Sunday, April 22, 2012 6:13am CDT

Travis Frank April 22, 2012

40 degrees F Cloudy Wind 5mph NE

Sunrise Today 6:14am Sunset 8:08pm

Our two loons swim together, not far from the nest.

Their heads are held high. On alert. Both of them looking the same direction.

What has their attention is hard to tell. But based on the last couple of days, they are most likely on alert for other loons on the lake.

During most of the year, they are able to get along with other loons just fine. But at this time of the year, during nesting time, another male loon in the area can be a grave threat. So they are wise to be on alert.

I have not heard any yodels or tremolos so that is hopefully good news.

Yesterday was not the first time there was a territorial face off. Nor, I am sure, will it be the last. It is an everyday part of a loon's life. If you have not seen the two videos I posted on last night's blog of two territorial chases, you may want to check them out. They are not videos of our loons chasing but they are loons on other lakes chasing each other. I would encourage you to go back and look at them. It will help you see and understand what goes on during a territorial chase. They are very interesting (and even fun in a way) to watch.

As if we needed any more drama, last night a couple of our faithful watchers saw something and one of them captured something spectacular. Go check it out in the Chat Room at the 4:20am mark.

Some of the willow branches intended to keep the eagles away from the nest, actually drew another visitor to check out the nest. And those willow branches are now gone because of that visitor.

There was a BEAVER on the nest last night!

A number of years ago before we were on the web with the Loon Cam and before we had night vision, I had suspected a beaver of being up on the nest. But I did not know for sure. I could only surmise. Now this is the first time that we have proof of it with pictures.

When it happened a few years ago, I knew some of the willow branches had disappeared but I did not know why. I didn't know if a storm had taken them or what.

Only after the season was over, did I discover a clue when I went out to pull the nesting platform in to shore.

Some of the branches had gnaw marks on them and they had been cut off cleanly about 10 to 12 inches above the nest. I suspected a beaver at that time but I did not have any proof. As I looked at it, I also thought about a muskrat gnawing them off. But muskrats tend to go more toward cattails and cattail roots whereas beavers go after the sweet bark of some trees. Especially poplar trees. That is like candy to them.

But these are willows, not poplars. So it might be like sweet corn instead of candy. Not the favorite but surely still likeable.

In addition to the gnawing marks on those branches many years ago, where they were gnawed off was too high for a muskrat. But it would have been perfect height for a beaver sitting there gnawing.

And now we have photographic proof of a beaver having been up on the platform. And some of the willow branches are missing this morning. I missed all of that. I went to bed about an hour before the beaver showed up. I think I am glad I missed it or I wouldn't have gotten any sleep wondering what was going on out on the nest!

But we still have our camera cables!

That is my biggest concern. Either a muskrat or a beaver could make short work of gnawing through the cables at any time. And then our viewing for the year would be over.

So enjoy the pictures of the beaver on the nest. Especially look at the last picture where you can see the loon swimming near the nest while the beaver eats some of the willow branches.

We still have the willow branches on the other corner of the nest. He did not take those. So we still have some protection from an eagle swooping directly down on the nest. But that is also the corner where the camera and infrared light cables come down. So we don't need him being in that area.

What will today bring?

Your guess is as good as mine.

This is truly "reality tv"!

Will we have more territorial battles? In all likelihood 'yes'.

Will we have more beaver and muskrat visits? Probably. But we just have to hope that they do not do any damage to the video or light cables.

What next? A raccoon? A mink?

Both of them could be a danger to the loons and the eggs.

Even though both are capable of swimming out to the raft, the likelihood that they would is fairly small. The mink would be more apt to do so than the raccoon I think. And I did see a very large mink going along the shore right here a few days ago.

Raccoons are one of the greatest predators of loon eggs in nests that are built on shore. That is one of the reasons that loons seem to like a floating nest like this ... it gives them some added protection from land based predators like raccoons and mink and weasels.

So what will it be today that adds even more drama?

