Tuesday, May 24, 2011 10:45pm CDT

62 degrees  Partly Cloudy  Wind 4mph NNE

The loons have had a fairly quiet and uneventful day.

After all the rain of the weekend, it was nice to have some sunshine.

In fact this afternoon while I was doing some planting, I just stopped, looked around and drank it in.  I said to myself 'Does it get much better than this?

There were some of the white puffy clouds against a blue sky.  The kind of clouds that I can remember as a kid wishing that I could go up there and just bounce around on them.  I knew that they would be soft and bouncy just like a marshmallow or a big cotton ball!  Ahhh the things a kid's dreams are made of!

There was a little breeze.  Not too much.  Not too little.  Just the right  amount.  And comfortable temperature.  Not too hot.  Not too cold.  Just right.

Apple trees in bloom.  And pears.  And plums.  And rhododendrons.

The silhouette of a loon sitting on its nest.  How could it get any better?

For many years, that silhouette of the loon on the nest has become almost a touchstone.  The first thing I check in the morning.  The last thing I check at dusk.  The first place I look whenever I come home.

But the days they are there are all too fleeting.  We barely have a week left before the expected hatching dates of the chicks.  And then within a day or two they are gone.  Off to explore their new wide world of water.

The two chicks will usually hatch within a day or so of each other.  They will stay on the nest for a day or so and then they follow their parents into the lake and swim away.

They generally stay in the same area of the lake where the nest is for the first week or two.  But seldom do they come back to the nest.  I will leave the cam on for a little while after they have left for you to hopefully catch a glimpse of them.  But I do not want to hold out unrealistic hope that you will see them up close.  That will also give some of you a chance to 'break the bond with the nest'!  Which is hard to do at times.  Only after that will I shut the cam down for the year.

But I will try to periodically update the blog to let you know what is happening with them.

Young loons will be fed exclusively by the parents for the first several weeks of their life.  Gradually they will learn how to fish and try it once in a while.  But they will still accept food from the parents as long as the parents will give them food.  It is not until they are about 11 to 13 weeks old that they really start to become independent of the parents.  This is also about the time that they try to take their first flights.

They still do not have the black and white plumage of an adult loon at this point.  They are a drab borwnish gray which they will keep for the next several years before they get their first spectacular black and white plumage.

But the first couple weeks is the time when they are so cute.  The "awwwwwww" moments!  The times when they climb up and ride on the back of the adult.

This riding on the back of the adult is believed to have a couple of advantages.

First it helps protect them from predators both from above and below.

From below it helps protect the chick from northerns and muskies and bass and snapping turtles.

From above, from eagles and gulls and other birds of prey.

But who has not been stopped and captivated by a picture of a little black loon riding on the back of a parent and been filled with warm fuzzies?

I mentioned that we had torrential rains over the weekend.  The lake level has come up significantly.  This is a perfect illustration of the advantage of a floating nesting platform like the one you are watching.

Loons normally build their nests very close to the edge of the water.  The reason for that is that they are almost completely helpless on land [I will maybe explain why in the next day or two].

When the level of the water rises like this, many loon nests are lost because of the rising water.

Or loon nests can also be lost because of large wakes from speedboats that can just wash right over the nest and destroy it or wash the eggs out of the nest.

But with a floating nesting platform like this, the nest can rise or lower with the level of the water.  And the loon is completely safe.

Loons do not seem to mind the rocking motion of a floating nest like this at all.  After all, they are normally bobbing up and down on the waves out on the lake all the time.  Plus being a floating nest away from shore it gives added protection from land based predators.

Yesterday afternoon some of you were watching when the loon let out a cry and literally bolted off the nest and halfway walked across the water as it frantically beat its wings.

What scared the loon was an eagle that was looking for a meal of fish.  But the loon did not know that the eagle had spotted a fish.  All it knew was that there was an eagle flying high overhead, which caused it concern, that all of a sudden was diving directly down on the nest.

I watched as the eagle slightly folded back its wings and started plunging toward the lake.  Its legs and talons were fully extended in attack mode.  As it plunged downward it moved its wings to 'rock back and forth' to rapidly lose altitude.  It looked like it was heading straight for the loon.

And the loon apparently thought the same thing because it went off the nest in a panic.

But the eagle swooped down on the surface of the water not very far from the nest.  As it started to rise again, it held a fish in its talons.  This had been a successful fishing trip!

