Friday, September 10, 2011 11:09am CDT

 

75 degrees   Severe Clear   Calm

 

 

I received an email from Kevin Kenow this morning about the loons that were implanted with satellite transmitters last year.

Five of them are still transmitting but their batteries may not last beyond October and that is why they are not listed on the the tracking page.

But Kevin is still tracking them and has said he will update me periodically on them.  When he does, I will be sure to update you as well.  Once again the website tracking the loons this year is http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html

 

Here is the email from Kevin:

 

"Friday, September 9, 2011  7:48AM

Hi Larry, 

I am still receiving signals from 5 of the loons radiomarked in 2010, including "Big John" [Big John is the surviving loon from St John's University].  The batteries are expected to expire in October, so we did not include these loons on this year's webpage.  However, I am keeping track of them and forwarding noteworthy movements to those interested. 

Sorry I missed your visit to La Crosse this summer. 

Best regards, 

Kevin"

 

Friday, September 9, 2011 12:52am

 

65 degrees  Clear  Calm

 

 

Where are our loons?

 

The few times I have been able to check the last week-and-a-half with the binoculars or the telescope, I have not seen them.  I am not concerned about their safety or anything.  I am just wondering where they are.

 

Obviously they have moved on to another lake.  Or possibly even started their migration.  It is possible that I have just missed spotting them and have looked at the wrong time.  But they have probably begun moving around.

 

This is the time of year that loons start to gather in large groups called rafts in preparation for their migration south.

 

Here in Minnesota, there is a large lake in the central part of the state called Mille Lacs Lake that is a favorite staging ground for loons preparing to fly south for the winter.  Five hundred or more loons have been counted on Mille Lacs at one time in prior years.    Other large lakes serve the same purpose.

 

But one of the new pieces of information from the migration studies done last year is how important Lake Michigan is to the migration of Upper Midwest and Central Canadian loons.

 

This afternoon I got an email from Kevin Kenow of the US Geological Service officially announcing the start of tracking of loons that have had satellite transmitters surgically implanted earlier this summer [although the website actually went live a couple days ago].  There are a total of 20 loons in this new study....13 in Minnesota, 4 in Wisconsin and 3 in Michigan.  You can track the new group of loons at http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html

 

A few of the loons have already started their movement but they are still in their general home range.  It will be interesting to see if all of these loons also go to Lake Michigan before they finally head south to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Coast.  Loons from New England and Eastern Canada will head to the upper Atlantic Coast.

 

You can read the official USGS news release at http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2926

 

I have asked Kevin about last year's loons but I have not heard anything from him yet.  When we did them last year, there was hope that the battery packs in the transmitters might last long enough to give us data on their migration south this fall.  Since none of the loons from last year are listed on the map, I assume that the batteries did not last long enough for this fall's migration.  If and when I hear something from Kevin, I will let you know.

 

Our beautiful northern lakes are becoming more silent.

 

Gone are the middle of the night concerts of loon tremolos and yodels and wails.  Once again we begin to realize how blessed and privileged we are to have them with us for those precious months.  And how they enrich our lives with their beauty.

There is a sense of loss and sadness about that.  Soon we will know that our loons are gone for the winter.  Realizing that we will not hear their beautiful calls all winter.  A quietness and stillness will settle over the great northern forests and lakes.  And it will not be until the ice goes out next spring that we will see them again.  And then the excitement of a new cycle starts all over again.

 

I keep hoping that we might yet see our loons and 'chicks' [they hardly qualify as chicks anymore] make at least one more stop back on the lake to say 'goodbye' before they begin their long journey.

 

But for now, we can only wonder....where are our loons?

 

 

Questions or Comments?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

Wednesday, August 28, 2011 11:07pm CDT

68 degrees   Partly Cloudy  Wind Calm

Summer winds down.

Can it be coming to a close already?

Where did it go?

Wasn't it just yesterday that we were waiting for the ice to go out and listening for that first call that would tell us that they loons are back for the summer?

How quickly it has gone.  I am sorry that it has been sometime since I updated you but I have been out of town quite a bit again.

But I am happy to report that our loons are doing well.  Or at least they were about a week and a half ago which is the last time I actually saw them.

