 25th update.  So we never know what the loons are going through at any given moment.

The necropsy that was done on the loon has pretty definitively determined that it was due to aspergillosis, a fungal infection of the lungs that loons are especially susceptible to.  There did not seem to be any problems with tissue around the surgery site where the transmitter was implanted.  There is a slight possibility that the stress of the surgery had an impact but I personally do not believe that it did.  The death was well over a month later so I think that possibility is very slim.

Now we will watch the other loons to see what happens.  Remember, you can check out the latest location of the 5 loons as they migrate on the USGS website.  It is already very interesting that all four loons have gone to Green Bay on Lake Michigan.

Now we have confirmation that the loons are on the move.  This is a typical time for adult loons to start their migration....mid-September to mid-October.  Then the chicks will follow about a month later.

It has been several weeks since I have seen any Baltimore orioles at the jelly feeders and fewer and fewer hummingbirds.  Monarch butterflies are well underway with their migration as also.

We spent last week along the North Shore (of Lake Superior).  It is a beautiful part of the state and we had spectacular weather.  Check out the Naniboujou Lodge for a beautiful and unique place to stay.

We also were able to go to Hawk Ridge in Duluth.   Every fall hundreds of thousands of hawks fly over Hawk Ridge.  The terrain, with Lake Superior on one side and the hills along the shore on the other, forms a natural 'funnel' that brings hawks through this area on their way south.  The record is over 100,000 hawks recorded on one day!  And we are at just about the peak of hawk migration through this ares.

Enjoy these beautiful fall days and wonderful color.  And treasure each and every moment with all the wonders of nature around us.  Let it fill and revitalize your soul and your spirit.

And keep track of the loons as they migrate south.

Thursday, September 9, 2010 11:08pm CDT

 

57 degrees   Light Rain   Calm

 

After so many days of heat and humidity over the last couple months, there is definitely a feel of fall in the air.  Chilly fog filled mornings.  Grass covered with heavy dew.  And we are almost to the autumnal equinox when we have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night.

 

The days change so quickly at this time of year.  Where only a month or two ago, it was not dark until almost 10 o'clock, now it is dark by 8pm.

 

Along with all the other signs, the fall migration has begun.  Delicate beautiful monarch butterflies are on their phenomenal journey of over a thousand miles.  I have not seen any orioles at the jelly feeder for a couple weeks so I assume that they are on their way as well.

 

And our loons.

 

I have not seen nor heard them for several weeks.  I have been gone a lot and not had much chance to be out on the lake, but I would have expected to see or hear them at some point.  So I have to assume that they are also preparing to fly south.

 

Normally loons will gather in large groups called 'rafts' as they prepare to begin their fall migration.  They gather on large  large lakes called staging lakes.  These may be some of the larger lakes in the area or they may be one of the Great Lakes.  The Great Lakes are a apparently a major area for the gathering of loons.  But there is so much that is unknown about loon's migration patterns and needs and about their wintering habitat and behavior.

 

That is one of the reasons for the study that Kevin Kenow from the US Geological Service is doing on the migration of loons.  The original purpose of the study was to try to determine how and where loons were picking up the botulism toxin that has killed so many over the last ten years.  There have been upwards of 80,000 water birds killed on the Great Lakes and several thousand loons have been killed by botulism.

 

As I have mentioned before, I was privileged to be a part of the team that captured some Minnesota loons for the study.  We surgically implanted satellite transmitters in two loons which will allow them to be tracked as they migrate south this fall as well as when they migrate north next spring.  Eight loons in Wisconsin were also implanted with these satellite transmitters as well as 80 loons in Minnesota and Wisconsin that were outfitted with data recorders on their legs that will record where they migrate as well as how deep they dive.

 

All of this information will help to try to determine how they are picking up the botulism that is killing them.

 

You are probably familiar with "botox" which is used for cosmetic surgery.  Botox is the same botulism toxin that is killing loons.  In small quantities that are used in cosmetic surgery, the botox paralyzes facial muscles that cause wrinkles in the skin.

