Thursday, April 7, 2011 11:33pm CDT

 
 
47 degrees   High Haze    Wind  Calm
 
 
Spring is on its way here in the far north!
 
Today it got to 72 degrees here at the lake.  I was surprised.  It did not get that warm in the Twin Cities.
 
However, had the wind been coming off the lake, it would have been a different story.  It could have easily been 20 degrees cooler if the breeze had been moving across all that ice on the lake.
 
So far that ice on the lake is solid up to shore in most places.
 
It is trying to melt.  But it has been a long winter and the ice does not seem to want to let go easily.
 
For those of you who may not have lived on a lake, you may not be familiar with a term "black ice".
 
However, this is different than the other kind of black ice that you can encounter on a road.  Cases where the road is icy but you can't see it.  Until you are in a full-blown skid.
 
The kind of black ice that I am talking about is part of the process of the melting of lake ice.  And it is a very hopeful signal that we may be getting close to the ice going out of the lake.
 
The whole sequence of ice changes is fascinating.
 
Once the snow has melted, the ice tends to be gray.  But then one day it becomes very white.  This is a sure sign that the ice is starting to change.
 
Usually after the ice turns very white, it is only a matter of days before it turns black.  And black is a very descriptive term because the whole lake becomes very dark and close to black.  All of the changes in color signal that the ice itself is starting to 'rot' or disintegrate and turn into long shards of ice called 'candles'.
 
Yesterday we had a combination of white ice in the morning and black ice in the afternoon.  Depending on the temperature, it goes back and forth between these phases as the air temperature goes below freezing and above freezing.
 
But the appearance of black ice is a sure sign that spring is here and the ice will break up very soon.  It could be days to a week or two.
 
There are so many other sure signs of spring in the last few days as well.
 
The crocuses are now in full bloom!  It is the first of any flowers to bloom.  Daffodils and tulips are coming up but it will be a couple weeks at least before they bloom.
 
Seagulls came back a few days ago, even though the lake is completely frozen.  But today the large flocks of seagulls arrived.  By the thousands they come.  And today thousands of them were here.  When they are on the lake, the sound is almost deafening.
 
But tonight there is no sound of them so they have moved someplace else for the night.  I am not sure where they go but they must go to a river or a lake closeby where there is open water.
 
They will usually stay for a couple weeks until they finally move on north.
 
But tonight what is making a sound that is very loud are the spring peeper frogs.  They started singing last week from the little pond in the woods.  What a wonderful serenade they sing to you when you are outside after dark!
 
Another of the signs of spring is that the sandhill cranes are back.  I have not seen them yet but I have heard them in the neighborhood and have heard a number of them flying over today.
 
But that surest sign of spring that I watched and listened for from the time I was a little kid is the first robin.
And yesterday I saw and heard the first robins of this spring!
 
Can the loons be far behind?
 
If you have been following the migration page of our "satellite loons", two more loons have started to move.  Loon #55488 has begun to move up the Atlantic Coast and now is off the coast fo Virginia.  And Loon #55489 today was 'seen' in flight over southern Alabama. 
 
These satellite loons are only a sampling of what are sure to be thousands and thousands of loons now on their way north.  Winging their way along unseen highways in the sky.  Unerringly making their way to their lakes from previous years.  All of it guided by a 'miraculous' GPS that puts the GPS in our cars to shame.  GPS that they have had for thousands of years!   We can only stand back in wonder and amazement.
 
We have already been working on things to get them ready for you to once again watch our beautiful loons as they once again nest this year.  In the next few days I will be rebuilding the nesting platform and try to have it ready to put out into the lake soon after ice out.  Shortly after that we hope to go 'live' so that you can once again join us in watching the loons...and losing sleep and not getting any work done around home for the next month or two!
 
Stay tuned.  Every day ..... especially the warm sunny days .... brings our loons closer and closer and closer.
 
And the excitement begins to build!
 
 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 10:34pm CDT

 

30 degrees   Clear   Wind Calm

 

As I mentioned last night, it looks like the major part of loon migration may have started!

We now have a third loon, #55490, on his way north.

This loon was from Trude Lake in Wisconsin.