I got home late last night and today I looked for them on the lake but I could not spot them during the short time I was able to look.  They may have been there and I just missed them.  As you know, they can dive and disappear out of sight so quickly and stay under for long periods of time.  Or they may actually have flown to another lake which they are known to do this time of year.

The chicks should have been able to fly for the last week or two although I have not actually seen them flying.  They are now 13 weeks old.

The last time I saw them, all four loons were swimming together and seemed to be doing very well.  The chicks were still accepting fish from the parents whenever it was offered but they were also doing diving of their own and so I assume that by now they are also catching a good share of their own fish.

From a distance when you just see the silhouette of the loon, it is hard to tell the chicks from the adults.  The chicks are now almost the same size as the adults and they have the classic loon profile.  They are only slightly smaller than the adults.

Soon the fall migration south will begin once again.

And the great northern reaches will fall silent from the call of the loon.

There is a certain sadness about that and a piece that is missing in the total picture of the north woods.

But it is as it should be.

And so we are left with the hope for next spring.

The USGS has surgically implanted satellite transmitters in some more loons in addition to the ones we did last year.  So by tracking them we will begin to get a clearer picture of exactly where and when the loons migrate.  I was not able to be involved in this year's project but will give you any updates as I can when I talk to the USGS and the Minnesota DNR.

Each piece of information adds more to our understanding of loons.

For instance, it has been known for some time that the Great Lakes have been very important to migrating loons in the central part of the US and Canada.  But what was a very interesting piece of information from last fall's and this spring's migrations is how important Lake Michigan is.

Every one of the loons that had satellite transmitters flew directly to Lake Michigan.  Some of them spent several weeks there before continuing on their journey south to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast.  That was a new piece of information that every one of the "satellite loons" made their way to Lake Michigan before continuing south.

Now we are faced with the summer rapidly winding down.

This Labor Day weekend is the last great 'hurrah' for the summer.

Within the next month or so, the adults will begin their migration south.  It will be interesting to watch if 'last year's" implanted loons will follow the same route again this year.  And what will the loons with the new satellite transmitters do this fall?  The USGS should start updating the migration map very soon so that you can track the loons as they migrate.

Then about a month later, the 'chicks' will make their way south, never having been there before.  I always stand amazed at the miracle of that every time I think about it.

May you be blessed and may you spend time with family and friends this weekend.

Enjoy them.  

Hold them close.

Savor every moment with them.

And tell them that you love them.

Questions or Comments?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 9:56pm CDT

 

65 degrees  Clear  Calm

 

 

The chicks continue to prosper and thrive.

 

And grow.

 

They are now in the process of losing their brown down.

 

Over their shoulders and wings, they are already getting their feathers and the down is gone.  The feathers are not the black and white that we know of loons but are a brownish gray.  These are the feathers of a juvenile that they will keep for the next two or three years.

 

But even though the feathers are brown, they have a little bit of mottling that belies the spotted plumage that they will eventually have when they become adults.  However, you have to look closely to see the mottling and the subdued spots.

 

The chicks are now 6 weeks old.

 

The other pair of chicks on the lake also seem to be doing well.

 

A few days ago I was watching the loons through the telescope as they swam directly in front of my place.

 

It was shortly before sunset and both adults were busily feeding the chicks.  They went through their usual routine of dive after dive.  Only to surface with a minnow.  The chicks would swim toward the adult and hungrily gulp the minnow down.  And the adult would make another dive.

 

Then both adults surfaced at the same time.

 

And both adults had a sunfish in their beaks.

 

Once again, the chicks swam to get fed.

 

The first chick gulped down the sunfish which looked to be about 2 inches across.  I didn't know if he could swallow it but he seemed to do it without too much trouble.

 

The other loon had a bigger sunfish.  I would guess that it had to be about 3 inches across.

 

It presented it to the chick but had some trouble getting it where the chick could take it head first.

 

Then it dropped it in the water and the chick craned its neck upwards, opened its beak wide and lowered its head on the sunfish.  But he could not swallow it.

 

He tried and tried.  The adult picked it up and presented it again.  And again the chick had trouble swallowing it.

 

Then the sunfish must have slightly revived because the adult dove but immediately came up with it in its beak.

 

No matter how the chick tried, it just could not get that big sunfish down its throat.

 

After maybe 10 or 12 tries, they just gave up and the adult ate the sunfish.

 

In one swift gulp, down it went.  You could see the bulge in the throat as the loon swallowed.

