Thursday, May 3, 2012 7:26am CDT

 

60 degrees F    Cloudy    Wind  3mph NE

Sunrise  5:57am     Sunset  8:22pm

 

 

Both loons sit on the nest face to face as I write this.

 

Each time they get up on the nest one can only wonder 'Will this time be the time?'

 

One of these times, it will be the time.  

 

And then everything will change.  Once there is an egg on the nest, the loons will be there almost any time you look at the cam.  The egg becomes an anchor.  Something that binds them to the nest for the next month.

 

But until then, they will come and go.

 

One can't help but wonder if 'this one' might be the time.

 

However, we are only spectators.  We can only watch and wait.  And hope.  There is nothing we can do which will speed up the egg laying.  Nor slow it down.  The loons are the ones who determine everything that happens.

 

We need to remind ourselves that we are still well within the 'normal range' for laying of eggs on this nest.  So there is still no need for concern even though we become impatient.

 

Today there are still thunderstorms moving through the state but none that are threatening the loon nest right now.

 

There were heavy winds and rains during the middle of the night last night but so far the nest is holding up.

 

Last night was an active night for other wildlife as well.

 

The muskrat made several visits and there was a report that the beaver once again was up on the nest (although I was on the phone and missed the beaver visit).

 

Something happened after the first beaver visit that I did not tell you about.  As you may know, when the beaver visited before he decided to make a meal of some of the willow branches on one corner of the nest.  Willow branches that are meant to keep eagles from swooping directly down on the nest.  The willow branches on that corner of the nest are now just stubs.

 

The branches on the other corner of the nest where the camera is mounted are still intact.

 

I was concerned not only for those willows but even moreso for the television and sound cables that come down along the camera mount.  It would take only one bite by the beaver to sever those cables and we would lose everything for the year.  Video and sound would be gone and with the loons getting close to nesting, there would probably be no chance to replace them.

 

The muskrat could do the same damage.  Just that he would not do it as fast as the beaver.  It might take several chomps by the muskrat before he severed the cables.  Whereas the beaver could do it in one chomp.

 

So a couple weeks ago when the loons were no where near the nest, I once again made my way out to the nest with what I hoped might be at least a partial solution.

 

I sprayed the willows and cables and mounting pole with hot pepper wax!

 

For those of you who are gardners, you know what that is.  It is just what it sounds like.  Hot peppers in a spray solution.  It is used to keep deer and rabbits and other critters from munching on things in the garden.

Will it work here?  We can only hope it will.

 

Hopefully one taste by either the beaver of the muskrat will convince them that this is not something they want to gnaw on.

 

That is unless we have a Mexican beaver or muskrat that LIKES hot food!

 

Over the last few days there have been several instances of a 'mating behavior' that I have never seen before and was quite hilarious to watch.  For lack of a better description, you could call it the "sitting on her head" behavior.

 

I am not sure if it is inexperience on the part of the male or if something else is going on.  But it has been funny to watch as the male mounted the female.  Although he did not quite get the 'alignment' right and he simply fell over on top of the female and just sat on her head!

 

You could hear the female making some muffled noises as the male sat on her head.  It was as if she was saying, "My mother told me not to go with you.  She said you didn't know what you were doing.  And that you would never amount to anything.  But did I listen.  NO!  Now GET OFF ME!  Get off my head!"

 

And with that she literally had to almost carry the male along with her as she moved to get out from under him and off the nest.  Several of our faithful viewers caught the whole episode on video and you can see one of the videos here (sorry that I can't post all of them  but thank you to all of you!).  It happens starting at about the 4 minute mark of this video.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxVnv7BMNFM&feature=youtu.be

 

So have a good laugh this morning as you wait for eggs to arrive.

 

 

 

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

Copyright 2012   LarryBacklund

 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 5:35am CDT

56 degrees    Cloudy    Calm

Sunrise  5:59am     Sunset  8:21pm

After of an evening of storms last night, the lake is like a sheet of glass this morning.

A haze hangs in the air.

The trees on the shore of the far side of the lake are perfectly reflected in the mirror like surface of the lake.

The increasing daylight is just beginning to let us see the lake.

Two loons, also reflected perfectly in the surface of the water, have just made their pre-dawn inspection swim around the nest and convinced that everything is ok with the nest, they are now off to other parts of the lake to inspect their watery kingdom.

But after that inspection, they will no doubt be back.

Last night's storms did produce hail in some areas up to 2 inches in diameter and a couple of tornadoes.  But the storm here was thankfully not that severe.

