Saturday, May 24, 2014 5:26 am CDT

Guest User May 24, 2014

54 degrees F Clear Wind Calm

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

Once again, it is a spectacular "Minnesota morning" on the lake for our loons!

There are just a few ripples on the water. The pink of the impending sunrise gilds the eastern sky.

Birds are singing like there won't be time to sing later.

And our faithful male loon is still sitting on the eggs, waiting for new life to emerge.

We are not quite half way through the incubation cycle. But already new life is stirring within the eggs. Oh to be able to see the miraculous changes that are taking place inside those eggs.

But like the loons, we will have to just wait.

But unlike the loons, we are not the ones who must be ever aware and ever faithful in making sure the eggs are warm and taken care of.

Last night the male loon had to contend with the carp fishermen coming by at least two times. They did keep a respectful distance from the nest. But their lights did not. The male loon stayed on the nest and surprisingly the very bright lights do not seem to concern him all that much.

And when I say "bright lights", I mean bright lights!

The boats have their own generators and huge banks of lights on three sides of the boat. They literally light up the whole shoreline almost like daylight.

But our male loon seems to take it all in stride.

He has once again put in about a 12 hour shift overnight.

I am not sure how the female would react if it was her on the nest when the carp fishermen came by. She continues to be very reticent and shy about any movement or activity. She is probably the most "shy" loon that I have ever witnessed.

About 8 pm last night, there was a "war of words" between 'our' pair of loons and another pair of loons on the lake.

Yodels and tremolos were tossed back and forth over and over as they challenged each other.

Fortunately, it was just a war of "words" and not an actual physical battle. The two pair of loons never came near each other. They just called back and forth and said, "Oh yeah?! So's your momma!"

This might be a good time to review what the different loon calls mean so that you know what they are saying when you hear them. Whether that be here on the LoonCam or when you are at a northern lake that has loons and have the joy of listening to them.

For those of you who are new to the LoonCam, you may have never heard a loon call. And for the rest of us, it is a good refresher course in "loon talk".

Once you have heard your first loon call in the wild, it is something that never leaves you. That haunting call is so magical it can send chills up and down your spine. And every time you hear it, you are transported to a wilderness campsite on a lake or to a cabin on some northern lake where you have heard the magic of a loon calling at sunset.

I don't think there is any other call in the world that has quite the same hold on our spirits as that of a Common Loon.

It is the call that made Katherine Hepburn say to Henry Fonda, "Come here, Norman. Hurry up. The loons! The loons! They're welcoming us back!" in the movie On Golden Pond.

There are 4 basic calls:

The wail.
The tremolo
The yodel and
The hoot.

I usually divide the calls down into 2 and 2. Two 'good' calls and two 'bad' calls - even though there is no such thing as a 'bad' call.

I call them that because 2 of the calls are simply loons talking to each other. The other 2 calls are alarm calls. Calls that they make when they are concerned or something is wrong.

The wail and the hoot are 'good' calls while the tremolo and the yodel are 'bad' calls, or calls of alarm. You can actually hear all 4 of the calls at http://blog.syracuse.com/indepth/2008/07/audiohearthecallsoftheco(dot)html [Just replace the (dot) with an actual dot.]

The wail - The wail is a call that loons make to say "I am here. Where are you?" The call carries long distances over water and allows the loons to keep in touch with each other even if they cannot see each other. The first cell phone! It is a 'good' call and it is made by both the male and the female.
The tremolo- The tremolo is a distress call. The loon is expressing his concern over something or someone. When one loon tremoloes, usually there is an answering tremolo from other loons on the lake. At night, this can be so haunting as you hear the calls echo back and forth across the lake. It is a 'bad' call because something has upset or caused concern to the loon. Both the male and the female make the tremolo call.
The yodel- The yodel is also a distress call. ONLY the male makes the yodel. Often he is staking out his territory on the lake. He is saying "This is my territory. Don't you come near." The loon will stretch out his neck parallel to the water as he makes the call and then move from side to side while he is making it. That way he broadcasts the call over a wide are. And believe me, you will hear it. It is loud. The call carries not only across the lake but to adjoining lakes in the wilderness.
The hoot- The hoot is a call that most people have never heard. It is the quietest of the 4 calls and is used between the two adults when they are close to each other or between the adults and the chick. Because it is so quiet and unlike any of the other loon calls, most people have not heard it or do not recognize it. It is a 'good' call.

So now you know what the loons are saying when you hear the different calls. And you can impress your friends and your family with being able to "talk loon"!

The next couple days will be very busy days for our loons.

The weather is supposed to be sunny and nice and in the 80s.

After the long, hard winter that Minnesotans have endured this year. everyone has "cabin fever" and wants to get outside and especially get out on our beloved lakes.

