Saturday, June 2, 2012 5:35am CDT

Travis Frank June 2, 2012

45 degrees F Clear Calm

Sunrise 5:27 Sunset 8:55pm

The yellow iris on the plant that was so unceremoniously uprooted by the loons has now fully opened. There are two more blooming on the irises on the far edge.

All we need are for a couple loon eggs to 'fully open'.

What could complete the picture more perfectly than for us to see two healthy little black downy loon chicks?

What could be a better reward to two loons who have so faithfully sat for hour after hour on the eggs? Day after day. In all kinds of weather.

The weather today would be perfect weather for the arrival of the loon chicks.

The lake is like a sheet of glass this morning. The loon on the nest is not being rocked by waves at all. And the mate swims out in the middle of the lake. Two early morning fishermen are putting their boat in the water. Tiny wisps of fog rise off the surface of the lake in the cool morning air and float away.

But what is happening inside the eggs remains a mystery to us. Known only to the chicks in the egg and maybe the loons themselves.

For the rest of us, we cannot hurry it. We cannot speed things up no matter how much we try. It will happen when it happens.

But the chances of it happening go up dramatically today and for the next few days. I would expect that if the eggs are going to hatch they will do it in the next two or three days. Every hope of the last couple months now reaching its culmination. Everything has pointed to this time.

So we wait. Some more patiently than others. But everyone waits.

Once the hatching happens, everything goes into high gear.

The focus of the loons changes.

No longer are they content to sit hour after hour, day after day. In hot sun, in rain and in cold hail. Then everything the loon does will change to protecting and feeding that chick. And the feeding is a non-stop proposition as the parents dive over and over and come back with the tiniest of minnows to feed the chicks.

The chicks will be almost totally dependent on the adults for their food for the first six weeks of their lives. Then gradually they will begin to catch a little of their own food until they are able to catch all of their food by the time they are about 3 months old.

But we get ahead of the story. Nothing else happens until the eggs hatch.

So 'hatch watch' is on.

Yesterday I received sad news from Carol Jansky at St John's University. Many of you have followed reports of one of the loons that we implanted with a satellite transmitter in the summer of 2010.

Carol gives us the following report:

"Big John and his mate lost their chicks sometime in the last week. Br. Walter Kieffer and I surmise that either the eagles took the chicks or perhaps they were injured or killed by the golf-ball sized hail we had on Memorial Day.

Better news , the loons on Stumpf lake survived the hailstorm and their chicks have hatched."

It is once again a stark reminder of the challenges that loons face even when they successfully hatch their eggs. So we are sad at the apparent loss of two chicks. But encouraged of the report of two other chicks.

New life is beginning all across the area.

We can only imagine what is happening inside the eggs that 'our loons' are so faithfully protecting.

Today the watch continues.

And hope springs eternal.

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

Because of the number of emails I am not able to respond to each one personally. However, I will eventually read all of them. And when there are several questions along the same line I will try to answer those questions here.

Friday, June 1, 2012 5:36am CDT

Travis Frank June 1, 2012

43 degrees Clear Calm

Sunrise 5:28am Sunset 8:54pm

The lake is like a mirror.

Wisps of fog drift up from the surface, run across the nest and scatter in the cool morning air.

One of our loons is safely ensconced on the nest protecting the eggs.

Always looking around. Ever alert. Ever watching for danger.

One of the yellow irises that the loons so unceremoniously uprooted is doing its best to bloom where they planted it.

But the big question is what is going on inside the eggs?

Do some of the small movements of the loon's body indicate that it feels something? Or are they 'just movements'?

Are there chicks inside the eggs that are getting ready to hatch? Are the chicks already communicating with each other? Even through the shells of the egg?

These are things almost too wonderful to behold. Or to even understand.

But if the eggs are going to hatch, we are now probably within just a few days of hatching. It could be as early as tomorrow!

If your family and friends have not been watching up until now, now is the time to tell them to start watching. Now the anticipation builds. Now the suspense grows.

My best guess of hatching (and I should not even try to guess but I will anyway) is that the first egg will hatch sometime between tomorrow and Tuesday.

