Sunday, June 3, 2012 8:59pm CDT

 

The sun has just set.

The western sky is painted with oranges and golds.

The blazing colors are reflected in the absolutely calm waters of a northern Minnesota lake.

No artist could do justice to the scene.

And an artist could never do justice to the justice to the picture of a loon on a nest with a beautiful downy black ball of fuzz that is a newly hatched loon chick.

So the sun sets on our little loonling.  Let us hope and pray that he has a quiet and peaceful night and stays on the nest until at least tomorrow morning.  The lake is big and dark and scary to a little loon chick.

He has already gone for a swim!

I watched holding my breath as time and time again he struggled to get back up on the nest where his dad was.  He almost did it several times but not quite.  He called and called.  And dad called and called.

He didn't know where the 'chick ramp' was that was put there just for him.  Just for a time such as this.

Somewhere out in the lake, mom heard and came back.

Dad got back in the water, too.

And our little loon was soon up on one of the parent's back, safe and sound.

But the drama was not over yet.  The reason the loon had left the nest again was that a pontoon boat had stopped much too close to the nest.  He was just outside the buoys but he was still too close for a pair of loons with a brand new chick.  

And they made their displeasure known with their calls.

I finally got his attention and motioned for him to move away.  He graciously immediately did just that.

I am still not totally sure how the got back up on the nest.  One of the adults got back up on the nest and the second egg almost as soon as the pontoon had left.

My heart sank when I looked for the chick.  I expected it to be with the other loon which had now moved out beyond the buoy.  But I did not see a chick swimming alongside the adult.  I tried to convince myself that there was a bulge under the wing.  If there was a bulge, it was awfully small.

My concern grew about where the chick was.

Then when I looked back to the nest, I saw a distinct form on the loon's back.  So I came back to the LoonCam and was so relieved when I saw that the chick was under the wing!

How he got there, I am not sure.  He must have been under the wing when the loon jumped back up on the nest.  That is unusual because I have seen numerous times when the chick is on the back of the loon and the loon jumps up on the nest, the chick goes unceremoniously flying back into the water.

However he got there, the important thing is that he is safely sheltered under the wing of the adult loon on the nest.

Let us hope and pray for a quiet and uneventful night.  And a SAFE night.

This chick has already had too many adventures in his short life!

 

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

Copyright  2012    Larry Backlund

Sunday, June 3, 2012 6:09am CDT

 

48 degrees CDT     Sunny     Calm

 

Interesting goings on  with the loons.

Not only has there been movements by the loon on the nest like there was something happening in the eggs underneath it.

There has been a third loon in the area which caused the loon on the nest to go into deep hangover as the mate swam out to confront it.  Then things calmed down for a bit.

But at 5:56am the loon on the nest left in a shot from the back side of the nest.  This sudden exit was followed by yodels and splashing.

Here is what happened.

There is a loon that had come very close to the nest and the loon on the nest, obviously the male because of his yodels, thought it was very urgent that he chase that loon away.  So both loons went on a flapping/rowing chase away from the nest.

At 6:09am, right now, the loon has just gotten back up on the nest, rolled the eggs and settled down.

While he was off the nest, I looked carefully at the exposed eggs to see if I could see a pip.  I could not.

But I keep hearing a small bird sound that sounds very much like a loon chick.  Is it my imagination?  Or are we actually hearing one of the chicks in the egg?  Once again it is so hard to keep 'hopes' from running away with reality.  But the sound is not the typical sound of some of the other morning bird songs.

There was even a purple martin that landed on the nest while the loon was gone and also a redwing blackbird.  The redwing blackbird went into full display of his red epaulets as he chased the martin off the nest - he acted as if he was the owner of this nest with these big eggs!

So what have we got?  No obvious visible pip.  But movements this morning by the loon on the nest consistent with either pipping or movements in the egg.   And sounds like a loon chick that could also be another bird's calls.  But maybe not.

So many questions with no clear cut answers.

Only time will tell what we are really seeing and hearing and what is happening.

So on a beautiful Minnesota Day, we watch and wait.

Wait for the miracles of life.

 

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

Copyright  2012     Larry Backlund


Sunday, June 3, 2012 4:43am CDT

 
49 degrees F     Clear     Calm
Sunrise  5:27am     Sunset  8:55pm
 
 
The very first glimmers of daylight appear in the eastern sky.
 
For the last hour or more, our loon on the nest has gone through 'suspicious' movements.
 
The lifting of a wing here.  A twitch there.  A slight rise.  A look back.
 
All of it COULD be consistent with a chick trying to make its way out of an egg and the loon feeling that movement underneath our loon.
 
Or it could be consistent with wishful thinking.
 
Take your choice. 
 
Whatever is happening, it bears close watching.
 
Could we be at hatch time?
 
Do we dare believe?
 
 
 
Comments or Questions?     LoonCam(at)yahoo(dot)com
Copyright  2012     Larry Backlund
 
 
 

Sunday, June 3, 2012 12:07am CDT

 

54 degrees    Clear     Calm

 

Sometimes I find my 'wishes' coloring my observations.

And of that I try to be careful.  But it is hard to keep the two separate.

I with many of you have observed what appear to be small twitches and movements that seem to signal that something that is happening under the loon or in the eggs.

That may be the case.  Or it may not be.  The proof isn't here yet.

When the loon has been off the egg, I look very carefully at the eggs to see if I can see a hole or a pip.  Sometimes I think I can see something.  And other times I am convinced it is just a shadow.

Does all of that feel and sound familiar?

We want something so bad that sometimes we have to ask ourselves if we are simply imagining what we want to be realilty.

I find it very encouraging to see what seem to be those "small movements".  They MAY indicate that we really have chicks inside the eggs.

Hope springs eternal.

But the only way we will know for sure is to watch carefully.

The tension and excitement builds.

And sometimes the land of wishes crosses over and intrudes into the land of reality.