Wednesday, May 29, 2013 10:45pm CDT

Travis Frank May 29, 2013

66 degrees F Partly Cloudy Wind 3mph E

Sunrise 5:30am CDT Sunset 8:51pm CDT

I have read where some of you have gone through "LoonCam withdrawal" today.

Thank you for saying that. I certainly understand what you are saying.

There is an empty hole where there should be loons.

Amazingly I have seen very little of the loons today. I saw a pair out toward the middle of the lake about midday. But they did not even come anywhere near the nest. It is truly strange behavior that I have never seen before. Especially since at least one of the loons is apparently banded.

Someone asked why I have not identified which loon that was. Well, the answer is pretty simple. As hard as I have tried, I have not been able to see the bands on both legs [other than the female which we identified a couple weeks ago]. I have looked and looked. But they have stayed far enough away that I have not been able to make out what kind of bands the loon had. I could see that it had bands, but I could not tell what they were.

Surprisingly [and questionably] the other loon of the pair may NOT have had bands! Again, I could not get a good view but I did not see any bands. Take that for what it is worth. It is not definitive because they were far enough away that I could not see clearly. If that is the case, it continues to raise questions.

There are so many questions this year.

And many of them we may never get the answers for. But maybe as the summer goes on, we may learn more. Did the female find a new mate? Did the male finally come back? Why after using the nest last year did they not use it this year? Questions questions questions.

There is some research which seems to indicate that a loon pair will use the same nest if it was a successful nest the year before.

Last year, we had one chick that hatched and one egg that did not hatch.

The chick that hatched was such a cute and precocious and independent spirit. He did what HE wanted when he wanted. It was the chick that kept bringing the parents back to the nest, not the other way around.

It was the chick that loved to get up on the nest and sit there for hours.

After a while, the parents seemed to tire of that and they would swim off leaving the chick all by himself.

And then the chick disappeared.

We will never know what happened to him. It was a strange feeling to know he was gone after I had held him when we did the banding. The first time I have ever held one of the chicks from the LoonCam. And then he was gone.

Where did he go? Who knows.

I personally think that an eagle probably got him. And I sometimes wonder if his independent spirit and being alone so much added to the danger.

Now the thought keeps going through my mind, 'Did the parents consider that and unsuccessful nesting season and did that impact on their choice to not use the nest this year?'

And what does their not using the nest this year mean for usage of the nest next year?

Once again, we are not in control of any of it. We can only lay the groundwork. And then stand back and watch. And learn.

Just at dusk tonight, I went out and pulled in the swimming raft and the buoys that mark out the area around the nest. That is when it started to sink in of the finality of this season for the LoonCam.

I have shared with you in years before how every spring I sort of become paranoid before the loons nest. I wonder what would happen if we get everything ready for a 'loon party' and the guests of honor do not show up. What if everybody got all excited about seeing loons and there were none? What if 'we built it' but they did not come?

Well, this year we found out.

Strangely enough, I did not have that same sense of 'paranoia' this year!

I don't know if it was because of the strange weather, the late spring and everything being so different or what it was.

But as I gathered up the 12 buoys and brought them to shore, the reality was there. That there would be no loons nesting on the LoonCam this year.

And there was a certain sadness and emptiness to that.

One of the most gratifying and comforting things in previous years was to drive up to the house when I came home and to look out at the lake and there see the silhouette of a loon on the nest. Faithfully staying and taking care of eggs until they miraculously turned into little black and white loon chicks.

But alas, that was not to be this year.

So we hold on to the thought that the loons know what they are doing.

And for some reason they did not nest this year.

At least on the LoonCam nest.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013 7:05pm CDT

Travis Frank May 28, 2013

59 degrees F Cloudy Calm

Sunrise 5:30am CDT Sunset 8:50pm CDT

Before we reach the end of the 2013 LoonCam season, I just wanted to take a minute to thank you and tell you all how special you are.

Your words of gratitude and your appreciation for the LoonCam make it all worthwhile.

And your words indicate how quickly this cam and the loons have worked their way into all our hearts. Even this year when glimpses of the loons have been so few and far between. Which is a testament to just how special and intriguing and haunting these beautiful birds are.

Anyone who has ever heard the call of a loon in the wild as it echoed across a great northern lake, will forever remember that sound and will never forget how it awakens something deep and almost primal within the very core of our being.

It is a sound and a call like no other.

For those of us who live with loons, we sometimes take them for granted and forget how truly special they are. Very few areas of the country ever get a chance to enjoy them in all their black and white splendor or to hear those haunting calls.

So for those of you from other parts of the country and even other parts of the world, thank you for reminding us of how special they are and reminding us to never take them for granted.

Even here in Minnesota, which has more loons than any other state in the Lower 48 [in fact as many loons as ALL the other 49 states put together!], most people in the southern half of the state never get to enjoy loons. So even in Minnesota they are very special. No wonder they are the Minnesota State Bird.

The lake is unusually quiet tonight. So quiet that some of you may think the sound has already been turned off. It has not been. Everything will remain intact up until the last minute.

I am thinking that the camera will go black sometime after midnight, when everything else has gone black.

It is interesting that a couple people have mentioned leaving the nest out and letting the loons do whatever. I have also been thinking how to do that as well.

