Friday, April 20, 2012 5:51am CDT

Travis Frank April 20, 2012

33 degrees F Clear Wind 7mph N

Will this be the day?

One of these days, the loon will get on the nest and by the time she leaves the world will have changed.

There will be a loon egg on the nest.

Right now the loons swim nearby the nest. There is a call from another loon flying overhead.

Will she get up on the nest? Will it be more nest building? Will it be mating? Or will this be the time that there is an egg?

We are getting close.

Last night she was on the nest several times and each time she was more and more serious about nest building. So we are closer but how do you tell how close? How do you know which time will be "the time"? The only way is to continue to watch. Be ready to tell your family and friends that "now" is the time to quickly come to the computer and watch.

Here are a few hints of what to watch for.

When she gets up on the nest, she will go about her usual routine of using her feet to dig the nest bowl deeper. And she will pull in more nesting material from around her with her beak.

But she will be more active. More restless. More unsettled.

She may sort of "climb up on the edge of the nest". You will see body movements and 'spasms'. She may spread her wings to steady herself. It will be quite obvious that something different is going on. She is working hard. There is a very large egg moving down through her body.

And then it will happen.

All of a sudden an egg will almost pop out.

This whole procedure may go very quickly. Or it could be quite drawn out.

Many of you who have watched before will remember that she struggled mightily to lay that first egg. And then after she had laid it, she just laid there hardly moving for almost half an hour. I became very concerned that she had possibly injured herself in what was obviously a hard delivery of the egg. But she recovered and left the nest for a swim as the egg remained behind.

When it came time for her to lay the second egg, the whole procedure went very quickly.

What will happen this year?

Only time will tell.

And the only way to not miss it is to keep watching. Tell your family and your friends that we are getting close.

Comments or Questions? LoonCam(at)yahoo(dot)com

Thursday, April 19, 2012 9:02pm CDT

Travis Frank April 19, 2012

43 degrees F Mostly Cloudy Wind 10mph NNE

It looks like we may be getting very close to our first egg!

I would guess within the next couple days - or even tomorrow. I may even set my alarm clock for tomorrow morning even though I am normally up early to do the blog.

But the loons have often proved me wrong before. So the only way to know for sure is to watch. And wait.

Today the loons have spent increasing amounts of time near and on the nest. There has been an increasing amount of nest building activity and at times it seemed to have an urgency to it. They have mated several times again today. All of this is a very good indication that once again this year we are going to be able to watch the loons hopefully hatch two more beautiful chicks. But there is a long, long way to go yet.

So far you have had to take your chances if you would see a loon when you logged on to the cam. But the excitement when you are actually lucky enough to see the loons is hard to describe, isn't it?

Soon that will change.

Once the eggs are laid, you can almost be assured that every time you log on you will see one of our beautiful loons! Because for the next 4 weeks after they have laid the eggs, one of the loons will be on the nest almost non-stop.

I sometimes also take for granted that we are going to be able to watch the loons, even though I have told you that I go through a period of paranoia for about 2 weeks before they actually nest.

What you may not know is that only slightly over half of the nesting platforms that are put out actually get used by loons! I have been so fortunate that the loons have used this particular nesting platform every year since I put it out. So it is easy to assume that they will use it every year. But we are not guaranteed anything.

I have just returned from one more time being in the lake. No, nothing to do with the camera or the nest.

I placed a number of buoys some distance out from the nest to try to encourage fishermen and boaters to keep their distance from the nest. Most of the time it works. Sometimes better than others. I have yet to see anyone do anything maliciously. But we have had instances of people doing things without thinking.

The neighbors have been gracious enough to put their swimming raft out to also try to keep people away from the nest. So I pulled that out a little further while I was out there.

I had tried earlier this evening to do it but with no luck.

I watched for sometime and even with the binoculars I could not see the loons anywhere. [You already probably know where this is going!] So I quickly changed into my swimming suit and went in the water dragging a whole bunch of buoys and anchors.

I got to about where I wanted to place the first buoy and dropped it there.

I had not taken more than a few steps to place the next buoy and sure enough, there was a loon swimming about a hundred feet from me. And the other one was further out in the lake but definitely headed toward me. Neither one seemed to be upset. But it was as if they were saying "We just want you to know that our eyes are never off this nest!"

I left the other buoys right where they were. All in a bunch. And I started backing up toward shore as I talked to the loons. They showed neither distress nor being upset. They followed me part way as I retreated toward shore.

Once I was up on shore, I watched as they swam out to the bunch of buoys. They swam around them and dived, obviously checking out what this new thing was in their territory. And then having apparently satisfied themselves, they swam back out into the lake.

So far there is not much boat traffic. But that could change quickly if we return to warm weather.