If we can make it safely through the next few days, hopefully we will see two new loon chicks.

The first egg is due to hatch on Wednesday night, June 1st.  But if I had to guess, I think it might hatch a day or two earlier than that.  But then I have never been very good at being able to predict what they are going to do.

So the only way to know for sure is to watch along with all the rest of us.

Encourage your  kid's or grandkid's teachers to use this as a wonderful teaching tool for their students.

Because these special moments never last long enough!

Questions or Comments?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

Sunday, May 22, 2011 10:18pm CDT

 

60 degrees    Cloudy    Wind  1 mph  SW

 

 

This has been another very eventful and wet day in the life of our loons.

 

There have been torrential downpours.

One of my neighbors said he had measured 7 1/2 inches in his rain gauge between yesterday and today!

 

The rain just can't seem to stop.  But more importantly, once again today severe thunderstorms and tornadoes were bouncing all over state.  Unfortunately there has been severe damage in areas of Minneapolis as well as other communities.  Sadly one man from out of state was killed in his car when a large tree fell on it!

 

Even with the damage and death it is no where as bad as many areas of the country have suffered this spring.

 

But once again today our loons lucked out and all the severe weather went all around them.  They were in the calm 'eye of the storm' and did not have to contend with severe wind but they did sit through a number of very heavy rainstorms and a lot of lightning and thunder.

 

But they stayed on the nest during the heaviest parts of the rain.

 

At dusk tonight, the loon and the nest floated on a beautiful sea of shimmering quicksilver.

 

But even now as I am writing, there was a wail from out in the dark.  It sounded like it was fairly close to the nest.  Then the loon on the nest answered with an ear piercing yodel!  So it is the male on the nest again tonight.

 

After 4 yodels from out on the lake and 3 answers from on the nest, the male left the nest to go out to meet the loon who had challenged him.

 

A symphony of yodels and tremolos and wails bounced back and forth across the lake from all directions.  It is beautiful if you don't know what the calls mean.  Even if you do know, it is beautiful but it also causes concern because you know that this is a confrontation between 2 pairs of loons.

 

One of the loons finally returns to the nest after about 24 minutes off the nest for the confrontation.  Anytime they are off the nest concerns me.  But it is relatively warm and so this amount of time should not hurt the eggs.

 

In fact, if there are chicks developing inside the eggs, they may be close to the point where they can generate some of their own heat.

 

We are rapidly approaching the time when things move fast and when they get real exciting.

 

If your family and friends have not started watching yet, now is the time to call them, email them, tweet them, Facebook them and use every other means to let them know now is the time to start watching.

 

From the "official" incubation time for loon eggs, the first egg should hatch Wednesday night, June 1st.

 

But .... and this is a big 'but' with a lot of disclaimers .... if I had to guess, I would guess that it might hatch a day or two earlier than that!  So it could even hatch on Memorial Day.

 

And then the moments are so fleeting!

For those of you who have asked, the loon chicks leave the nest within a day or two of hatching, usually never to return to the nest.  From that point on they are truly water birds.

 

The 2 eggs were laid 1 1/2 days apart but they will probably hatch closer together than that.  It is something called 'catch up', where the second egg sometimes hatches quicker than the first egg.  There are some biologists who say that they chicks actually communicate with each other while they are still in the egg.

 

There are so many things that we do not know nor understand.  Now if only we had a microphone where we could listen to the chicks inside the eggs talking to each other!

 

A loon chick is called "precocious" meaning that it is able to swim within a very short time after hatching.  Usually they might stay on the nest for about a day or so, and then they are gone.

 

So your chance to see the hatching and the little black loon chick with the white breast and the stubby wings and the big feet is so fleeting.  If you miss it, you miss it.  There are no 'do overs' or long extended times of the chicks being on the nest where we can watch them.

 

So get ready for the BIG miracle that is about to happen.

 

This is 'reality tv' that beats anything you will ever see anywhere else.

 

 

Questions or Comments?   LoonCam@yahoo.com

 

Saturday, May 21, 2011 8:42pm CDT

 

59 degrees   Thunderstorms   Wind  3mph E

 

 

Have  you had enough drama for one season yet?

 

After an all-night rain and heavy rain this morning, late afternoon turned into a beautiful, quiet, sunny blue sky day.

 

But then tonight as if out of no where, numerous severe thunderstorms and tornadoes developed over a broad section of the state!

