Thursday, June 5, 2014 5:32 am CDT

Guest User June 5, 2014

60 degrees F Clear Calm

Sunrise 5:26 am CDT Sunset 8:57 pm CDT

Expected Egg Hatch Sometime June 6 - 11

Once again, a loon sits on a nest early in the morning on a northern lake that is like a sheet of glass.

In fact, we have had a shift change just a few minutes ago.

The male once again has pulled the long overnight shift of over 13 hours on the nest. And now the female has taken up the charge of guarding and warming those precious eggs!

We can only imagine the wonders going on inside those eggs.

At just about exactly the time to the minute of this last shift change when the female came on the nest is the time when the first egg was laid 24 days ago.

Based on observations from previous years that have showed incubation times as low as 25.5 days instead of the widely accepted 28 days, it is entirely possible that we are close to hatching!

Can it be possible already?

It is almost to magnificent and wonderful to even try to comprehend in those few short days, we have gone from having "nothing" inside that egg to now quite possibly having a living loon chick ready to make its way into the world.

Who can explain that kind of miracle?

Who is smart enough to understand and explain life itself?

Who among us is capable of making something as wonderful as that happen?

Certainly not me!

So once again I can only stand back in wonder and amazement and say, "God, you done good!"

Tomorrow afternoon we reach the 25 1/2 day mark for the first egg. The time when we have see eggs hatch a couple times before.

Since it takes a chick up to 24 hours of hard work to pip its way out of the egg, it is entirely possible that later today we may actually see signs of that pipping.

If you have not done so before, now is the time to tell all of your friends and family that it is time to begin watching in earnest for the miracle about to take place!

Now is the time to let all your facebook friends know. To tweet to your heart's content on twitter. And LinkedIn. And Pinterest. And tumblr. And Instagram.

Or to even use that old fashioned thing called the telephone to let your friends and family know.

For those of you who still have kids or grandkids in school, have them ask their teacher if they can watch this miracle unfold and learn from it.

It is something so special that they do not want to miss it.

And it goes so quickly. For once they hatch, the chicks are off the nest and into the water usually within

I think it is very possible that by this weekend we very well could see hatching, if they are going to hatch.

I say "if" because we would be wise to listen to the old adage and change it slightly - "Don't count your loon chicks before they hatch!"

It is hard to believe but in over 10 years that I have been doing this, this particular nest has been used every year but one! Last year, 2013.

And in those years chicks have been born almost every year. Many of the years have seen 2 chicks. In fact, most years. And that is what we want to see this year and what we hope for.

Two healthy little loon chicks.

Once again, here are a few signs to watch for.

Watch for the loon on the nest to be sitting "more lightly". Watch for twitches from the loon on the nest. A quick movement of a wing. A slight and quick readjustment of the body. Looking down as if to say 'I wonder what is going on under me.'

All of these could be signs that one of the eggs is hatching.

It is entirely possible that the chicks inside the eggs could be making movements and sounds. There are some biologists who say that one chick can 'talk' to another chick while they are inside the egg and that they actually communicate. If the chicks can do that, can they also 'talk' to the adults and vice versa?

So many questions!

Who is wise enough to know the answers and understand them?

Whatever the answers are, we know that we are one day closer to the potential hatch of the eggs we have watched for so many days.

Who knows? Maybe this is the day that we see the start of that miracle anew!

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

Wednesday, June 4, 2014 5:10 am CDT

Guest User June 4, 2014

53 degrees F Clear Calm

5:27 am CDT 8:56 pm CDT

Expected Egg Hatch Sometime June 6 - 11

It is still several minutes before official sunrise.

But already the world is waking up. Birds are singing. The lake is like a sheet of glass. Only interrupted here and there where a fish has jumped.

Small wisps of fog drift along the edges of the lake.

The eastern sky has turned a bright pink.

Several families of geese have gone swimming by with their new goslings in tow. Some still yellow. Others already gray and at least a foot tall.

Crows are cawing.

I was reminded yesterday about the danger that crows can pose to loon eggs on an untended nest. Or to any nest.

Crows are notorious egg stealers and eaters.

I watched as several blackbirds loudly chased a crow, dive bombing it over and over. The much, much larger crow swerved to avoid the blackbirds.

