61 degrees Cloudy Wind 18mph W
Does anyone know a good way to restart a heart?!
This is WAY more drama than any of us need.
For those who have missed the action, let me briefly recap.
Shortly after 9pm, there were numerous calls from on the lake, possibly flying yodels from another loon, and on the nest including yodels and tremolos. The male was on the nest at the time and was answering with his own yodels.
The mate appeared alongside the nest and also started calling.
When the male left the nest to join the other loon, the little chick that was born this afternoon followed along and jumped in the lake.
I hope that it had found its way onto the parents back to safely ride out the night there.
Then at 10 pm there were once again many, many calls. From both on the lake and on the nest. Wails and tremolos and yodels. Yodels from another male that were much to close to the nest for comfort.
In the dark you could see another loon floating near the nest, obviously the mate. I cannot see if she has the chick but as she swims around the nest I can HEAR the chick. He obviously is very close. Is he in the water? If he was on her back I do not think he would call.
After 5 minutes of constant calling with calls coming from other loons as well, the female gets up on the front edge of the nest. She obviously does not have the chick.
I can hear the chick chirping with a somewhat desperate sound to his chirp. Is he trying to get up on the nest? There is a 'chick ramp' for him to use if he can find it in the dark.
The male answers with several quiet hoots and then finally goes off the back of the nest into the water. And then the female follows him off the back of the nest.
The egg is left alone. And the chick is no where to be seen. The egg on the nest could possibly have a pip in it. It is hard to tell.
After another 5 minutes of constant calling, one of the loons makes it back up on the nest, adjusts the egg and then settles down.
It is quiet for a while. No sound of the chick. No sighting of the other loon. Hopefully the chick has once again found a back to ride on.
Then the wails start again. From the nest. Answered from the lake. They continue for a full 10 minutes. Not 'normal' wails. They had a very plaintive sound to them which made it even harder to watch and listen.
If only the chick was on the nest or where we could see him, all of us would feel better. But alas as of now it is not to be. There is the occasional plaintive wail from the nest and an answer from the lake and some mewing sounds from the nest.
Sometimes it is easier to NOT know what is going on.
All we can do is hope for our little chick. Hopefully he is safe and warm riding on the back of mom or dad. And the best news would be when first light comes we see him once again. How quickly our hearts bond with him in a matter of only a few hours. He was probably less than 10 hours old when he jumped into the lake!
So if you have survived all of this so far, you can be assured that you have a very strong heart and have had a better stress test than anything your doctor could give you!
So let us look forward to morning light.
And our little loon! Safe and sound.
Questions or Comments? LoonCam@yahoo.com