 

As we say in Minnesota, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.  [I am sure some of you in other states say the same thing.]

 

Tornadoes and large damaging hail were heading toward the lake.

 

One tornado was confirmed not very many miles away.

 

But once again thank God nothing severe hit our loons.

 

I had a couple people tell me that we had hail but if we did, I missed it.  I was on the phone with my brother during much of the storm and we were tracking the storm on radar online to see how close it was going to come to each of our houses.

 

But the loon sat firm all through the rain and kept the eggs warm and dry...although dry is not all that important to the eggs.  The loon brings quite a bit of water every time it gets back on the nest.  That added moisture may actually help the eggs.  If you have ever hatched duck eggs, some people recommend misting the eggs once in a while.

 

So a little moisture and even rain may not harm the eggs at all.

 

But then several yodels almost blew my speakers out!

 

That answered which loon was on the nest.  It was the male since the male is the only one that yodels.

 

That is somewhat unusual to see the male actually yodel while he is on the nest.

 

There were other yodels from somewhere out on the lake and that is obviously what he was reacting to and what he was answering.

 

Then he left the nest!

 

That is the disadvantage of having another pair of loons on the same lake.  They may draw each other off their nests and the conflicts could affect the hatching of the eggs.

 

When I looked out across the lake, I could not see the other male that was yodeling even though I could hear him.  The male swam out to another loon that was obviously the female.  They swam around for a number of minutes - although I didn't time it, I would guess they were off the nest about 10 minutes during the rain.

 

I am probably like many of you.  I know I need to trust their instincts.  But when they are off the nest, especially in the rain, everything in me screams, 'Get back here!  Don't you know you have 'little ones' that are depending on you?!

 

But then one of them came back to the nest, did the traditional egg roll and settled on the eggs.

 

Once again the lightening and the thunder and the rain are picking up.  But the radar is not showing anything severe.  Most of the severe weather is well beyond us.  Hopefully this will be just a 'garden variety' thunderstorm with nothing severe.  Although we have had enough rain for one day!

 

Earlier today the loon spent a lot of time in full hangover position.  I am not sure what that was about.  There were no boats close by.  There were no people along the shore.  I even looked for eagles and could not see any flying anywhere.

 

The loon kept in the hangover posture even though there did not appear to be any danger.

 

Sometimes they see and feel things that we can only wonder and speculate about.  And sometimes there are no explanations that make any sense to us.  But apparently something makes sense to the loons.

 

But for now, all is calm on the nest once again.

 

We can only hope that it stays that way for the next week or so.

 

Because in a little over a week we should see the first little loon chick peek out from under the wing and take in the wonder of a big world he has never seen before!

 

 

Questions or Comments?   LoonCam@yahoo.com

 

Friday, May 20, 2011 7:28am CDT

 

61 degrees   Cloudy   Wind 2mph N

 

 

The loons continue their faithful vigil on the nest this morning.

 

They are now more than half way to the goal...two new little chicks.

 

Today promises to bring rain to the lake and our loons.  In fact, it should be rainy for the next several days with the possibility of thunderstorms this afternoon and tomorrow.

 

Some have asked how much 'territory' or how big a lake a loon needs or will protect.  

 

Some have said that they need at least 10 acres and I certainly would not argue with that.

 

However, a more important criteria is if the loons can stay out of sight of each other.  Therefore if a lake has many bays and fingers it probably can support more loons.  The loons are able to go back into those bays and most of the time stay out of sight of other loons whereas on a round lake with no bays, the loons are in sight of other loons most of the time and that raises the potential for confrontation.

 

Last night I watched as both loons were off the nest and swimming together.  The male was issuing his yodel call which is his territorial call.  I could see no other loons in sight.  But then from across the lake came the call of another loon.

 

The male would extend his neck parallel to the surface of the lake and yodel two or three times.

 

It was his way of saying 'this part of the lake belongs to me!  Stay away!'

 

A loon will often turn as he is making this yodel call as if to broadcast it to a larger section of the lake.  Normally I have seen them turn 45 to 90 degrees while making the call, just like 'beaming' it to different parts of the lake to let anyone and everyone know that he is here.

 

In some studies that have been done, loons tend to establish very specific lines which define their territories on a lake.  Invisible lines but lines nonetheless.  And they seem to know where those 'lines' are.

  

Someone asked about the 'high twilling whistle' which can be heard late at night.