There is no reason for concern if they do not hatch until Tuesday. But if they have not hatched by Thursday of next week, then the concern would start to grow of whether they will hatch.

So we watch the loon carefully for signs.

And we hope to see the small twitches and movements that will signal that something is happening under the loon. And then when we see the more concrete signals as the loon rises and shifts and lifts its wing periodically, we are seeing signs that there is a new little loon chick moving around under the loon.

Then we wait and we hope to catch that first view of a little loon's head poking out from beneath the wing of the loon.

The miracle of life come full circle.

What could cause the eggs not to hatch?

If the eggs are infertile. If at some point during the incubation the loons were off the eggs for too long a period in the cool air. If for some other unknown the chick inside the egg stopped developing.

But on a beautiful and bright morning like this, those thoughts are too dark to even entertain other as distant possibilities.

And so we have to believe that there are two little chicks in those eggs that cannot wait to get out and greet us.

But our view of them is ever so fleeting. That is why it is so important for your friends to start watching now and not to miss a moment. Because "the moment" is so transient and so sudden and disappears so quickly.

Once the chicks have hatched, we do not have the luxury of watching them for weeks or months as they grow before our very eyes.

The first chick will hatch and then the second chick will hatch within the next day, even though they may have been laid a couple days apart.

But they will not remain on the nest for very long at all. Not much more time than is necessary to dry out.

Very quickly they are ready to go into the water. They are meant to be birds of the water and not of land. The chick is fully capable of swimming very shortly after it is born. And they do not wait around long. The first chick very well could be in the water before the second chick hatches.

A few years ago we watched something very unusual on the LoonCam as one egg hatched and the other egg stopped its development when the nest was filled with a wave cold lake water on a cold and windy day when the adult had been chased off the nest by an eagle.

But that year the loons were ever faithful to try to hatch the remaining egg even when there was no hope of it ever hatching. And so they returned day after day. Amazingly the little chick found a way to get back up on the nest and snuggle next to the parent that was trying so valiantly to get the second egg to hatch.

For about 10 days or more, we were treated to the wonderful sight of our little loon growing so dramatically as it day after day returned to the nest with the adult.

But that was not what was normal or natural for that little loon. He needed to be in the water with his mom and dad learning all about what it meant to be a loon. Learning of the dangers of life. Learning how to fish. Learning how to be a loon.

So reluctantly, after 10 days or two weeks and after much consultation with other experts, we reluctantly removed the egg from the nest. That was enough to break the bond with the nest and the loons moved on with their normal lives of being loons.

We xrayed the egg and found that a chick had had indeed started to develop. But that development had stopped at about the two week mark. Exactly the time that the eagle had chased the loon off the nest and a wave of cold water had filled the nest.

For some reason, one chick survived that cold water. The other did not.

So that year of being able to watch the chick get back up on the nest was very unusual. But very special as we were able to watch how quickly they grow.

I must warn you about something else that may very well happen and probably will happen. It may happen on the nest or it may happen in the water.

The two chicks may go through a fight. It can be brutal and it IS very hard to watch.

It is what we would know as establishing a 'pecking order' in which one chick establishes dominance over the other chick. Usually it is the older chick who is alreay stronger who will attack and establish dominance over the younger chick.

It is very hard to watch. But it is part of nature.

In all the years I have been observing loons, I think there is only one time that I did not see that fight for dominance. I just wanted to prepare you for it if you see it.

Today, however, we look forward to the arrival of two little loons chicks very soon.

And we will savor those few precious moments that we get to see the little black balls of down on the nest before they head out into the big, beautiful and scary world that will now be THEIR world.

Such a special time and one that lasts for such a short time - much like the wisps of fog this morning.

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

Thursday, May 31, 2012 5:27am CDT

Travis Frank May 31, 2012

47 degrees F Clear Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:28am Sunset 8:53pm

The eastern sky is pink. Announcing the imminent arrival of the sun.

Its warming rays will feel good on this chilly morning.

But the loon doesn't seem to notice.

Its heavy coat of feathers give it all the warmth of a down jacket. So it sits relaxed on the nest and keeps the eggs warm and protected against the cold.

One can only wonder if it can feel or hear anything happening inside the eggs.

