Wednesday, April 25, 2012 3:18 pm CDT

Travis Frank April 25, 2012

76 Degrees F Sunny Wind Calm

[First of all, let me apologize for not posting before now. I was ready to post at 5:30am this morning just as it was becoming light. The loons were sitting unusually close to shore, between the shore and the nest.

But I have had a major computer malfunction. The screen on my computer was totally black even though trying a number of different things.

I had to leave for a meeting a little before 7 and did not have time to try to figure out what had happened. I have now been home a couple hours and still have not figured out what has happened ... if it is a virus or something else.

I thought for sure I would have to go to the library to post anything for you. But I was able to dig out a very old monitor (it is terrible) and kluge things together and I can at least now see what I am typing ... although barely.]

Yesterday was a pretty peaceful day in the "War of the Pansies"!

The loons were back and forth on the lake, much of the time totally out of my sight. But they spent little time on the nest.

Then about 9pm, something happened that I have never seen. Nor did I see it this time - one of our faithful viewers from many years recorded it. She said one loon was getting up on the nest when suddenly another one attacked from behind. Obviously one of them must have been an intruder, probably the one that got attacked. I have never seen that happen before in all the years of watching loons. I am sorry that I was not home to see it.

When I did get home, there were a number of yodels and tremolos from the lake shortly after 10pm.

As I went down to the lake to listen, there did not seem to be a fight. I could not see the loons in the dark but it sounded like a pair were yodeling and calling fairly close to the nest. The anwering yodel was coming from the other side of the lake. Over and over they called. The close loon would yodel and what was apprently the mate with him would tremolo. And then from across the lake would come the answering yodel.

Over and over they called. 'This is my territory, stay away.' And the answer, 'Oh yeah? Well THIS is MY territory so YOU stay away from over here!'

The loon across the lake had a very unique yodel which I have not heard before. The first note sounded good, the second note sort of cracked and then then third note was just pitiful. So unless he just has a case of laryngitis, this may be a distinguishing characteristic for this particular loon.

But they were far enough away from each other that even in the darkness it was obvious that they were not physically fighting.

Then it was quiet for a while. I thought I need to get to bed because 5am comes too fast.

But then just after midnight yodels and tremolos started from loons that sounded like they were close to the nest. But this time they were not answered from across the lake.

These are the loon symphonies that I used to love to listen to up in the Boundary Waters on a canoe trip. Now I enjoy them a little less because I know what is being said. But I still enjoy that wonderful, indescibable sound of the wild.

At 12:15am, one of the loons got up on the nest and did a little bit of nest building. Then the other loon also got up there, the male I assume. The female finally left after about17 minutes but the male stayed on the nest.

Altogether they were on the nest for22 minutes, one of the longest times on the nest that I have seen this year.

The muskrat decided to also make a couple visits again last night. But thankfully no beaver.

Amazingly, I understand from the chat that there was a goose on the nest today but that the loon made sure there was not welcome mat for him!

The loons have been near the nest since I came home and have also been all the way across the lake.

When I saw they were across the lake I saw a chance to quickly go out to the nest and see if I could do something to tone down the brightness of the IR light on night vision. Let me know if it helped tonight since I am having trouble see a viewable picture. I was able to do it quickly and the loons did not even know I was there.

I don't know what to tell you about updates with the computer problems I am having. Hopefully this will hold together until I can figure out something more permanent. But this monitor is driving me nuts so my posts may be a little shorter. And you can be thankful for that! ;-) [Please excuse any misspellings since I can't see them well.]

The good folks at Broadband have been trying to bring the sound levels up a little bit so hopefully you can hear a little more of the background sounds.

Comments or Questions? LoonCam@yahoo.com

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 1:37pm CDT

Travis Frank April 24, 2012

Just a heads up for those of you who might be watching.

If I get a chance this afternoon when the loons are well away from the nest, I may try to go down and wipe what appears to be a spider web off the front of the camera. It will probably be the last time I have a chance to do it.

If I am able to do it, it probably won't last more than a few seconds.

But I just wanted to give you fair warning in case you see a hand appear in front of the lens.

It is an absolutely beautiful sunny day here in Minnesota. Just a very light breeze and temperature of 76 degrees.