The big pressure will come in the middle of may when Minnesota observes one of the biggest rituals of the year - Fishing Opener. This is when it becomes legal to take walleyes and other game fish and then hundreds of thousands of people head to our lakes to go fishing.

But tonight it is quiet.

There are now buoys out to keep boats away from the nest.

And there are two loons that are getting closer and closer to laying that all important first egg.

Get ready to Tweet and Twitter and Facebook and IM and email and every other way [even old fashioned phone calls!] so that none of your family and friends and schools miss the big event.

Comments or Questions? LoonCam(at)yahoo(dot)com

Thursday, April 19, 2012 7:29am CDT

Travis Frank April 19, 2012

40 degrees F Cloudy Wind 5mph NE

The loons have already been around and up on the nest this morning.

I think now all of you should have the picture back. I am with you, I am not sure either what happened overnight. Those of you who were still up saw that we lost the picture for some reason about 11:30pm last night. There was still a picture being transmitted from the camera but somewhere along the unbelievably long line of things that have to work, something quit working for a while. A few people were having trouble getting a picture late last night, while I and many others were still getting great picture and sound. But then it finally went down about 11:30pm. I don't know what happened or where it happened.

I am glad that you have a picture now. Most people were not even aware of losing the picture - only the night owls and the early morning risers.

It was not related to the camera almost going in the lake a couple days ago during the storm. We were able to catch the camera before it actually went in the water so it was not due to that.

The forecast today is for more rain, potentially heavy at times. This is forecast to last most of the day with a 90% chance of rain and some scattered thunderstorms. But the loons could care less about a little rain. They are used to water.

Right now the loons are somewhere out on the lake. I do not see them. But I would expect them to come back in to the nest sometime yet this morning.

All of the signs are very hopeful.

They seem to have definitely taken ownership of the nest. That is the most hopeful sign.

A couple days ago, I saw a Canada goose who was near the nest suddenly come flying towards shore. A loon partially surfaced where the goose had been. I am sure the loon told the goose in no uncertain terms to get out of there. That this was "loon territory"!

But even more encouraging is the fact that the loons have mated on the nest a number of times and now have begun some nest building activity when they are up there. Using their feet to dig a bowl in the nesting materials. Pulling in other materials from the sides.

All of it very encouraging signs that very soon we may see the first egg being laid.

I should know better than to make any predictions. But I feel that we should see an egg being laid in the next few days to a week. But then what do I know. Only the loons know for sure and they are not telling us.

But one of the many miracles that we will witness again this year is that right now inside the female loon there is probably an egg being formed.

Everything that is necessary for the creation of new life. New life out of "nothing".

If that is not a miracle, I don't know what is!

A loon egg is quite large. Much larger than a chicken egg. It takes a lot of energy for the loon to produce that egg. And not only one egg like that, but two. A loon has to have a lot of food available after a long flight north to have the energy to produce those eggs. And that means a lot of small fish and other food.

If food is scarce in any given year, the loons may produce only one egg or may not even lay an egg that year. But food should not be a problem for our loons on this lake. There is an abundance of small sunfish and other fish for them to eat.

So today, hope always springs eternal.

We hope that our loons are out eating all they can right now. To have enough energy to produce an egg. And not only one egg, but two.

And we hope beyond hope that we will once again have the unbelievable privilege of watching two little beautiful black downy chicks being hatched. And then watch as they leave the nest and go off into the big new world to grow into adult loons.

To grace us with their beauty and their unbelievably beautiful and haunting calls.

Those calls that tell us we are in the beauty of the wildernesses of great north.

Comments or Questions? LoonCam(at)yahoo(dot)com

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 6:08 am CDT

Travis Frank April 18, 2012

53 degrees F Cloudy Wind 12 mph SSE

We have had more rain overnight and this morning promises even more with a possibility of thunderstorms.

Nearer the Canadian Border, there has been freezing rain this morning. Those are the same areas of the state that got close to a foot a snow on Monday! But here it is just rain with the warmer temperatures.

I promised some of you who were at the "Lunch and Learn" seminar yesterday that I would give you the link to the USGS website that tracks loon migration through the implanted satellite transmitters. It is:

http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html

It was so good to meet some of you at seminar. The organizers of the Lunch and Learn said it was more than double what they have ever had for any of their other seminars. We do love our loons, don't we?

Even though 'our loons' have already been home almost a month, some of the loons are still migrating north from their wintering grounds on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. One of the loons whose home lake is Vermilion Lake on the edge of the Boundary Waters wilderness near the Canadian border, was still on the Atlantic off the coast of South Carolina on Monday.

What is it that triggers some loons to come north early and some to stay on the ocean many weeks longer?

So many mysteries that we can only guess at and wonder. Mysteries that only point out the marvels and miracles of nature.

One of the loons here has already been up on the nest this morning while the mate swam nearby.