So we will probably see a lot of fishermen and other boat activity all weekend.

Hopefully the loons will be able to take it in stride. I am sure the male will, but I have questions about the female.

But whatever today brings, enjoy it!

Pour yourself an extra cup of coffee and sit back and enjoy "The Greatest Show On Earth".

A show for which you have ringside seats!

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

Friday, May 23, 2014 4:56 am CDT

Guest User May 23, 2014

41 degrees F Clear Calm

Sunrise 5:34 am CDT Sunset 8:45 pm CDT

The sun won't be up for another half hour.

But the birds are awake and singing. The frogs add their voices to the morning chorus. The loud honking of the geese carries across the lake.

The last of the night hawks are still flying, but they will soon go to bed for the day.

The lake is like a sheet of glass. Not a breath of air spoils the perfect reflections in the surface of the lake in the cool morning air.

Wisps of fog drift lazily across the surface of the lake.

The first pinks and slight oranges of the sunrise are making themselves known in the eastern sky to tell us that the sun cannot be far behind.

A distant train whistle adds its plaintive sound to the symphony.

And there sits our loon on the nest.

The loon is relaxed but awake - looking all around. Ever mindful. Ever vigilant. All observant Ready for anything.

It apparently is the male, who has been on duty on the nest since 9 pm last night.

Much of the night he slept with his beak tucked under his wing. But even then, he is never totally asleep. His eyes open every few seconds as he stays aware of what is going on around him.

Within the next hour or two, the female should come in and take over nesting duties and give the male a little bit of a break. He has carried the lion's share of the nesting duties this year, especially during the long overnight hours.

For those of you who were awake and watching late last night, you saw that we were able to get the infrared light working again. One more piece of equipment that had burned out after the lightning strike.

So now once again you can have a clearer view of the nest and the loon in the dark of night. Or any visitors that may decide to pay a visit. Like muskrats or beavers! So far I am not aware that either one has tried to come to the nest at night.

Some of you have mentioned the "fish eye" lens this year.

Actually it is not a fish eye lens. It is a normal flat lens but with a broader field of view than the previous camera. This allows us to see more of the area surrounding the lake, even over to the far shoreline. The curvature of the shore may make it seem like a fish eye lens but it is not.

This broader view also allows us to zoom in on the loon or the eggs for a closer view.

I had mentioned how I often wonder what is going on inside the egg at this very minute. The miracle of Creation that is taking place. The appearance of a living little chick out of "nothing". And how I have wondered what it looks like in there and how cool it would be to have a camera inside the egg to watch that miracle of life taking place.

Well, recently I found an animation of what happens inside a chicken egg that I thought you might be interested in watching. It is only about 2 minutes long but it gives a wonderful picture of what happens during the 21 days of incubation of a chicken egg.

You can find it on YouTube at: Chicken Embryo Development

Chicken Embryo Development
View on www.youtube.com Preview by Yahoo

Now a loon egg takes 28 days to hatch versus the 21 days of a chicken egg. But the development of the loon chick would be very similar to a chicken chick. Just make the appropriate allowance for a few more days of incubation and you can get a very good idea of what is going on inside the egg right now.

We are at 11 days since the first egg was laid and about 9 days since the second egg was laid.

What is amazing is that according to the video, the chick's heart starts to beat at only TWO days!

There truly are some things that are too wonderful to behold.

And they are so far beyond my comprehension and understanding.

So I simply stand back and say "I don't know how you did it, but God you done good!"

Have a wonderful day filled with the majesty and glory and wonder of Life all around you!

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

Thursday, May 22, 2014 5:33 am CDT

Guest User May 22, 2014

40 degrees F Clear Wind NW 1 mph

Sunrise 5:35 am CDT Sunset 8:44 pm CDT

A loon sits quietly on two eggs.

It must be the male because it does not go into deep hangover when I walk out in front of the house. The female is very shy and usually goes into hangover at the slightest little hint of anything going on. I have never seen a loon that has been this 'shy' before.

But this loon sits confidently on the nest. So I think it is the male. The other loon is swimming far out into the lake from the nest - so that must be the female.

If this is the male on the nest, he may have been there since 5 pm yesterday! I have also never seen one loon of the pair do so much of the incubation time on the nest. That would mean he has been there for over 12 hours. Unless there was a nest change sometime during the night, which is possible. But with this pair, I do not think so.

I am glad that we finally have sound back due to the diligent and hard work of the good folks at Broadband (although at the moment the cam seems to be off). The camera itself is working fine so it is once again something somewhere along the line that is not working. One little 'piece' out of so many that does not quite 'fit'.