 

But in larger quantities in a loon, the botulism toxin causes muscle paralysis....especially of the neck muscles of the loon.  The loon is then not able to hold its head up and it drowns.

 

Some of you are already aware that sadly one of the two loons in which we implanted a satellite transmitter was found dead on Lake Michigan.

 

He left his home lake on the St John's campus earlier than any of us expected.  He was tracked by satellite travelling over to Lake Michigan.  So far there was no cause for great concern.

 

But then one day, the satellite data showed a low body temperature of 21 degrees Centigrade (about 70 degrees).  Kevin tracked the satellite data throughout the day as the loon drifted to the SSE on Green Bay of Lake Michigan.  He drove all the way over there and was able to find the loon on the shore.  Unfortunately it was dead.

 

The big concern was what had killed it.  Was it a casualty of botulism?  Or had something else happened?

 

A necropsy done by the National Wildlife Health Center since then has determined that the loon probably died from "chronic severe respiratory and systemic aspergillosis".  We have talked about aspergillosis (just called asper for short) before.  Loons especially do not do well in captivity.  When under stress of captivity they tend to develop asper.  This is true of some other birds as well but loons seem to be especially susceptible.

 

There are other tests being done on the air sacs of the loon's lungs for fungal cultures to try to determine more information of what happened with this particular loon.

 

A couple people have asked me if the death could be related to the surgical implanting of the satellite transmitter.  That is always an area of concern when you do something like that.  But the good news is that it did not have anything to do with it.

 

First of all, the death was a month-and-a-half after the capture of the loon and the implant surgery.  If there had been a direct connection, you would expect that it would have happened much closer to the time of the capture.  So that argues against a direct connection.

 

But also the necropsy showed that the tissues around the implant had healed and "did not appear to be adversely affected".  So that argues against the surgery and the implant having had a negative effect on the loon.

 

So now we await further information from the necropsy to find out what actually happened with this particular loon.  And hopefully we can learn from this unfortunate event.

 

I have been told that the link to track the loons by satellite hopefully will go live next week.  As soon as I have any information about it, I will try to give you a link.  And then you can track the loons yourself as they head south this fall.  How exciting will that be!

 

This part of the study will help us understand what route our loons take to their wintering grounds and what happens to them when they get there.  In light of the Gulf oil spill, this information takes on added urgency.

 

The best information that we have now is that loons from the Upper Midwest and central Canada may go equally to the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.  This would be one year where it would be nice if ALL of them went to the Atlantic Coast.  But we shall see what the satellite data tells us.  And you can be a part of observing this first hand!

 

Most of the loons from New England and eastern Canada go to the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia down to North Carolina.  So they should be safe from the Gulf oil spill.

 

There continues to be relatively good news coming out of the Gulf.  Most of the oil has "disappeared".  Now we know that it has not disappeared but at least it is not causing the major problems that had been forecast.  No one has a definitive answer yet about what has happened to it.  But it is thought and hoped that microbes in the Gulf have been eating it and 'neutralizing' it.  Let us hope that turns out to be the case and that the negative impact has been greatly diminished.  That would be wonderful news for our loons.

 

So right now loons all across the northern tier of states and Canada are now  gathering and beginning their migration south.  Typically the adults leave sometime between the middle of September and the middle of October.

 

Then in one of the many miracles of nature the young from this year leave about a month later and migrate from the middle of October to the middle of November.   Having never been to the Gulf or the Atlantic, they find their way on their own.  Another one of the miracles of nature that we do not understand at all.

 

So soon the great north country once again falls silent without the magical calls of the loons.

 

All through the winter we have only our memories to carry us through the silent months as we await the return of our loons next spring.  What will the spring hold for us and for the loons.  There is no way of knowing.  All we can do is wait and hope.

 

And then on that day that the ice goes out of our northern lakes, the wonder and excitement that we feel when we once again hear that first call of the loon.  That magical sound that stirs something so deep within us that it is even hard to describe.

 

The sound of the north!