We are now only a matter of days away from the expected hatching of the eggs. This might be a good time to talk about what kind of signs to watch for that signal that the eggs are hatching.

Watch carefully for small movements of the loon that may tell us that hatching is underway.

The loon will look like it is sitting "lighter" or "higher" on the nest. It may even tilt to one side or the other. But the most obvious sign that the eggs might be hatching under the loon is that there will be small 'twitches'.

The loon may move its wing slightly. Or you may see small body movements or jumps. The movements will be subtle but once you start to see them, they will be obvious. Not just one movement. But a number of movements.

They all are indications that something is happening underneath the loon.

A little chick is trying to make its way out of the egg.

And each movement of the chick or the egg, causes the loon to twitch in response.

The chick has what is called an 'egg tooth' on the tip of its little beak. The whole purpose of the egg tooth is to help the chick break through the shell of the egg which has protected him during his development - but now it has become an egg shell that constrains him. A shell that must be broken through to free him from those constraints.

So the chick will work mightily to break through that shell in a process that is called "pipping".

In yet another of the countless miracles that have been placed around us, many birds even have a special muscle at the back of their neck called a 'pipping muscle' that gives them the strength to break through the egg shell. This muscle develops and strengthens just before hatching to give the chick the strength to break free of that egg shell.

And for our loon chick it needs to be strong.

The shell of the egg that confines it is very thick. It will take a lot of work and energy for the chick to make its way out of the egg. It will work mightily to make that first hole in the egg. And then it will something called "zipping" - where it actually goes around the egg much like a can opener.

A combination of 'pip' and 'zip'!

So the chick will work mightily. And then it will rest. And then work once again. And rest.

Repeated over and over.

And each of those small movements will cause the loon sitting on the egg to react with small movements and twitches of its own.

Finally the chick will be free of the egg. A tiny little black chick all wet and all worn out.

It will take a well deserved rest under the adult as it regains its strength and dries out.

When it does regain its strength, it will become much more active and want to move around. The 'twitches' of the adult loon will become more and more noticeable as the chick tries to move around under the loon.

And then finally it happens.

The moment we, and the loons, have all been waiting for.

A gorgeous and impossibly cute little black loon chick will peek out from under a wing for the first time.

It will look onto a big and whole new world that it has never seen before. A world full of new wonders. And new dangers.

But for now, the dangers have no meaning to the chick. It just wants to move. And explore.

So it will be constantly moving under the parent. Moving here. Moving there. Peeking out from under this wing. Then peeking out someplace else.

It is a show in and of itself. A show where you never know from behind which 'curtain' the actor will poke his head out next.

But it will have made all the long days of waiting worthwhile. The days of heat. The days of cold. The days of wind. The days of rain. And maybe even the day of hail.

All of it has pointed to this time.

A new life. A new little loon. A new chick.

But we are not done yet.

There are two eggs under that loon. And so the drama will be repeated all over again for the second chick.

In yet another miracle, due to something called 'speed up', the second egg will usually hatch sooner than the first egg.

Even though the eggs were laid two-and-a-half days apart, they will hatch closer to each other than that. They may hatch only a day apart.

No one has been able to definitively explain how this happens. But it happens most times. Some have said that the chicks even communicate with each other even while they are in the eggs. And some feel that this communication between the chicks during the last few days of their incubation may actually 'speed up' the development of the second chick.

So even though the eggs were laid several days apart, many times they will hatch within a day of each other.

So many miracles around us.

But it takes effort from us to see them. We must slow down. That is hard for most of us to do. We must pay close attention to small details.

And then all of a sudden we begin to see miracle after miracle that have been there all along but that have passed us by because we were not paying attention.

May your day today be filled with all kinds of miracles. Big and small.

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

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 5:41am CDT

Travis Frank May 30, 2012

46 degrees F Clear Wind 6mph N

Sunrise 5:29am Sunset 8:52pm

On a chilly Minnesota morning, sunlight paints the nest with its first morning beams of gold.

And the loon sits patiently on its eggs. Ever faithful. Ever vigilant.

We - and they - are now down to the last few days before an expected hatch. Anticipation builds with each passing day.