He spent most of the winter in the Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of Florida near Pensacola.  He was the westernmost of the loons that we tracked this winter and the one who would possibly have been most vulnerable to the oil spill.  He stayed in the same area for most of the winter.

But then on Sunday he started north and apparently made the entire trip to the southern end of the Lake Michigan in one non-stop flight, arriving there this morning.

So now we have three loons on the move.  Two others are still down south....one on the Atlantic Coast and one on the Gulf of Mexico.

There are four other loons that have problems with their satellite transmissions.  They apparently are all alive but are not consistently transmitting data that will permit good pinpointing of their locations.  Kevin Kenow thinks that this may be due to bent antennas.

Who knows.  Maybe when they start moving again we will be able to receive signals from them and find out where they are.

The migration seems to be underway!

What is it that finally triggers them to take off and fly north?  What do they sense?  What cues and clues are they sensitive to?  So many questions and so many more answers that are needed to better understand our loons.

But whatever it is that triggers their migration, they seem to have gotten the signal.  Much like "Drivers start your engines!" at a car race.

Their 'engines have started' and they are on their way.

Every day now gets more and more exciting!

 

Monday, March 28, 2011 10:32pm CDT

 

22 degrees  Clear  Wind calm

 

The last several days here at the lake have been cool but with spectacular blue skies and lots of sunshine.  But it has been cold.

There is still no sign of the ice on the lake melting.

And until that happens, we will not see our loons.  As of now, the ground is white with at least a foot or more of snow cover and the ice on the lake is solid up to the shoreline.

It has remained unseasonably cold here for the last week or more but the forecast is that we may reach the 50's by this weekend.  About where it should be this time of year.

The crocuses along a south wall have peeked out from under the snow for the second time but still have not bloomed.  Rhubarb nubs are also beginning to peek up from the soil underneath the snow cover.

So the signs of spring are there.  But they are struggling mightily to make themselves known here in the north.

But further south, the signs become more unmistakable.

The second of our satellite transmitter loons has now begun his northward trek!

Loon #55484 from the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage in Wisconsin is now on his way north.

On Saturday, March 26 he flew from the Gulf of Mexico to Weiss Lake, Alabama.  Interestingly that is the same lake that our Sagatagan Lake male first flew to when he left the Gulf.  Then loon #55484 flew to Fall Creek Falls Lake  near Pikeville, Tennessee  today.

Who knows how many thousands of other loons are now making their way north to take up residence on their favorite lake and to enrich our lives with their beauty and their magical calls.

I think we are now on the verge of the major part of the loon migration beginning.

Stay tuned.

Things change rapidly now.  You don't want to miss a day as the wonder of life unfolds all around us.

 

Friday, March 25, 2011 11:31am CDT

 

31 degrees   Sunny   Wind NE 3mph

 

The sky is a stunning deep blue.  The reflection off all the fresh white snow from our storm two days ago is almost blinding.

 

What a beautiful day.  But cold.

 

It is predicted to remain cold through the weekend.  As much as we want to see spring return, this cold weather will help those who will be affected by the flooding that is sure to hit many people.  It will slow down the melt and let some of the rivers go down a little before the next phase of the spring melt hits.

 

When the melt does come, it is sure to be fast at this time of year.

 

Last week I saw crocuses poking up through the ice and snow, their little yellow buds ready to burst into bloom.  Like the rest of us, it seems as if even the crocuses are anxious for spring to come after a long and hard winter.

 

They are still there someplace.  Under the foot of new snow that we got out of this storm.  Just waiting.

 

Ready to brighten our moods as the snow recedes, with the first blooms of spring.

 

It can't be far away now.

 

And our Sagatagan Lake loon #55480 is not far away either!

 

He is eager to get home, too!

 

He is now on Eagle Lake in Wisconsin just west of Racine and near the western shore of Lake Michigan.  He made stops on Weiss Lake, Alabama; Center Hill Lake, Tennessee; and Lemon Lake, Indiana before arriving in Wisconsin.  Soon the other loons will also be on the move.