I was surprised when it looked like the blackbirds were actually going to force the crow down into the lake.

But as it touched the surface of the water, I realized it was not going into the water but it picked up something off the surface of the water.

And the blackbirds dive bombed it even more fiercely.

But the crow flew off with whatever it picked up off the surface of the water.

It was then that it hit me.

The crow had stolen a chick out of the blackbird's nest and it wasn't going to lose it, even though it apparently had been forced to drop it in the water as the blackbirds chased it.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling at all to watch what was happening.

But it was a poignant reminder that 'nature' isn't all sweetness and light all the time. There is a daily struggle for life that goes on.

But the biggest reminder to me was also that the loon eggs are vulnerable to crows and seagulls and other egg eaters anytime the loon does not have them covered on the nest. I seldom think about crows being a threat to loon eggs. But they are well known for eating eggs.

Okay, on to more pleasant topics!

This weekend could very well be - in fact probably is - the time when we can expect the eggs to hatch.

And the time we have looked forward to all spring.

To see two little balls of black down.

Unbelievably cute.

Little loons chicks that would melt the most cynical and hardened heart and cause one to go "Awwwwwwww"!

The earliest I would expect to see the eggs hatch would be Friday afternoon. The latest by next Wednesday, one week from today. But my best guess would be sometime over the weekend that we may see the hatch.

Let's talk a little bit about some of the signs to watch for that indicate hatching might take place.

Watch for the loon to 'sit higher on the nest'. I don't know how to even explain that adequately, but I think you will recognize it when you see it. It is like they are almost sitting lighter on the nest.

Watch for twitches of the loon's wings. Or even of the whole body.

Twitches that obviously are in reaction to movement under them as the chick first moves inside the egg and then pecks through the shell. This process can take up to 24 hours.

It is a very long and exhausting process for the little chick to pip through the thick shell of the egg. He will peck away and the shell for a while. And then totally worn out he will stop and rest. And then peck some more. And stop. And peck. And stop.

Until he finally makes it out.

So you might even see some of this behavior as early as Thursday afternoon.

But especially watch for it on Friday.

And then the reward for the long hours of watching as you finally see the head of a new little chick peeking out from under the adult loon's wing!

At that point, there is no stopping the inquisitive little chick as he crawls in and out from under the adult.

He will be a handful to say the least.

And it is what we have waited for so long.

And especially what the loons have waited for!

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

Tuesday, June 3, 2104 7:10 pm CDT

Guest User June 3, 2014

Well, we sure had an interesting incident this afternoon.

About 4:30 this afternoon I came in the house just as the male loon was leaving the nest.

On the audio, I could hear voices so I went down to the lake to see if the loon had left the nest because of some disturbance.

There was no boat and no people anywhere in sight. The sound of voices was apparently coming from somewhere way across the lake and the microphone was picking it up.

But I did see "our" loons swimming out beyond the buoys.

Or at least I thought it was "our" loons.

But they were excitedly circling each other and doing what I call "splash diving", which is an excited dive that actually splashes water.

It concerned me if our loons were having a spat.

When one loon would dive, the other loon would also either dive immediately or put his head under the water (peering) to keep track of where the other loon was.

As one of the loons was underwater and the other loon was peering, all of a sudden the loon on top of the water jumped and immediately went into a penguin dance mode!

He obviously had gotten stabbed from underwater by the other loon!

Now I was really concerned it if was "our" couple!

The other loon immediately surfaced right next to the first one and he too immediately went into penguin dance.

Then started the wails and tremolos as they face each other, still in penguin dance.

It was one of the longest penguin dance confrontations that I have ever seen.

Finally the loon that had gotten stabbed (?), rapidly retreated across the surface of the water, rowing with his wings and calling the whole way. When he finally stopped, the other loon dove which sent the first loon racing across the water again because he knew that the loon was coming after him underwater.

And sure enough the loon surfaced right where the first loon had just been.

So the first loon kept going farther and farther away.

Just then, another loon came flying in low over the other two loons on the water.

Now there was a third loon in the mix!

The flying loon circled over them.

And then circled again. And again. Just a few feet off the water.