Unlike many birds whose chicks spend extended amounts of times in the nest before they are able to leave the nest and fly away on their own, our time with the loon chicks is almost ephemeral. Loon chicks are what are known as 'precocious'. They are able to swim on their own within hours of being born. And they usually leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching.

So if your friends and family have not been watching so far, now is the time to encourage them to watch before the chicks hatch and are gone forever.

Many of you have been keeping careful track and trying to understand which of the loons is on the nest - the male or the female.

This year has been unusual in that department as well with the male spending long hours of time on the nest.

Normally the male and female share the nesting duties almost equally. But this year they are proving that we don't always know what they are going to do or why they are doing what they do. There is always more to learn.

It is also so good this morning to wake up to the camera being live again. We don't realize how quickly we become dependent on having this close-up view of the life of a loon on its nest. And the ability to observe every small detail.

In all the years that I have had of observing them, I have taken this view for granted too many times. And when the LoonCam went down for a couple days because of equipment problems, I was back many years to having to watch them through binoculars. I was reminded of how little I could see for many years through those binoculars. And many of you were reminded how you would never have a chance to see anything of a loon on a nest without the LoonCam.

It has become a part of our lives.

It is something that researchers of years past would have given anything to have this kind of a view.

And many of you have become researchers of your own as you have so carefully kept track and documented every move of the loons on the nest for multitudes of other people who have not been able to watch all the time. Once again, I thank all of you for the service that you do for everyone!

The last couple days have given the loons a little bit of relief from a special black fly that is attracted only to common loons.

We have all been tormented by black flies that bite. Black flies that are half the size of a common house fly or less. And they are fast. They can bite and take a chunk out of you before you can swat them. They are unlike a horsefly or deerfly that are large and can be fairly easily slapped. But black flies can bite and get away before you can kill them. And they hurt.

But the black flies that are specific to loons (simulium euryadminiculum) are much smaller than the black flies that bite humans. Smaller by many orders of magnitude. They are more the size of gnats but they are care a completely different species.

On a calm and warm day, they can torment the loons something fierce. There have been cases documented where they have become so bad that they have forced loons to abandon their nests.

In an amazing case of specialization in the natural world, these black flies feed ONLY on loon blood!

Much research has been done on them through the years and their are still a lot of questions of what specifically attracts them only to loons. So far it seems to be a combination of odor, color and maybe shape. But mainly odor.

Tests have been done even with museum specimens of loon skins that have laid in drawers of museums for years. When the loon skins were laid on a beach along with the skins of mergansers and grebes and other waterfowl, these specialized black flies were drawn only to the loon skins.

It is an absolutely amazing case of specialization in the animal world.

A few days ago you were able to see them as they swarmed around the loon's head. The loon shook its head and wiped its head along its back over and over to get rid of the flies.

Watch and see if you can see this little fly when it lives on the loon.

But hopefully today with the cooler temperatures and a little bit of wind these black flies will not bother our loons too much.

We only have a few days left where the loon is "trapped" sitting on the nest. Once it is back in the water it can dive to help get rid of the black flies.

Hopefully they will be able to be back in the water with two new little loon chicks very soon!

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

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 4:15pm CDT

Travis Frank May 29, 2012

Ahhhhhhh!

The sweet view of a loon sitting on a nest in Minnesota!

We are back live with the LoonCam at 4:00pm.

The good folks from BroadBand have just left and are now on their long trek back home. Thanks guys!

They were actually able to fix the server and get everything back up and running. It is yet one more example of how a multitude of different things must all work perfectly to bring you this picture from the nest. If one of them somewhere along the way decides it is not going to work, it doesn't make any difference is the other 99% are working. That one thing will kill the video feed and the picture.

Without getting into a lot of boring detail, this really seems to have been a fluke.

It turned out that the power supply to the server had gone out.

And even though it went out at a time when we had big storms moving through the area, it may or may not have been related to the storms. It may have just decided to quit working.

But whatever the reason, the good part is that all of us now have the LoonCam back and can watch these final days leading up to the hatching of our loon chicks.

I do not expect anything to happen before Saturday.

But it could happen as early as Saturday to Monday. Or at any time next week.

So now is the time to watch closely.

Now it gets exciting!

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

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