Will it be other loons? Eagles? Raccoon? Mink?

You take your choice.

I can do without any drama for a few days.

Other than the drama of an egg being laid.

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

Saturday, April 21, 2012 7:06 pm CDT

Travis Frank April 21, 2012

44 degrees Cloudy and Rain Wind 5mph SE

For now, peace reigns on the lake.

There have been light rain showers most of the afternoon under a gray, leaden sky.

There have been some thunderstorms in the state with at least one tornado warning. But it doesn't look like any of that will make it here to the lake and to our loons. It is just too cold for severe storms to pop up. In fact, a little further north there have been snow showers again today. But it has been a dusting with no significant accumulation like there was earlier in the week in some areas of the northern part of the state.

Ahhhhhh, Minnesota. The "Theatre of Seasons"!

If you don't like the weather, hang around for five minutes!

The quiet rain and weather today has not been matched by the action on the lake.

For most of the day, since early this morning there have been territorial battles going on.

I mentioned when I signed off this morning that I was going to go check things out to see what was going on. We have at least one other pair of loons on the lake.

When I went to check this morning, there was our pair of loons in a face off with another male loon. They were in full fledged confrontation with splashing and chasing and diving and even penguin dances with both loons up in the penguin position at the same time facing each other.

While they were facing each other and calling and yodeling and the female was tremoloing, I heard another loon from the other side of the lake also making a tremolo call. So that is how I know that there were at least four loons on the lake today .... the three I could see and the other one calling from across the lake.

That has been happening off and on all day long.

For my own well being and the need to get other things done, I have chosen not to watch most of it too closely today. Other than to be aware of what was going on.

I mentioned the chase that was happening early this morning which started all of this. I know it is hard to visualize what that kind of chase is like so here are a couple videos that show you exactly that type of behaviour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLIussZPd8k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zWnBgCTeZM

It is absolutely amazing when you see such a chase. When you don't know what it is, it is pretty fun to watch. But it is deadly serious to the loons.

So now you can see a little of what has been happening off and all day.

I am not sure what kind of effect this has on the egg laying. So many things that we do not know.

I was in a meeting all day yesterday and then a hospital visit last night, so it was very late and after dark before I got home.

When I logged onto the cam, I fully expected to see a loon on the nest in the night vision. And with the behaviour the previous day, it would not have surprised me if the first egg had been laid yesterday while I was gone.

But it was not to be.

So we wait.

Our loons are out on the lake peacefully swimming right now in the rain.

They know what is going on. We don't. We can only wait until they show us what is going on.

So much drama.

Now is not the time to miss a minute of it!

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

Saturday, April 21, 2012 6:15am CDT

Travis Frank April 21, 2012

42 degrees F Cloudy Wind 7mph SE

The loons have already been up on the nest this morning and mated once again but have left the nest.

Right now there is something happening that is not good.

One loon is chasing another!

I am not sure which one is which but this looks like a territorial battle and chase. Both loons are scurrying across the surface of the water as fast as their legs and wings can propel them. Round and round. Back and forth.

A couple days ago, I saw a single "intruder" loon most of the way across the lake. "Our" loons swam over to check him out but I did not see any confrontation.

Yesterday morning as I was leaving for a meeting, my neighbor met me in the driveway saying that two loons were fighting near the nest. Unfortunately I did not have any time to come back and observe what was going on. So I do not know for sure what happened there. [I did not get home until late last night so I have not had a chance to read the chatroom to see what anyone posted about yesterday.]

But right now the chase is on.

I would be thoroughly enjoying the spectacle and laughing at them if I did not know how serious something like this was.

Back and forth they are going. Chasing each other.

It is this kind of confrontation that can lead to a change of territory among loons.

Or worse, can lead to injury.

Right now, I want to go watch what is going on. I will try to write more later today ... although I probably won't be able to tell you definitively who 'won' and who 'lost'.

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

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

Minnesota Bound

Sharing Stories of the Great Outdoors