You can expect to see this type of behavior increase as we near the time for the laying of the first egg. They will come to the nest more often, spend a little bit of time and leave. I don't know how to predict when the first egg will be laid but I would not be surprised if we are within about a week or less of the first egg.

Anticipation!

I have heard a few yodel calls this morning.

I have not gone down to the lake to see what the loons are concerned about. I cannot see them from here right now. It may be that an eagle is already flying over the lake this morning looking for breakfast. Or it may be other loons that are on the lake.

Last year for the first time that I can ever remember, we had another pair of loons that nested on a channel off the lake and successfully hatched two little chicks and successfully raised them. That is a first for this lake in a long, long time if not ever.

I have not seen another pair on the lake this year but that does not mean there is not one.

Loons will establish a very distinct territory on a lake that is "theirs". And they will defend that territory against other loons and all intruders.

Researchers have plotted the position of loons on the lake. And it becomes very obvious that there is an invisible line that separates the two pairs of loons. There is no 'physical line' to be seen, but the loons know exactly where it is. And they do not cross it. Any crossing of that line can lead to a confrontation and a fight.

How they know where that line is, is again one of the many mysteries and miracles that we do not seem to be smart enough to see and figure out.

The shape of a lake can more determine how many pairs of loons can use it and nest on it than the actual size, A lake with many bays and fingers can support more loons than a round lake. The bays allow the loons to stay out of sight of each other during nesting season and therefore to avoid conflict. On a more open lake, if the loons can see each other, they probably will fight.

One of the other prime conditions for loons is that the lake must have an abundance of small fish.

Loons eat water insects, crayfish, leeches and other small food like that but their primary diet is minnows and other small fish.

A loon can eat up to 2 pounds of fish a day so it takes a lot of small fish to keep a loon fed.

Right now our loons are apparently out feeding somewhere else on the lake.

But they will be back to the nest yet today. Once or several times. I hope that you are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them when they come back to the nest.

One of the times will be the time that 'it is time'. And then the first egg will be laid!

Comments or Questions? LoonCam(at)yahoo(dot)com

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 6:29 am CDT

Travis Frank April 17, 2012

26 degrees F Partly Cloudy Wind Calm

Wisps of fog drift across the lake like ghosts from Dicken's "A Christmas Carol".

Everything is white with frost including a loon nest.

It is a cold morning here in Minnesota. But oh it is so sweet to have a calm lake without the howling winds of yesterday. And without the drama of a camera about ready to be blown into the lake.

Two loons swim quietly near the nest, perfectly reflected in the still surface of the lake.

They have come in to make sure everything is ok but they do not get up onto the nest.

Apparently content that everything is still ok, they swim off to parts unknown.

This morning you can really see the beginnings of the nest with the low angle of the light striking it. During the times that she has been up on the nest, she has already begun to develop a very nice bowl shape by moving the nesting material around with her legs.

Loons are very opportunistic with their nest building and will use almost anything that is available. Since they have such difficulty getting around on land, they will usually build their nest within a few feet of shore. And they will use what ever they can find to form a nest. They have been known to just make a depression in the sand or gravel or dirt on the shore of the lake with very little added to it.

But more often they will pull in whatever vegetation they can from the area right around the nest. It is not unusual for them to form a nest on the top of a muskrat house. For those from other parts of the country or other parts of the world that may not be familiar 'muskrat houses' , they are large mounds of cattail rushes that muskrats cut and pile into a mound along with mud and other material. They make a chamber inside the mound of cattail fronds with a tunnel leading to the water. This keeps them safe and protected all winter but still allows them to get to ice free water through the tunnel to gather their food during the winter.

A loon will often stake out territory on the top of that muskrat house and rearrange the materials to form a nest.

But loons do not need anything fancy to make a nest. They will use whatever is available to them. So this nesting platform with its 'sleep number' bed is pretty high class for them with all that they need. Especially floating on the water with easy access and away from land based predators.

Today watch for continued swim-bys of the nest as they check it out. And for more times when they will get up on the nest and continue to work on the 'bowl'. And of course for mating. All of them are activities that show the loons have taken ownership of the nest and that we will once again be able to watch all the drama unfold. As eggs are laid. And hopefully as beautiful little downy new loonlings are hatched.

I look forward to seeing several of you who have said you have registered for the "Lunch and Learn" today at the Sandhill Center for the Arts in Bethel, MN.

They have told me that they have sold out and have over twice as many people as they have ever had for one of these sessions! But if you still want to come, call and see if there are any last minute cancellations. It would be fun to meet you.

http://www.stfrancisce.com/insight/registry/classinfo.asp?courseID=4834&catID=1045

We love our loons, don't we?

Comments or Questions? LoonCam(at)yahoo(dot) com

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