Thank you once again for your wonderful patience and understanding after we have had to deal with so many issues after the lightning strike. It is amazing what something like that can do. But then when it comes down to it, I guess it is amazing that we are able to send a picture like this at all.

So thank you for your understanding and support and concern.

Since you were able to hear the sound yesterday, let me explain some of what you are hearing.

In past years you have heard some of the squeaks and creaks and groans of the raft as it bounces in the waves. The more waves, the more noise. To a certain extent, it is just something we have to put up with.

The structure of the raft itself transmits those noises louder to the microphone than what you hear on the nest itself.

I have worked over the last few years to try to minimize the amount of squeaking from the styrofoam. But as the waves move it around, there is no way to completely stop it from squeaking.

As you have seen from the reaction of the loons, it does not bother them. It just bothers us by hearing it on the microphone. I have stood next to the nest when it has been moving and you can barely hear any of the squeaking noise although once in a while you can hear some of it. The structure just magnifies the sound as it transmits it to the microphone. It is something that I keep working on to minimize it.

But there is a new sound this year that I could not figure out.

No, it is not chains. It is not something that duct tape will help.

At first I could not figure out what it was.

I am still not 100% sure.

But I have come to the conclusion that it is the new "chick ramp" that I added last year.

Normally chicks leave the nest within about 24 hours of hatching.

But as we have seen a couple times before, especially with the chick in 2012 who loved the nest, sometimes a chick will try to get back on the nest. It is relatively rare but they do sometimes get back on the nest.

The chick in 2012 was the most unusual one that I have ever seen. He loved to come back to the nest over and over. And he would come back and drag the parents with. Finally they tired of it and just let him come back to the nest by himself.

And that may have ultimately been his undoing as we lost him later in the summer, possibly to eagles.

But normally when a chick leaves the nest, they do not return.

They are a waterbird from that time on and they stick closely to their parents.

However, especially because of the chick two years ago wanting to come back to the nest, I added a new chick ramp to help it get back up on the nest. I had experimented with several different attempts at a chick ramp through the years. All of which were dismal failures.

But the new chick ramp that I added last year may have solved the problem.

However, like most things in life, the solution of one problem maybe created another problem.

I think much of the sound that we are hearing this year is coming from that chick ramp and NOT from the styrofoam or other parts of the nesting platform.

Oh well.

It gives me one more thing to work on between this season and next year.

But I wanted to let you know that is probably much of the noise you are hearing when the waves hit the nest. And since I cannot go out there while the loons are there, it is just something that we will have to put up with this year. And maybe I can come up with a solution for next year.

The next few days promise to be warm and sunny. A break that all of us need.

There may be some rain that comes through on Sunday and Monday, but that is to be expected this time of year. And the loons do not mind a little more water! At least it is not the heavy hail that some parts of the country got hit with yesterday.

Although we have even seen our loons in previous years sit on the nest through light hail storms with the hailstones bouncing off them!

What a loon will not go through just to make sure that a new generation of loons has the best chance of entering the world and surviving to continue the mystery.

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

Wednesday, May 21, 2014 5:36 am CDT

Guest User May 21, 2014

47 degrees F Clear Wind W 5 mph

Sunrise 5:36 am CDT Sunset 8:43 pm CDT

A loon sits on a nest with two eggs.

All alone but ever faithful. All through the night. Carefully keeping the eggs warm in the chilly morning air.

It apparently is the male since it does not react to every little movement around it and go into hangover mode like this year's female seems to do so often.

The other loon is in the area but swimming in the lake well out from the nest.

One of the very interesting things that we have learned this year is how much time this male spends on the nest. For the first time we are able to know whether it is the male or the female because the male has bands on his legs and the female does not.

I am not aware of any definitive studies on whether the male or the female does more of the incubation duties on the nest. But I think that the conventional wisdom has been that they share nesting duties about equally, with the female spending slightly more time on the nest.

That sure is not the case with this pair.

The male was the one that did by far the majority of the nest building.

He has also been the one who has done the majority of the incubation time on the nest.

And more often than not, he seems to be the one that has the long night shift on the nest.

I don't think it is enough information to apply it to all loon pairs of whether the male or the female does the incubation. But it is a very interesting piece of information about this particular pair of loons.

Are they the norm? Or are they the exception?

Is it because she appears to be young and inexperienced? Or do males do more of the incubation than had been previously believed?

As always, when you learn one thing, it simply raises a thousand more questions.

Ahhhh, but the joy of learning and always adding to what we know about these wonderful birds.

Speaking of incubation, the "normal" incubation period for loon eggs has always been said to be 28 days. Some sources have even claimed up to thirty days or even thirty two days.

But most of what was known before the LoonCam was from observations out in the field. While the observers were very good and very accurate, they were also handicapped by how much they could see while not disturbing the loons. They did not know exactly when the egg was laid. They did not know exactly when the chick hatched.