This loon had obviously heard the alarm calls and came flying in.

And finally it came to a skidding landing near the loon that had done the stabbing.

They swam together, both of them with heads held high and on high alert, looking around.

They were still very agitated. They kept looking around and swimming in circles. I was not beginning to believe that these two loons were the male and female pair of "our" loons. And it was our male that had confronted and stabbed an intruder loon.

I could not see where the intruder loon had gone. But more and more the pair started looking in the opposite direction of where he had gone.

Sure enough, a loon started his long splashing takeoff and he flew a few feet right over the top of our loons!

They stayed out away from the nest still looking around for any other threats.

Finally one of them started swimming in toward the nest as I sat in the lawn chair watching with the binoculars. The loon near the nest was very cautious so I thought it was the female as she halfway submarined near the nest.

And I thought I saw bands on the loon preening further out in the lake so I figured that must be the male. But I couldn't get a real good look at his legs so I wasn't 100% sure.

The loon finally got up on the nest.

I stood up out of the chair to go back up to the house and the loon stayed upright. This HAD to be the male. I must have been wrong about the loon further out preening that I thought had bands on its legs.

If it had been the female, I was sure she would have gone into deep hangover as soon as I moved.

But I knew when I got up to the house and checked the chat room, all of you would have posted which loon had gotten back up on the nest - the male or female.

But to my surprise when I came in the house to check, I found out that UStream had gone down just a few minutes before and nobody had seen the loon get on the nest!

So I rebooted UStream and the cam came back live.

I told the chatroom that I felt it must be the male that had gotten back on the nest.

But when the loon on the nest got up to roll the eggs, I could not see any bands.

Now I was really confused!

Which loon was which? Was it really the female on the nest?

If so, why didn't she react to seeing me and gone in to deep hangover.

Others in the chatroom confirmed that they had not seen bands either, although we did not get a real good look.

I went back outside.

Normally as soon as I come out of the house, the female loon goes into hangover.

But this loon did not. It MUST be the male!

Or was it?

I walked all the way down to the lake and until I got almost to the shore, the loon kept its head up. Only when I reached the shore, did the loon go into a slight hangover.

Normally, if I or anyone would come to the shore when the female was on the nest, she would go into DEEP hangover or even leave the nest.

But we were able to confirm that indeed it was the female on the nest.

Out of nowhere, she had seemed to become very brave. Or she had finally gotten to know me!

Things have been very calm on the nest since then.

But you never know what to expect from the LoonCam or when you are going to see or learn something new.

So now enjoy the loons on a beautiful calm summer evening.

Tuesday. June 3. 2014 6:12 am CDT

Guest User June 3, 2014

54 degrees F Clear Wind 2mph NW

Sunrise 5:27 am CDT Sunset 8:56 pm CDT

Expected Egg Hatch Sometime June 6 - 11

It is a beautiful sunny morning as the sun breaks over the trees on the shore of the lake.

A light breeze is blowing, just enough to help keep the blackflies away from the loon but not enough to rock the nest.

A pair of geese swim by with their two new goslings in tow.

The loons just made their morning nest exchange a little while ago and now the female has taken over from the male. The female seems to be settling into the routine better and better each day.

Yesterday morning she was on the nest for over seven and one half hours!

She is still super sensitive to any disturbance. But even with that she is getting better and more experienced and does not leave the nest readily, although she goes into hangover from almost any disturbance.

The male is still doing the majority of the incubation duty, especially since he is doing the long overnight shift.

Last night he was on the nest for 13 1/2 hours and the night before for over 15 1/2 hours.

Some of you have asked what the other loon does and where it goes when it is off the nest.

The time off the nest gives it a chance to catch fish and eat, to swim, to preen and take care of its feathers to keep them waterproof and in general to just take a break.

They are not necessarily close to the nest. Many times when I have looked out on the lake, I cannot even find them or see them. It is not unheard of for a loon to even fly to an adjacent lake. Or just to fly, seemingly for exercise or 'the fun of it' and to keep their flight muscles in shape.

However, most of the time they are simply fishing or swimming somewhere else on the lake. But they keep to their own part of the lake or their own territory if there is more than one pair of loons on a lake.