Last night was not the first time that the loons have seen a storm.  Nor will it be the last.

There was heavy rain and wind and some small hail here.  But nothing that was real damaging.

The forecast is for a high temperature today in the mid-80s and the distinct possibility of more severe thunderstorms moving through the area tonight.  Especially if the loons have laid the first egg by tonight, let us hope that the weather does not get too severe.

If they are able to swim and they do not have to stay on an egg on the nest, they can put up with almost anything.  Rain does not mean much of anything to them.  Even heavy rain like we got last night - over 2 inches - does not affect them much.  After all, water is their element.  It is where they spend 90% of their life.

Even the large waves do not do much other than give them a good ride.

But what of the hail?

It was not too severe or too large here at the lake, but hail there was.

I do not know how the loons avoid the hail when they are swimming.  I have seen small hail bounce off a loon as she sat on the nest protecting her eggs.  But what do they do when they are out on the lake?  I don't know.

Usually if a storm is severe enough for hail, the rain is also heavy enough to see what is going on out on the lake.  But I assume that they simply dive to get out of the way of the hail bombardment.  They can spend most of their time underwater and just come up for a quick breath of air before they dive again.  But when they come up for that breath the would be exposed to the possibility of getting hit with the hail.  And if it is large, it could do damage.

But do they deal with hail by diving?  I can't honestly say because I have never been able to see it.  I can only surmise and assume.

But right now, they do not have to worry about wind and hail as they swim away on a crystal clear lake with a surface of glass.

Some viewers have wondered about the loud 'knocking' or 'tapping' sound that they sometimes hear on the Loon Cam.

Let me have you do an experiment with me that will help you understand what it is.

Go get your broom.

OK, do you have it?  Take a spoon or something solid and tap on the handle of the broom.  Notice how loud that tapping is.

Now hold the end of the broom handle up against your ear.  Once again tap on the broom handle with your spoon.

A little different?

You probably cannot believe how loud the tapping is when you hold the broom handle against your ear!

That is what is happening when you hear the knocking.  It is sound that is transmitted directly to the microphone.  Much of it is probably some of the small willow twigs tapping on the microphone housing.  When I first put the nest out, I carefully trimmed some of those tiny twigs away so that they would not touch the camera.  But storms have moved the willow branches so that now some of those twigs are striking the camera housing.

But it is nothing to worry about.  The loons do not hear it nearly as loud as you do.  To them it is an entirely natural sound that they would hear as branches and other things blow in the wind.

As a reminder to some of may have recently come to the Loon Cam, just out of sight behind the camera are some weeping willow branches that extend up from the nesting platform about 4 or 5 feet.  The purpose of these branches is to prevent an eagle from swooping directly down on the nest and taking either eggs or little baby loons.  Or worse yet, to do damage to an adult loon sitting on the nest.

There also used to be some willow branches on the corner of the nest to the right of your picture.  Now they are only stubs.  Eaten by a beaver that was on the nest one night a couple weeks ago.  But hopefully the remaining branches will be enough to keep the eagles at a distance and keep them from swooping down on the nest.

The nest also seems to have come through the storm last night in reasonably good shape.  Some materials washed away in the heavy rain and waves last night, but most of it is still there and in good shape.  This is a constant problem of nests in the wild, the possibility of being washed away.  And it is even more of a problem with nesting platforms.

But in the early morning light, our  nest appears to have made it through the storm in relatively good shape.

As have our loons.

They look beautiful in the early morning light and as if to emphasize that, nature has given us 'double loons' this morning as their silhouette is perfectly reflected in the calm surface of the water.

Now, until more storms come along, we can concentrate on the eternal question of 'will today be the day for an egg'?

Even the best Las Vegas odds maker does not have a good answer to that.

So all we can do is wait and watch.

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

Copyright 2012  Larry Backlund

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 5:34am CDT

 

52 degrees F    Cloudy     Wind Calm

Sunrise  6:00am      Sunset  8:20pm

 

 

The lake is still.

 

A slight haze hangs in the air.  Not really fog.  Just a haze.  A haze that softens the outline of the trees across the lake in the early pre-dawn light.

 

Our two loons float not far from the nest.

 

And just now they are headed toward the nest, apparently to give it their early morning inspection.

 

I have mentioned a number of times how I have trouble distinguishing one loon from another.  And there was no more perfect example of that than last night.

 

Loons in general are almost identical in their markings.  Unlike many birds there is not a distinction in the look or coloring of the male vs the female. With many birds the male is very brightly colored and the female is more subdued or even drab.