But with the LoonCam, we are able to see everything up close without disturbing the loons at all. And we know "to the minute" when the eggs were laid. And we know within a matter of hours of when the chicks hatch.

So the LoonCam has allowed much more accurate observations than ever before.

And the LoonCam has been changing some of the commonly accepted information about loons.

We know beyond the shadow of a doubt from a few years ago that a chick has hatched at 25 1/2 days. And several hatches have been well below the 28 days. So you are part of helping to learn even more about loons.

We are over one quarter of the way through this year's incubation period. Now if we could only have a camera INSIDE the egg to watch the miracle of new life forming!

The miracle of Creation.

I often wonder about exactly what is going on inside that egg.

And I stand back in amazement.

To think that a 'dead' egg is capable of turning into a beautiful, black, downy, little loon chick in only a matter of days.

Who did it? Who came up with the plan? Who carried it out? HOW did they do it?

Some things are just too wonderful to comprehend!

So today, enjoy the wonder of Creation. And marvel at it.

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

Tuesday, May 20, 2014 9:50 am CDT

Guest User May 20, 2014

48 degrees F Cloudy and Foggy Calm

Sunrise 5:37 am CDT Sunset 8:42 pm CDT

A thick brooding fog lays over the lake.

Not a wisp of air is moving.

The lake is like a mirror, reflecting the loon sitting on the nest.

She often goes into hangover - it must be the female on the nest.

Then there are voices. Distant, disembodied voices coming from somewhere out in the fog.

Like ghosts appearing out of nowhere, a canoe with three teenagers slips into view out of the fog.

Then another. And another. And another. And another.

The loon quietly slips off the nest into the water and swims away from the nest. Not away from the canoes but out toward the canoes. She puts herself between the nest and the canoes.

She sits watching, half submerged, with not much more than her head and neck above the water.

More canoes emerge from the fog. Thirteen canoes in all.

They are apparently from a YMCA camp that is located on the lake. Out practicing their canoeing skills on a wonderfully moody foggy morning.

The male loon has now also appeared and takes up a position between the nest and the canoes along with the female.

The loons rise up in the water and flap their wings. Not a sign of distress. Just the normal relaxed wing flap of a loon. They sit. They swim. They carefully watch the canoers.

Most of the teenagers are oblivious to the nest or the loons. But a few of them point at the loons when they see them.

However, none of them come toward the loons or the nest. They maintain a respectful distance.

As the last canoe passes, the male loon starts a series of yodels in the general direction of the departing canoes. As if to say, "Keep moving! This is MY territory!" He makes a total of six yodels as the canoes disappear into the fog, one by one.

And then they are gone. Only their voices remain.

A few minutes later, the male returns to the nest and gets up on it. His bands and his data recorder are clearly visible on his legs.

He goes through the usual routine of rolling the egg, positioning them ever so carefully and then settles down on them. Within a couple minutes he is back up and repeats the procedure all over again.

Most birds have what is called a "brood patch" on their breast. A bare patch of skin that they press against their eggs and transfer body heat to the eggs to incubate them. Some birds even pull out feathers and down to create that bare patch of skin.

Loons are somewhat different, although similar in intent.

Loons tend to position the eggs far to the back of their body near the legs.

There is not a bare patch of skin there nor a brood patch.

But there is an unusually large number of blood vessels in this particular area of their body that very effectively transfers body heat to the eggs.

And that is why they so carefully roll and position the eggs far to the back of their body before them settle down on them.

Now you know why they do what they do when they are so carefully positioning the eggs.

There is one other thing that you may want to watch for.

Normally when a loon is swimming or just sitting on the nest without eggs, the tips of the wings cross and make an "X" as they lay just above the tail feathers.

However, when the loon is incubating eggs, those wing tips are carefully tucked UNDER the tail and then the tail is lowered to keep them in place. The tail almost locks the wingtips in place.

That way the wing feathers form a very nice tight weatherproof seal against the cold or the rain. An amazing little detail of what loons do that just adds to the wonder and magnificence of these beautiful and iconic birds.

Enjoy them today as you watch. Look for some of those little details that add so much to our understanding of the loons.

It is hard to believe but we are already almost a quarter of the way through the incubation period of these eggs. It will not be long before we can expect to see new loon chicks come into the world.

The mystery of all this is almost beyond comprehension and the time that we have with them is ever so fleeting.

And ever so marvelous!

Questions or Comments? LoonCam (at) yahoo (dot) com Because of the volume of questions, I am not able to answer each one personally. But I eventually DO read each and every message. And I will try to address some of your questions here in the blog.

Minnesota Bound

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