Monday, May 12, 2014 5:10 pm CDT

48 degrees F     Rain     Wind  NNE 6 mph

Sunrise   5:46 am CDT     Sunset   8:33 pm CDT

What a day!

In something that sort of surprised even me, the loons laid their first egg at 5:17 am this morning!

The sun was not even up yet and the loon was barely visible on the nest.

But after about 10 minutes of "labor", suddenly the egg popped out.  She sat there resting  for about 4 minutes and then she silently slid into the lake.

But then she was off the nest for 46 minutes.  A time too long for me not to get concerned even though I know better than to do that.

When she finally returned to the nest, the male also came to the nest and they mated - while she was sitting on the first egg.

They actually mated twice over the course of about one half hour.

I would expect that she would lay a second egg sometime within the next 2 or 3 days.  Loons normally lay 2 eggs.  Sometimes they will lay only one.  And rarely they will lay 3 eggs.

After she lays the next egg, we then we settle in for 'the long haul'.

The normally accepted figure for incubation of loon eggs is 28 days.  But through observations right here on the LoonCam, we have helped to change some of the conventional wisdom.

Unlike in the wild where biologists have had to make their 'best guess' of when the loons laid their eggs, here on the LoonCam we have MANY faithful eyes watching 24 hours a day and can usually pin it down to the MINUTE.  Such as 5:17 am this morning.  Not 'about' 5 am or 5:30 am.  

But 5:17 am!

And because of being able to closely watch them undisturbed, we have verified hatching in as little as 25 days!

Along with many of you, I become very concerned over many things that I watch.

And I tend to say "Don't you loons know what you are supposed to be doing?!"

Such was the case early this morning when the loon was off the egg for 46 minutes.

Or this afternoon when they were off the nest for exactly one hour!  Under a cloudy sky and a light mist and cool temperatures.

However, I have to keep reminding myself that such behaviour is not all that unusual among many birds.

But it is still hard to watch that lonely egg laying in the nest totally uncovered and exposed to the elements.

Eggs are much more able to tolerate not being under the loon (or chicken or whatever kind of bird) early in the incubation period or late in the incubation period.  The critical time for eggs to be exposed is about half way through their incubation.

As much as I remind myself of that, it is still hard to see them out in the open.  Possibly even vulnerable to seagulls or other predators.

So get a (big) cup of coffee and get some toothpicks to prop your eyes open when you can't tear yourself away from your computer.

And sit back and enjoy "the greatest show on earth"!

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

Copyright 2014     Larry R Backlund

Sunday, May 11, 2014 5:24 am CDT

44 degrees F     Partly Cloudy     Wind Calm

Sunrise   5:47 am CDT     Sunset   8:31 pm CDT

The first light of morning paints the eastern sky a soft pink that is reflected in a huge mirror of a northern lake.

The birds and the rest of the world are just beginning to wake up.

Our loons have yet to make their first visit to the nest this morning, although they will probably be here soon.

Yesterday they made several visits to the nest, including the first mating of the year that I have witnessed!

There has been increased interest in the nest and increased amount of time on and around the nest.  Although they are still away from the nest much more than they are on the nest.

But the increased nest building and mating are encouraging signs.  And hopeful signs that they will use the nest this year and lay eggs.  Unlike last year when they did not nest at all.

I would expect that over the next few days you will see them spend more and more time on the nest, with increased nest building activity.  Until finally they lay probably two eggs.

One of the interesting observations is that so far it seems to be the male that has been doing 90% of the nest building activity.  That is a question that I have had for sometime but could never tell without the loons being banded.

But at least in this case this year, the male of this pair is doing the majority of the nest building.

Some of you have asked if there will be sound this year.  I am hoping so.  And I am hoping that as the good people from Broadband continue to go through all the issues caused by the lightning and reprogram things, the sound will come back.  I apologize and I know how much the sound adds to the whole experience.

It looks like right now somewhere along the line the cam feed has gone down.  Hopefully it is just temporary.  Just know it has been reported and  hopefully it will be restored soon.

I have checked and the cam is sending a beautiful picture from here so it will be a matter of people finding out where the signal is being dropped.  So it does not appear to be a repeat of the camera itself or other equipment here failing.  Once again we are reminded of how many things must work together perfectly to bring you the LoonCam!

We want you to be able to enjoy the loons and this beautiful spring morning.  This Mother's Day!

Questions or Comments?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

Copyright 2014  Larry R Backlund

Saturday, May 10, 2014 6:20 am CDT

32 degrees F    Clear    Calm

Sunrise  5:49am CDT     Sunset  8:30 pm CDT

On a beautiful, chilly spring morning, a loon has just slipped off the nest into a lake that is like a huge mirror.

Little wisps of fog drift across an otherwise totally still lake.

The sun has not been up for many minutes.  And the rest of the world around the lake is starting to wake up.  

There is frost on the car and on the grass.  But where the sun has hit, the frost is already losing its battle.

After an interesting few days of work to repair damage from a lightning strike, the LoonCam is once again live for another season!

It was so interesting yesterday afternoon to watch what happened.

Since the nest was put out in the water 2 weeks ago today, the loons have been on or around the nest less than 1% of the time.  But as soon as the camera was turned on yesterday, the loons were immediately ON the nest.  Not just once, but a couple different times.

In the course of that first hour or two after the LoonCam was turned on, the loons were around the nest more and longer than they had been since the ice went out of the lake two and one half weeks ago.

It was as if they had been waiting for you to show up.  There was no need to come unless you were here to say HI to them.  And as if they were saying, "I am ready for my close-up, Mr. deMille!"

I sat here watching it with a smile on my face and shaking my head in disbelief at the timing.

They have already been in this morning and on the nest and now are swimming away to fish and relax.  They have a lot of work and responsibility ahead of them and they will need all the energy they can muster.

I have been able to identify one of the loons of this pair.  It is the male that we banded in 2012.

You may remember that he was also the one that showed up at the nest last year.  But he showed up with a new mate.  The female from 2012 also came back 3 weeks earlier than the male but he came back with a new female several weeks late.  And then they did not nest at all last year.

I have not gotten a real good look at the female this year to definitively say who she is.  But from what I have seen, it does not look like she has bands.  So I think that it may be the same unbanded female  from last year.

We will just have to wait and see what this year brings.

Today is Fishing Opener in Minnesota when tens of thousands of people head to the lakes.  So it could be a busy day on the lake for our loons.

I hope that you enjoy the broader view with the new camera.  The shoreline that you see at the upper part of the screen is about a mile away.

But for now, settle back in your chair and enjoy a beautiful spring day on a northern lake in Minnesota!

Does it get any better than this?!!!

Comments or Questions?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

Copyright 2014 Larry R Backlund

Friday, May 9, 2014 3:15 pm CDT

WE ARE LIVE!!!

Thank you all for your patience and your understanding.

Sometimes Mother Nature can throw good curve balls.

And thank you for the good folks at Broadband and for all their work!

They are still not spending much time on the nest but have increased their interest.

I hope that you also enjoy the increased view of the lake that we are able to give you with the new cam.

Enjoy our BEAUTIFUL LOONS!

Comments or Questions?  LoonCam@yahoo.com

Copyright 2014     Larry R Backlund