And better yet, it has also been a much more peaceful day for the loons. They just visited the nest a few minutes ago although they did not get up on the nest.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 7:14am CDT

Travis Frank April 24, 2012

44 degrees F Clear Calm

Yesterday was a day that was a little quieter in the "War of the Pansies".

While there were times of yodels and tremolos between competing loons, I did not see any chases take place, although they may have and I just wasn't watching at the time.

There is at least one other pair of loons on the lake that I have seen.

On this cool calm Minnesota morning, two loons sit in the rising morning sun not too far out from the nest.

They are both half rolled over on their sides, their beautiful white breasts exposed as they preen their all important coat of feathers. The condition of that coat determines if they have protection from the cold water and cold air. So they will spend a lot of time each day preening and making sure every feather is just right. And that every feather is coated with a special oil that they produce with a gland located at the base of their tail.

Each of them is doing the "foot waggle".

The foot waggle is when a loon extends one leg out of the water and waves that impossibly large foot in the air.

Someone has calculated that if we were to measure a loon's foot in terms of human measurements, they would have a 46 Triple R shoe size! That large foot is one of the things that makes loons such powerful swimmers. It allows them to chase and catch even the most nimble minnow or small fish under water.

No one knows for sure why loons do the "foot waggle".

I have read some researchers who claimed that they did it as a temperature control mechanism and to cool off. That is one explanation that I personally don't buy or understand. If they were trying to cool off, it seems more logical that they would keep their foot in the water which is usually much cooler than waving it around in the warmer air.

To me, the foot waggle is yet one more of the many things about loons that we do not understand.

You can even see the youngest chick only a few days old doing the foot waggle. It is something so characteristic of loons. I am not sure if other waterbirds do it or not. I have not observed them doing it like I have seen loons do over and over.

So on a beautiful spring morning, our loons are relaxing.

They have already been up on the nest this morning and mated as well as a couple times yesterday.

They were even up on the nest late last night in the dark.

It is good to see them back on the nest after the interruptions of the last few days and very little time on or around the nest. Hopefully things are settling down so that they can get about the business of raising a new generation of loons.

One can only wish they would have brought with them the map from last year that they drew with the locations of the territorial boundaries and that they could skip all this territorial confrontation. But, alas, they seem to have forgotten the map down south and so they go through the re-establishment of territory.

It is amazing to see how well defined the boundaries become. You can almost draw a physical line in the water which represents the line across which the loons will not stray once they have established the territory. How they know, I do not know. But the important thing is that they know where that line is and whose territory is whose.

Once that line is established, there will be more peace, less fighting and less confrontation. And the loons can get down to what they need to do at this time of year. Laying eggs and raising young loons.

I got a note yesterday from Carol Jansky at St John's University. Carol was involved 2 years ago when we implanted the satellite tranmitters in two loons from the St John's campus. One of the loons they affectionately named "Big John". She told me that Big John and his mate have already apparently laid egg(s) over the weekend and are now incubating them.

That is what we are waiting for here.

Then we can all breathe a sigh of relief when the eggs are laid ... that is breathe a sigh of relief until the next event in the drama strikes.

Twitter and tweet and let your facebook friends know that now is the time to start watching now if they are not already doing so. They will never regret being a part of this beautiful drama.

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

Monday, April 23, 2012 6:35 am CDT

Travis Frank April 23, 2012

30 degrees Clear Calm

Large banks of fog drift across a quiet northern lake.

The rising sun is started to chase the fog back and forth across the lake.

Through the fog, the reflections of trees are cast in the smooth surface of the water. Here and there a fish jumps.

It is a chilly frosty morning. Frost blankets the docks and the grass and the tops of cars.

And the battle of the loons continues.

A battle for territory.

A battle for a nesting site.

A battle that in this case might be called the "War of the Pansies"!

For that is what this is about. Which loons will control which part of the lake. And ultimately which loons will take ownership of the nesting platform on which to lay their eggs. The nesting platform that a few days ago had some yellow and blue pansies blooming.

Pansies which now are a little worse for the wear caused by mating loons. By muskrats. And by beavers. They are still there waiting to bloom another day. They have not been eaten by critters.

And another day will come.

Three loons have been together out toward the middle of the lake. At times it seems like they are peacefully swimming together. Then suddenly there will be excited dives and splashing. And it is obvious that there is more going on than what it first looks like.