 

With loons the male is slightly larger than the female but even that is not a great or obvious difference.  Sometimes if the loons are swimming right next to each other, I can notice the difference.  If they are apart from each other, it is very difficult to tell the difference.

 

Add to that the fact that there can be a difference in the size of different males  and you have real trouble distinguishing between the male and female loon.

 

About 8 pm last night, the female got up on the nest while the male swam nearby.

 

She went about settling into the nest bowl, digging it deeper with her feet and making it feel just right.  She reached out and drew in different pieces of nesting material.  The nest building became more and more intense.  The male got up on the nest with her and sat and watched as she became more and more intent on building the nest.

 

As I watched, I wondered if this meant that she could feel the egg moving in her body and that it was urgent that she have the nest ready for the egg.  This went on for over 10 minutes.  Intense nest building while the male just sat next to her and watched.

 

She would drag material into the nest.  Then turn and get more.  Then settle in to make sure it felt right.  Then turn once again and bring in more material from as far as she could reach.  She even grabbed part of one of the pansies and dragged it into the nest.

 

I really was beginning to wonder if this might be the time and that we would  see her lay an egg.

 

It reminded me of a couple years ago when one of the loons went into frantic nest building mode.  It was as if the loon was suddenly possessed by an urge to build and build and build.

 

She was so intent on getting more material dragged into the nest that she actually had material stuck to her beak and to her face.

 

But then just like that she left the nest!

 

What?!

 

What happened to the urgency?  What happened to the egg?  What happened to the apparent need for her to quickly build the nest? 

 

The male just stayed on the nest as she swam.

 

Then she suddenly came back up on the nest from the 'back side' and the male immediately moved into the bowl of the nest.  She came and mounted the ..... wait a minute!  Who is who?  WHAT?!?!

 

It was the MALE who had been in such a frantic nest building mode.  It was the female who came up and sat and quietly watched.  It was the male who had nesting material stuck all over his face.  It was the male that had gotten back in the water!

 

And now as he got back on the nest, it was the female, who had been sitting quietly to the side of the nest bowl, that quickly moved to the nest bowl.

 

And one more time they mated.

 

I had to laugh as I realized that I had totally misunderstood which loon was the female and which was the male.  The one who exhibited the intense nest building behaviour was not the female but it was the male.  It was the female who sat right next to him and calmly watched his behaviour.

 

But it confirmed in the most definite terms that the male also takes part in building the nest.

 

It also confirmed how hard it is to distinguish a male loon from a female loon.

 

Today there are scattered showers forecast for the state.

 

A few of the storms could get severe but we can only hope that there will not be anything severe here for our loons.  Rain is fine.  But wind and high waves can destroy loon nests.  Especially natural nests that can be inundated or even washed away.

 

The advantage of a floating nest like this one is that it can rise and fall with the water and the waves.

 

But it still is vulnerable to large waves just washing all of the nest and the nesting material right off the platform.  I have learned much through the years in how I build the nest and many little tricks to help keep all the material on the floating platform.  But even that is no guarantee that high wind and waves will not damage it.

 

So we come back to the basic question.

 

Is today the day for eggs?  I don't know.

 

Hopefull so.  But only the loons know for sure.

 

All we can do is watch and wait.  And hope!

 

 

 

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

Copyright 2012     Larry Backlund

 

 

Monday, April 30, 2012 5:35am CDT

 

45 degrees   Cloudy   Wind Calm

Sunrise  6:02am     Sunset 8:18pm

 

 

A foggy haze covers the lake.

 

Two common loons sit near the floating nesting platform.

 

All is quiet.

 

The loons seem to have taken to sitting close to the nest for the last couple nights.

 

But overnight there have been several instances where they were not so quiet.  It is not known what caused it but each time the male would start broadcasting his yodels and the female would join in with her tremolos and wails.

 

I did not hear any answering calls from other loons on the lake except once.

 

It was as if the loons just suddenly decided that it was time to tell the entire lake, and the world, that this was their territory and they were ready to defend it.

 

If you were to watch a male loon as he trumpets his territorial yodel, you would see him extend his nexk almost parallel to the surface of the water, open his beak and issue his loud and piercing yodel call as he turns his head across an arc in front of him.  It is sort of like one of the rotating tornado sirens that rotate to broadcast their signal.

 

The male loon does the same thing to broadcast his intent to anyone within range.  He turns his head from side to side as he blasts his yodel across the lake.