 

And then it was on to diving again and bringing up minnows that were more the proper size for the chicks.

 

The thing that I keep reminding myself, is that for the last 6 weeks, even when I am not watching, the loons have not forgotten their responsibility.  They are forever on the lookout for danger.

 

And the are forever catching fish and feeding 'our' chicks so that they can grow up to be healthy and strong loons.

 

The wonderful cycle of life goes on.  Whether we are watching or aware or not.

 

 

Questions or Comments?   LoonCam@yahoo.com

 

Friday, July1, 2011 11:43am CDT

96 degrees  Sunny   Calm

One loon.

Two chicks.

A calm lake.

But already very busy with boats and skiers and swimmers.

The other adult loon is somewhere.  Who knows where.  I don't see him right now.

But I am not concerned.

As the chicks grow older, one of the adults often will spend time away.  Many times flying off someplace.

To where?  I don't know.

Why?  I don't know.

So many questions that I would like to know at times of what and why the loons do certain things.

Today is already oppresively hot and humid.

We can't seem to get anything midway this year.  It has been cold and windy and rainy most of the spring.  And yesterday we went into full blown deep-South summer.  I know people from the South probably laugh at us for not liking the heat and humidity.  But I for one prefer cooler weather.  The heat and especially the humidity just drains me.

I often joke that when it gets cold, you can always put more clothes on to stay warm.

When it gets hot, no matter what YOUR personal limit is, there is a limit to how much you can take off!

But that is not a problem for our loons.

They are in the water and can stay cool all day.  In fact, because of the weather this spring, the water is unusually cold for this time of year.

Right now the adult and two chicks are swimming straight out from me.  Not too far away from where the nest was.

After not seeing much of them for almost a week, yesterday the spent most of the time in this area.  Swimming back and forth.  Relaxing.  Preening.  Doing foot waggles.  Feeding on uncounted minnows.

In between sessions of mowing in the heat and humidity, I took time to go for a swim to cool off.  Or 'cold off' with as cold as the water is.

One of the loons came flying in with his 'flying tremolo' calls announcing his return.  There was a wail in return from the other adult with the chicks.  They swam toward each other.

The loons were swimming and feeding not too far away when I went for my swim.  I called to them and surprisingly they started to swim towards me.  That does not happen often at all.

I remained quietly in the water and they swam up to about 50 to 100 feet away.  And they just sat there and went about their business of preening and peering and foot waggling.  The chicks copied with their own motions of the parents.

The sun was hanging low in the western sky.  A ball of flaming red in the humid haze.

It was a special moment.

Right now the 3 loons are swimming straight out.  

The chicks are seeming to have fun practicing their newfound diving skills.

This is the first time I have seen this this year.

I have seen them dive but not this much or this often.  They obviously have learned their lessons well since they look much like their parents when they dive.  They slightly rise up, then the body curls over and they gracefully slip beneath the surface in one smooth motion.

One chick does it several times.  And then the other chick, not to be outdone by its sibling, begins to dive also.  Dive.  Surface.  Dive again.  I wish I could see what they are doing below the surface.  Are they just practicing their diving skills?  Or are they actually attempting to catch minnows?  And maybe even actually succeed once in a while.

It is fun to watch them as they seem to be actually enjoying their repeated dives.  The adult just sits and watches.

They are diving for up to 20 seconds at a time.  So obviously they are swimming fairly deep.  And they are surfacing some distance from where they dove.

It is good to see them able to more efficiently dive.  It will help protect them on this very busy holiday weekend with all the boats on the lake.  The lake is likely to be a zoo!  The heat.  The first nice weather.  And one of the biggest holidays of the year with the 4th of July weekend.

It is a good time for all of us to remind each other to be on the lookout for loons and to give them their space when we are out on the lake.  Even though our chicks are starting to dive more and more, that is not the case with all loons this weekend.

Loons farther north and in Canada and also those in New England are just now hatching their chicks.  And those chicks are very vulnerable to being hit by speeding boats when they cannot dive to get out of the way.

So whether you are celebrating Canada Day today or the 4th of July this weekend, watch for loons.

Happy 4th and happy Canada Day to all of you!  May you enjoy this time with friends and family.

Take time to give thanks for all the blessings that are in your life!

Questions and Comments?   LoonCam@yahoo.com