It is from these 'splashing dives' that many times a full-blown chase sometimes ensues.

I have not seen a chase yet this morning but I would not be surprised if there has been one or that there will still be a chase yet today. Obviously there has been no cease fire yet and the terms of the settlement and the boundaries are yet to be drawn.

We get anxious and just want the loons to lay a couple eggs so that in a month we can see two beautiful chicks.

But there is a whole drama that has to play out that leads up to that wonderful event. And that drama has not yet fully played out yet this year.

Without the Loon Cam, it is a drama that most of us would never even be aware of. Yet it is an every year occurence for the loons. Something that happens to loons all over the great north that they call home but that most of us never get a chance to see. We want all our stories to be all nice and pretty and free of conflict and 'lived happily ever after'. But nature doesn't always work that way.

In fact, truth be told nature seldom works that way.

So this conflict is what it is.

Even in this we need to look and listen and learn.

I have to be honest with you. I do not know which loons are which right now. I cannot tell you which are 'our loons'. Which ones are the ones that have already been on the nest many times and doing some fairly serious nest building. They have not been wearing their "runner's numbers" so that we can easily tell them apart.

Two years ago there had been some conflict between loons and that is the year I think we actually had a change of loons that used the nest. Nesting activity had proceeded like expected. And then it came to a halt for almost two weeks. But then it picked up again and 'the' pair nested and laid two eggs. However, the pair acted different than the one from previous years. If it was a different pair I cannot be sure. But every indication was that we had a change.

Who knows what the outcome of this one will be.

This has definitely changed the pace of things and changed the amount of time they are spending on the nest. I have not seen them up on the nest yet this morning and they were on the nest precious little yesterday.

We can only wait and watch. And learn.

It is totally out of our hands at this point. We are mere observers to the great drama playing out before our eyes.

The loons are writing the script to this play.

They are also the directors and actors.

We sit in the audience watching all of it unfold.

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

Sunday, April 22, 2012 9:18pm CDT

Travis Frank April 22, 2012

43 degrees Partly Cloudy Absolutely Calm

I have just come inside after sitting watching the loons. For almost an hour, the male has been near the nest. [But if it makes you feel any better, even if we were able to have a wider camera range you would not have seen him. He remained just out of camera range.] I was driven in by the darkness and by the chill in the air.

There have been several more territorial fights today although I have been gone for a good share of the day so I did not see all of what went on.

Shortly after I posted this morning's entry, there was a full-fledged confrontation similar to the two "chase videos" I gave you.

The 'good' part of this is that the loons definitely have taken ownership of the nest and are trying to defend it.

The 'bad' part is that they use up a lot of energy that they need to lay eggs, hatch and raise their chicks. And there is always the possibility that they may be driven off the nest and a new pair of loons take over. I think this actually happened in 2010.

Tonight as I was watching the one loon float peacefully near the nest, suddenly he was on high alert.

I hadn't seen or heard anything but obviously he had.

Just like that another loon surfaced right next to him.

Immediately both loons went into full penguin dance postures. Their bright white breasts only inches from each other. What a spectacular sight. Then one of the loons started rowing across the top of the water as fast as he could go, tremoloing as he went. The other one followed for a very short distance and then settled back down.

But the pursued kept rowing across the surface as fast as he could even though he was no longer being pursued. Most of the way out to the middle of the lake Where he was joined by what must be his mate.

The other loon returned near the platform where he kept his watch.

But where was his mate?

No where to be seen. Even though I had seen two pairs swimming on the other side of the lake earlier in the afternoon.

Now I am confused. Who is who? Which ones are "our loons"? Who are the others? And 'who is on first'?!

It is like watching a boxing match with two identical twins facing each other.

But they at least wear different color and style of trunks. In this case, the 'boxers' wore identical black and white and spotted and striped 'trunks'.

So as darkness fell, one loon kept a vigil by the nest.

I know better than to wonder too much and get all upset wondering if the mate to this one is ok. And where is she. But I know what I should do. And I know what my heart and emotions tell me to do. And right now they are winning. I cannot help but wonder if the mate to this loon by the nest is ok. And is this even 'our loon'. Or is this an intruder who has already carried out a palace coup?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and other mystery writers have written no better mysteries.

We will just have to wait and see what the next chapter of this mystery reveals to us!

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

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