 

I am not completely sure I know what you were hearing but I am almost sure.  It probably is frogs that you are hearing.  Specifically spring peepers.  They all join in a song that can almost be deafening at times.  It is one of my favorite sounds of spring.  When you hear the spring peepers sound begin their chorus it is one of the surest signs that spring is actually here.

  

Sit back, relax and enjoy our loons and all the good things of life!

 

 

Questions or Comments?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

 

Thursday, May 19, 2011 5:37am CDT

  

50 degrees  Clear  Calm

 

 

On a Minnesota spring morning, one loon sits on the nest while the other one floats nearby.

 

The sun is just ready to peak over the eastern horizon.

 

The avian choir has begun its concert to salute the dawn.

 

What a beautiful Minnesota morning it is.

 

There are times when I allow things to crowd in around me.  To become too busy.  To let pressures get to me.  To have to do this.  To have to do that.  To not have enough time to get done what I want to do and what needs to be done.   To forget the gift of what has been given to me.  To stop and look and listen.

 

A morning like this is the perfect reminder to do just that.

 

To slow down.  To savor the moment.

 

To look at the small things that go unnoticed in the normal busyness of life.

 

Things that are there all the time.  But that we never stop to see.

 

The pink of the morning sky.  The lazy movement  across the surface of the water.... not a ripple, not a wave, just smooth movement of water on water.  The clear song of a Baltimore oriole.  The hoarse crackling sound of a sandhill crane.  The coarse caw of a black crow.  The trilling of purple martins on the wing.

 

May your day be filled with the wonder of life and the miracles that have been placed all around you for you to enjoy.

 

On this beautiful morning, however, there is one thing that is on the loon's mind.

 

A dedication to two eggs that keeps them on the nest 24 hours a day.  A bird that is normally wild and free is now 'tamed'.  Inexorably drawn to sit on a nest.  Ever alert.  Ever watchful.  Always looking for potential danger.

 

We are now halfway through the normal incubation for the first egg.  Fourteen days and fourteen days to go.  Although I would expect that we do not have 14 days left and that the egg may very well hatch a day or two earlier than that.  But the 'normal' due date for our expectant parents is June 1st.

 

I have often described watching the loons on the nest as watching grass grow or paint dry.  But there is something that is so mesmerizing about it that we can't take our eyes off them.  And then something happens that makes all the watching worthwhile!

 

But now that we are in the 'boring' part of the nesting cycle, let me mention a couple other things that make loons such amazing birds.

 

Most birds have bones that are almost hollow, interlaced with a 'swiss cheese' of open areas.  This makes the bone very light but strong.  It allows most birds to fly by not having so much weight to get into the air.

 

But a Common Loon has bones that are nearly solid.

 

This works well for them being birds of prey that spend most of their time in the water.  The solid bones allow them to easily make deep dives whereas another waterbird would tend to pop back up to the surface because of its hollow bones.

 

Loons have been verified to dive to depths of 250 feet and more!

 

But these almost solid bones also mean that there is extra weight to have to lift into the air to become airborne.  That is why a loon requires a long expanse of open water in order to get into the air and fly.  They may require up to a quarter of a mile in order to take off from the surface of the water.

 

These solid bones allow a loon to do something else that almost no other water birds can do.

 

Loons normally dive when they want to go underwater.

 

But they can almost literally 'sink out of sight'.

 

Loons can compress the feathers on their body to squeeze out any air.  And they can also compress small air sacs or bladders within the muscles of their body to decrease their buoyancy.  Most of the time a loon rides pretty high in the water.  But there are times that a loon will swim with its body almost completely submerged, just by adjusting how buoyant it is.

 

You will most often see this behavior if the loon feels threatened or if it does not want to be seen.  Then it will just sink lower and lower in the water until sometimes only its head is exposed.  I have seen times when a loon has disappeared under water and I have watched to see where it came back up to the surface.  Only to realize that the loon had surfaced with only the top of his head and his eyes and his bill above water.

 

Just enough of him exposed to be able to breath and to see what is going on around him.

 

Had I not been watching very closely, I would have never even seen him nor have been aware that he was even around.

 

Yet one more of the many things that makes our loons so amazing.

 

So today as you watch the loons, also watch for the many other wonderful little miracles that Someone has placed into your life to make it richer and even more beautiful.

 

 

Questions or Comments?   LoonCam@yahoo.com