Friday, April 29, 2011 9:53pm CDT

 
49 degrees  Cloudy  Wind Calm
 
 
Most of today was a spectacular, warm, sunny day. 
 
The first such day in some time.  Few and far they have been  this spring.
 
This evening, there was some more rain but right now it is a stunning calm evening.
 
The sounds of spring peepers.  Once in a while a Canadian goose making its presence known.
 
But most special of all.....the call of the loons.  Wafting across the lake.  And then answered by another loon somewhere on the lake.
 
There obviously is still one other male on the lake because there have been some  yodels back and forth, which are calls only made by the males.
 
But I have not seen the abundance of 7 loons that I saw a week or more ago.  Hopefully most of those were just passing through and have now moved further north as more and more lakes become ice free.  Our loons do not need the competition nor the distraction.
 
This afternoon, our loons were challenged for their territory.  And as if there was any question, they made it clear that this was THEIR nesting platform.
 
A swan came swimming by and went to check out the platform.  But before he could even get there, where the loons came from  I am not sure.  But in no uncertain terms they made it known this was not going to be his nest.  They unceremoniously chased him away.  He went half flying, half walking on water while me made whatever sound that is that swans make.  Similar to a honk of a goose but nicer.
 
He sat looking at the nest.  And at the loons.  And then started swimming toward the nest once more.
 
Once again the loons confronted him and once again chased him back.
 
He did this three or four times before he finally gave up and swam away.
 
But in the midst of all this, three geese were swimming by.  They must have decided that while the loons were occupied with the swan, it would be the perfect time for them to also check out the nest.
 
But the loons were not to be outflanked.  They turned and also confronted the geese.  A swan on once side and three geese on the other.  It almost sounds like a nursery rhyme....I saw a swan...Three geese came swimming in!
 
Each time the geese tried to get close to the nest, the loons would make sure that they knew there would be none of that. 
 
At one point, I think one of the geese got stabbed underwater by one of the loons.  For he suddenly leaped straight up out of the water and then went flying/running across the surface of the water until he was a safe distance away....complaining in goose epithets the whole way.
 
Soon both the swan and the geese gave up in their attempt to 'assault the castle' and they moved on.  One, one direction and three the other.
 
There are times that it looks like the loon is going to lay an egg this time for sure when she is on the nest.  There has been a lot of the "mewing" call from the female while she has been on the nest.  This is a call that is not well documented at all and is not included in the 4 major calls of loons.  Until last year with this webcam, no one had been able to hear it consisitently or to document it as much as we did in that one season of the LoonCam!
 
It would not have surprised me that she would have laid an egg today.  But so far, nothing.
 
But do not despair.  I am increasingly confident that we will see eggs laid.  Most probably in the next couple days.  But how do you predict such a thing?  Last year the first egg was laid on Wednesday, May 5 at 9:24am and the second egg was laid on Friday, May 7 at 9:12pm.
 
This was a little later than we have seen most years.
 
Now is not the time to miss a minute of the action.
 
The only thing more exciting than actually seeing one of the eggs laid is when one of the chicks hatches.
 
I try to scan through some of the chat room but most of the time I am not able to read most of it.  If you have a question that you would like an answer to, send it to LoonCam@yahoo.com.  Because of the volume of emails I will not be able to answer each one personally, but I will try to give some of the answers to your questions in this blog.
 
And remember, for those of you in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, I will see you tomorrow morning at 9:20am on KARE11 television.  For those of you scattered all over, check the www.KARE11.com website to see if they carry it live or if they post a video of it.
 

Friday, April 29, 2011 5:44am CDT

 

30 degrees   Clear   Wind Calm

 

The morning light graces the eastern sky.

Along the eastern horizon, there is a combination of hues.  Pinks.  Light blues.  Golds.  Just a sliver of light that begins to drive the darkness to the western sky.

The pair of loons sits near the nest.  Silhouetted against a perfectly calm surface of the lake.

It is a magical time.

A beaver swims by the nesting platform.  

But fortunately he seems not to even give the frost-covered nest a passing glance.  He continues to swim and disappears off to the side, seemingly unaware of either the stage or the drama that will happen on it in the coming weeks.

As if on cue, the two loons approach the platform and one of them 'mews'.  

The beauty of this great cathedral overarches this scene.  Even though there may not be a choir or an orchestra, the choir of the morning song of birds awakening rivals any royal choir anywhere in the world.

The nest sits empty but welcoming, seemingly ready for its most precious charge.

Will today be the day that the first egg is laid?

It could very well be.  If not today, then soon.

Over the last day or two, the loons have spent increasing amounts of time near the nest.  It is an encouraging sign that things are rapidly building to a climax.

So with great anticipation, we wait.

On this beautiful spring morning, the tremolos of our loons echo across the lake.

Oh, if only we could bottle moments like this and keep them forever!

 

 

Thursday, April 28, 2011 9:08am CDT

 
 39 degrees   Misting  Wind   NW 5 mph
 
 
As I write this, one of the loons is on the nest and the other is swimming around the nest.
 
So I thought this might be a good time to give you a hint of some things to watch for as we get closer to egg laying.
 
The loons will spend increasing amounts of time on and near the nest.
 
And nest building will become more pronounced.
 
When she is ready to lay an egg, she will probably sort of 'climb' up on the edge of the nest and slightly spread her wings to steady herself.  You will see slight convulsions of her body and finally the egg will be laid.
This whole thing, when it reaches that point, may take no more than 5 or 10 minutes.
 
Now it gets exciting!
 
 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 8:38pm CDT

 
35 degrees  Snow Flurries   Wind North 2mph
 
 
Snow flurries!
 