 

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000gYeSKL7tDEQ/s/650/Common-Loon-Vyn-100421-0068.jpg

 

As day dawns, I would expect the loons to swim around the nest or even visit the nest before they swim back out into the lake.

 

Unless they decide this is the morning to lay an egg.

 

I looked back at the egg laying times over the last few years.  It happens at almost any time of day.

 

2011     Egg 1  Wed 9:54pm     Egg 2  Fri 7:34am

2010     Egg 1  Wed 9:24am     Egg 2  Fri 9:12pm

2009     Egg 1  Thu  6:17am     Egg 2  Sat 5:59pm

2008     Egg 1  Sat bef 8:30am Egg 2  Mon Afternoon

2007     Egg 1  Sun abt 6pm     Egg 2  Wed abt 10am

2006     Egg 1  Fri 11:40am      Egg 2  Mon bef 9:45am

 

That gives you an idea of when the eggs were laid over the last several years.  It can happen almost any time of day.

 

When and what time will it be this year?

 

That is something that is more likely to Las Vegas giving odds than what we know how to guess.

 

But the fact that they are remaining near the nest during the night (it saves having to drive long distances through rush hour traffic when the time is imminent!) and that they are visiting the nest more often and for longer periods of time are all hopeful signs.

 

If you have never seen a loon laying an egg, and very FEW people in the world have, it is something very exciting and interesting.  You have the privilege of seeing something that loon researchers for decades would have given anything they had to be able to see.  When we captured video of the laying of an egg a few years ago, as far as we can tell it is the first time anyone had seen or captured that on film.

 

And you not only get to see that if you are vigilant, you can do it from the comfort of your own home.

 

So will it be today?  Or are we still many days away?  That I can't tell you.

 

But all the signs are very positive that we are getting closer.  Now is the time to tweet and instant message your family and friends to tell them they now is a good time to start watching if they are not already 

 

When ever the egg is going to be laid, it will probably happen fairly quickly.

 

 

 

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

Copyright 2012  Larry Backlund

 

 

 

Sunday, April 29, 2012 5:24am CDT

40 degrees F   Cloudy   Wind Calm

It is a quiet but chilly morning for our loons.

Or maybe it is only chilly for us humans.  The loons seem to have more than adequate protection against the cold air and the cold water.  Right now the water is about 10 degrees warmer than the air.

Today the forecast is for temperatures to get to 66 degrees, much closer to normal.  And by the middle of the week, the temperatures should be back into the mid to upper 70s.

Both loons float calmly not too far from the nest, to the back side of the camera.  That seems to be their preferred position in the early pre-dawn for the last few mornings.  Close to the nest but not on it.

After midnight I heard one set of yodels and tremolos and other faithful watchers reported a couple other times during the night.  From the calls I heard you could tell that they were near the nest, maybe even in the same position they are now.  They seem to be staying near the nest in the dark to protect it.  However, I did not hear an answering call from other loons.

So maybe they were just putting out a 'general alarm' that we are here, this is our nest, stay away from it.

Or maybe the muskrat or beaver decided to come too close.

Once daylight actually comes so that they can visually see where danger is, they have tended to swim away from the nest and out into the lake.  And then they seem to come back a little bit later to once again check out the nest.

But for now, they keep guard near the nest.

One of these mornings, hopefully soon, all of that will change.

With the arrival of an egg, they will be nest bound for the next four weeks.

Then almost anytime you check the LoonCam you will see one of the loons on the nest.  Right now they are making the most of their freedom and spending most of the day out in the lake fishing and relaxing.  Although they never truly 'relax'.  They are always watchful and always mindful of potential danger to their nest or danger from other intruding loons.

Some people have asked about putting other nesting platforms for the other loons on the lake to use.

This has been discussed at length with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) experts and others.  The general agreement has been not to do it unless you are on a lake that has bays or places where the loons can nest out of site of each other.  If they can see each other, they will probably fight.

We are all too familiar with that.

So we wait for the arrival of the first egg.

There is no telling what time of day.  I have seen eggs laid in the  early morning.  I have seen late at night.  And just about everything in between.  Maybe if I get a chance I will go back through some of the records and data from the last several years and see if there is a pattern or preference that is obvious.  But rest assured, it is not as if they always lay the egg early in the morning.  Or always lay the egg late at night.  They seem to be equal opportunity egg layers!

So today, let's hope for a quiet and uneventful day for our loons.

And let's hope that they are able to settle into their egg-laying routine without disruptions.  When will it be?

All we can say for certain is that we are one day closer to the blessed event.

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

Copyright 2012  Larry Backlund