 

Lakes here are still frozen solid up to shore.  So he cannot make it home yet.  But as soon as the ice goes out, he will try to move closer and closer until he is finally home.  

 

The same is probably true for "our loons" from the LoonCam.  We don't know where they are right now.  But you can be sure that they are feeling the same urges that #55480 is feeling.  The urge to fly north and once again build a nest and raise a new generation of loonlings.

 

The excitement builds.

 

It will not be long now!

 

Tuesday, March 22, 2010 11:03pm CDT

 
31 degrees   Sleet and Snow   Wind SW2mph
 
 
And now it starts!
 
One of the loons that we implanted a satellite transmitter has now started to move north!
 
This is the loon from Lake Sagatagan in Minnesota that we implanted a satellite transmitter into last summer.  He is also know as loon #55480 on the USGS website where you can track the progress of some of the loons that are carrying satellite transmitters.
 
Loon 55480 had spent much of the winter just off the Florida Gulf Coast near Tampa/St Petersburg.  He had moved slightly south of Tampa near Sarasota and then started to move north to near Tallahassee just before he took off on his flight north.
 
He left the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, March 17th and flew 320 miles to Weiss Lake in Alabama.  Then on Friday, March 18th to Center Hill Lake, TN and on Sunday, March 20th to Lemon Lake, IN.
 
So the excitement of the northward migration has started.
 
There is hope that spring will actually arrive and displace all the cold and snow and ice.
 
And once again we will hear the haunting call of loons on our beautiful northern lakes.  The sights and sounds that stir something deep within our soul.  That connect us to the real world.  That strengthen that bond with nature.  That open our eyes to the beauty of creation all around us.  Beauty that is there if we will only take the time to stop and look.  And see the wonder of it all.
 
Of the nine other loons that we surgically implanted with satellite transmitters, one Minnesota loon died on Lake Michigan last August from aspergillosis.  Three are having problems with their satellite transmitters but we think they are alive.  The other 5 loons are still on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.
 
The loons will gradually move north as far as they can find open water.
 
This winter has been a tough winter throughout the northern United States.  Last year the ice went out on our loon's lake on March 30th.  I think we will be looking at something later than that this year.  But then last year was earlier than normal.  Normal ice out here is somewhere around the middle of April.
 
It will be interesting to watch to see if the loons use Lake Michigan as a spring staging ground as they did with their fall migration.
 
Tonight is cold and we are getting sleet and snow.  By the time this storm moves through some parts of the state could get between a foot to a foot and a half of snow!  They are predicting lesser amounts in the far north and the far south.  But there have been blizzard warnings out for Duluth and the North Shore of Lake Superior!  I was up along the North Shore last week  near the Canadian border for a conference at a wonderful place called Naniboujou Lodge.  If you want a unique, historic place to get away, check it out.
 
I am glad it was last week and not in the midst of a blizzard!  Although I think tonight the forecasters have moved the storm track slightly south.
 
But increased snow and cold over the next week will delay the spring melt.
 
By now loon 55480 should be in his full black and white plumage that we in the north are so familiar with.  Since he left Minnesota last fall, he completely lost his black and white feathers and replaced them with a drab gray coat of feathers.  And now this spring he has once again completely lost the gray feathers and has replaced them with the beautiful black and white that we know and love.
 
So prepare yourself for another season of watching our amazing loons on the LoonCam!
 
Who knows what drama and wonder awaits us this year as we watch these wonderful loons nest and hopefully raise a new generation of loons.
 
Depending on ice out, the LoonCam should go live sometime the last part of April.
 
And once again none of us will get anything done as we are mesmerized by them.
 
Get some extra sleep now.  Because it will be hard to sleep once they are here.
 
Let me add a big THANK YOU to those of you who came out to the National Eagle Center for my presentation on "Amazing Loons" last week.  It was so good to meet some of you who have been so faithful in watching the LoonCam and participating in the Loon Chat Room.
 
The National Eagle Center personnel were amazed at the interest and the turnout.  It was the largest turnout that they have seen.  They have already asked me if I would be willing to return next year for the Soar With The Eagles festival!  So thank you for making the day so special.  You may want to send them a thank you note for doing a special seminar on loons.