Can there really be snow flurries?  Again?
 
Some of you may have been watching just now when I was out to the nest to do a couple last minute things.  This may be the last opportunity before the loons nest.  They seem to be getting pretty serious.  And once they are on the nest, I will not go anywhere near it except in the most extreme instances.
 
They have been on the nest several times today.
 
And each time they seem to be doing more serious nest building.  There is now the form of a very nice bowl that they have formed.
 
One of the things that I wanted to do is to wipe the camera lense since there seemed to be some smudges on it.  I think I was able to remove those smudges although there may be more that come before we are done with this year.
 
I also applied some more adhesive to the camera mount to make sure the camera does not move in high winds.  You will remember that last year the wind knocked it out of alignment two different times.  I do not want to have to go down there to readjust it while they are on the nest.
 
The other thing I did was to adjust the microphone.  A number of you mentioned that it was very muffled.  I may have done too good a job.  Now the squeaking noise (and annoying noise) of the styrofoam of the platform is back as it moves with the waves.  We had not been hearing much of that before.  
 
If the loons give me the opportunity tomorrow, I may try to go back out there one last time and see if I can get rid of that styrofoam squeak.  It is a tough balancing act to try to get the clearest sound but to block out that squeak and also the wind noise which plagued us last year.
 
Even though the loons were nowhere in sight when I went down there, within minutes I saw them swimming toward the nest!  How they can see from so far away, wherever they were, is yet another one of the miracles.
 
At dark, they were still swimming around the nest.
 
The good part of that is that it really shows how strong the bond is with the nest and almost guarantess that we will have nesting this year.
 
They did not seem alarmed at all as I did some other work at quite a distance from the nest.  But they definitely wanted me to see that they were there.  I am amazed every time I see that.
 
I did not want to spend anymore time in the water than necessary.  It is painfully cold.  And with snow flurries filling the air, I questioned my own sanity as much as I am sure the loons did!
 
While I was at the nest, I was able to look to see how it was holding up in the wind and the waves.  That is always a concern with high waves battering it.  The waves can literally wash the nesting materials away.
 
That is one of the dangers of "natural nests".  They may wash away or just be submerged if the water rises.
 
But fortunately, the nest looks to be in very good shape.  Much better in fact than I had expected after the wind and waves of the last few days.  We have a long month or more that the materials have to hold together to provide protection for those precious loon eggs.
 
I noticed that several had wondered if I was going to put plants on the nest like I have done in previous years.
 
They are already there!
 
You will see them as they begin to grow in the next few weeks....if the weather ever warms up!
 
We are one step and one day closer to the loons nesting.  Laying eggs.  And hopefully having little chicks once again this year.
 
I hope you and all your family and friends join us for the whole adventure from beginning to end.
 
 
Just a reminder for those of you in the Twin Cities, we will be talking about the LoonCam on KARE11 tv on Saturday morning, April 30.  It will be on the "KARE Saturday" show.  Right now they are saying it will be about 9:20am, but that can always change.  I do not know if you will be able to watch it live online if you live in other parts of the world or if they will post the spot after the show.
 

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 6:23pm CDT

[Strangely, this post did not appear.  The system labeled it as a 'draft' and did not post it.  But here it is, better late than never.]

 

40 degrees  Rainy  Wind NE 18mph

 

If you think it looks cold on the LoonCam, you are right!

It is cold and windy.  This year winter just does not seem to want to loosen its grip.  

It has been raining most of the day and the wind just cuts through you.

As I write this, the loons are approaching the nest.  They don't seem to mind the cold or the waves that bounce them up and down constantly.

Tonight is not predicted to be much better.

In fact, during the night, this rain is supposed to turn to snow.  Yes, you heard it right....SNOW!

There should not be any significant accumulation but they are forecasting a slushy mix by morning.  2011, the winter that just would not quit.  But then it is supposed to be in the 70s by Thursday.

Welcome to Minnesota.  If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes!

The cold may slow the loons nesting down slightly but I do not expect by much.

I think they have taken ownership of the nest and everything is now in motion for a new nesting season.  In all liklihood, there are already two eggs starting to form inside the female's body.  And when it will be time to lay them, it will be time.  No matter what day of the week.  No matter what the weather is.

I would expect that she will lay the first egg sometime in the next week.

Once things start to happen, they happen pretty rapidly.

You have seen some slight nest building activity when they have been up on the platform.  But that is not yet serious nest building.  It is almost as if they are becoming comfortable with the nest once again and taking ownership of it.

But when we get close to the first egg being laid, she will become much more serious about building a true nest.  Moving material from all around her.  Making sure everything is just right.  Waiting for the arrival of the first egg which will call that nest home for the next 28 days.

It could happen tomorrow.

It could happen a week from now.

But now is not the time to miss a minute of this wonderful adventure with our beautiful loons.

Now is the time to twitter and tweet and facebook and instant message and my space and blog and email and telephone everyone you know and tell them to join you in watching this miracle unfold before their very eyes.  And to let your children's and granchildren's teachers know so that they can help the kids appreciate and understand what nature is providing all around them.

The stage is ready.  The audience takes their seats.   A hush falls over the audience.  The actors are waiting in the wings and making brief appearances  from behind the curtain.

Soon it will be showtime!

 

Some of you, especially in the Twin Cities area may be interested to know that KARE11 tv asked me if I would join them for their Saturday morning show.  A little while ago I got an email that said it will be in the 9:40am slot....although if you know television at all, that could change at a moment's notice.  But tune in if you get a chance.  For the rest of you around the world, if you cannot watch it live on line, they will probably provide a program link for the show.  See you then.