Someone asked if it would be safe with little kids swimming near the nest. That is something I had not even thought of. But that would be a very real danger to little kids, or anyone for that matter who swam too close to nesting loons.

What I had been thinking of trying is to tow the nest to a spot near shore but somewhat out of the way. It will still be impacted by people and boats and activity. But at least if the loons do want to use it instead of finding a 'natural' area, we can see what happens. Either way they are going to be subjected to a lot of activity.

I will try to update you periodically over the next few months of what I see, if anything.

For whatever reason, this year it was just not to be.

So enjoy these last few hours. I just wish we had a beautiful Minnesota sunset instead of the gray clouds. But even that can be so peaceful.

But I mainly wanted to say THANK YOU, before everyone scatters, to all of you for being so wonderful. And for allowing the loons and especially the LoonCam to become a special part of your life and your day.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013 12:03am CDT

Travis Frank May 28, 2013

58 degrees F Cloudy Wind 3mph SE

Sunrise 5:30am CDT Sunset 8:50pm CDT

I am afraid that I going to be the bearer of bad news.

News that you don't want to hear. News that none of us want to hear.

Sometime tonight, as darkness falls, the LoonCam will also go dark for 2013.

I know it is not what you want to hear. But it is what needs to happen. This has been a very strange year all around and this is just one more thing that is so unexpected and so strange.

It is the first time in 10 years that this loon nest will apparently not be used. The success of this particular nest has been the exception, not the norm. For it to be used every year for 10 years is in itself very unusual.

It is so easy to become complacent and think that since it has been so successful, it should be used this year as well.

But alas it doesn't seem to be in the cards for this year.

This morning the loons were in the area of the nest but did not attempt to approach let alone get up on the nest. Even yesterday when one of the loons did get on the nest for a few minutes, there was no nest building activity.

This has been a very difficult decision to come to. But it is one that has to be made.

We have talked about some of the things that go into such a decision, including being fair to the neighbors and letting them use their own property this summer.

But there are a myriad of considerations that have gone into this decision. It is not a decision that can be made for just the next day or two. This is a decision that has to be made in what happens for the next six weeks. Even the next 18 weeks or more.

In addition, there is a limit to how long we can block off a large section of the lake with the buoys.

There are just so many things that have had to go into this decision.

Could the loons still nest this year?

The answer is 'yes'.

Even if the loons do nest, it becomes questionable whether they will be successful in hatching chicks with the increased and intense summer activity on the lake.

Also, the successful hatching and growing of the chicks in time for them to be big enough and strong enough to fly south this fall becomes less and less likely with every passing day. Especially since they have not even begun the whole long involved nesting process.

There are cases where a loon loses their nest to predators or other reasons. They may actually try to nest a second time. But the success rate of those second nests goes down rapidly.

So I hate to be the bearer of bad news. And I know some of you are going to have a hard time accepting what must be.

But for 2013, the LoonCam will go dark late tonight.

But we can always look forward to next year. Hope springs eternal.

And everytime we hear a loon or see a little loon chick, we will have new appreciation for all that goes into making that happen.

Monday, May 27, 2013 11:22pm CDT

Travis Frank May 27, 2013

57 degrees Cloudy Wind 7mph SE

Sunrise 5:31am CDT Sunset 8:49pm CDT

This weekend has been unusually quiet on the lake for a Memorial Day weekend.

Normally the lake would be a beehive of activity.

But this year, like the entire spring, the weekend was cold and wet and uncomfortable. So there was no one in swimming. There was no one out waterskiing. There were few pleasure boaters. All that were out there were fisherman. And they were very quiet and fewer than normal.

So for the loons on the lake, it was a much quieter than normal summer weekend. But that did not do much to change their behavior.

There was a report and pictures of one of them being on the nest early this morning. But the other loon did not get up on the nest. And there was no nest building activity. Normally there is some nest building activity by one or both loons before there is any mating activity.

But then the rest of the day, the loons were no where to be seen until tonight.

Tonight a pair of loons came to the general area of the nest about 7:30pm but did not even come close to the nest nor did they get up on the nest. They stayed for a little while before swimming off together.

So the behavior is puzzling and shows no urgency to nest and mate and lay eggs.

I don't have good explanations for all of this, especially in light of the fact that numerous other loons in the area have been on nest for almost two weeks now.

But we will give it another day or so to see what happens.

This is a year for the history books for sure.

Sunday, May 26, 2013 6:34 am CDT

Travis Frank May 26, 2013

(I am not sure why the system did not accept this post from earlier.)

48 degrees CDT Partly Cloudy Wind 5mphE

Sunrise 5:32am CDT Sunset 8:48pm CDT

It is a beautiful morning.

The sun has just cleared the trees. There was a call from a loon somewhere out on the lake.

Right now there is a single loon way out in the lake from the nest. Is this our female from last year that we have been able to identify from the bands? I do not see another loon with this one so I have to wonder if it might be our female from last year.

The loon shows no inclination to swim in to the nest.

Is there such a thing as too many loons?!

Right now two families of geese are swimming by in a parade after having been up on the neighbors lawn (with all that that means).

Each of the families has 5 goslings. They are already pretty good size. So there are some species that have nested some time ago and now have their young ones in tow.

I trust that you and your family and friends will enjoy this Memorial Day weekend.

And that you will pause to remember what we are celebrating.

Minnesota Bound

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