Crossing that invisible line that defines a loons territory can trigger an all out confrontation between competing loons.

A loon's diet consists primarily of small fish.

But they will eat many different things including crabs and leeches and insects and other things.

One of the requirements for a good loon territory is that it have an abundance of small fish.

A loon can eat up to 2 pounds of fish a day!

Most of the fish are small. An ounce or two or less. So a loon has to be a good fisherman when they must catch that many fish. But they can also catch fish that weigh a couple pounds! It would seem like it would be impossible for them to swallow a fish that large.

But they do.

Today is day 22 since the first egg was laid.

We are getting close!

According to the time line from the chick embryo growth video that I gave you a couple times, our loon chicks have probably now developed down that covers the body and their head is tucked between their legs as they now almost completely fill the egg.

My best guess is that the eggs may hatch this weekend. It could be as early as this Friday or as late as a week from tomorrow. But probably the best chance of seeing them hatch is this weekend.

I will say a little more in the next couple days about the signs to watch for that indicate hatching is taking place.

But once again today, enjoy this wonderful and totally unique opportunity to watch loons in the wild as they incubate their eggs in preparation for new life!

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

Monday, June 2, 2014 5:12 am CDT

Guest User June 2, 2014

63 degrees Cloudy and Rain Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:28 am CDT Sunset 8:55 pm CDT

Expected Egg Hatching Sometime Friday June 6 to Wednesday June 11

The male loon once again has taken the long overnight shift on the nest.

In fact, according to faithful observers here he may have been on the nest since about 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon. If that is true and there wasn't a nest change that observers missed, that would make it almost 15 hours on the nest for him already!

The amount of time spent on the nest by each of the loons has certainly been an interesting observation this year. And for the first time ever, we have been able to see definitively who is who because of the bands on the legs of the male.

Is this the norm for division of nesting duties?

It goes against all conventional wisdom.

But it certainly is interesting to watch and it sure gives a whole new insight into loon behavior. Insight that would not be possible without the LoonCam.

This is the only place in the world that you can watch something like this. This close of a view of a Common Loon on its nest. Something that none of us would ever be able to do in nature.

We have been doing this for over 10 years. The LoonCam is one of the first live webcams of any kind in the world with this kind of a closeup view of nature. Now webcams have become more and more common.

Don't take this the wrong way, but eagle cams have almost become a dime a dozen. I don't mean to minimize them in any way. They are wonderful and we all enjoy them. There are a lot of them. But there is only one place that we can go to see loons.

There is only one LoonCam!

As you watch our loons today, watch for something as the loons make their nest change.

As graceful and beautiful as loons are on and in the water and as fast as they can fly in the air, loons are NOT graceful as they try to get around on land.

In fact, they are downright clumsy and comical.

They are almost helpless on land.

When the loons come up out of the water and get onto the nest, you will see that they move with difficulty.

In fact, there are some that speculate that the loon may have actually gotten its name from a Swedish word meaning 'clumsy'. The Swedish word is "lom".

But wherever the name came from, clumsy sure fits their movement on land.

Why is that so?

Let's do a little exercise to illustrate why it is so hard for loons to get around on land.

Hold your arm out in front of you [those of you who have been here for a few years know what we are going to do. But do it with us.]

Spread your fingers out and wiggle them.

Now pretend that your arm and hand and fingers are the leg of a chicken.

Your upper arm would be the chicken's drumstick. Your lower arm would be the lower part of the chicken's leg and your hand and fingers would be the chicken's foot.

Now with both your arms, pretend that you are a chicken walking. See how it feels as you move your arms like you are walking with them.

That is how a chicken walks.

But let's look at how a loon walks.

Once again, hold your arm out in front of you. But this time, hold the upper part of your arm (the 'drumstick') tight against your body. Don't let the upper part of your arm move away from your body.

Now try to 'walk' like you did before, moving only the lower part of your arm and your hand and fingers.

A big difference in being able to 'walk', isn't there?!

That is the difference between a chicken walking and a loon walking.

Because where the chicken's whole leg is free to move, only the lower part of a loon's leg can move freely.

The "drumstick" on a loon is encased in the loon's body skin! It cannot move freely.

There is a big difference in the feel of walking like a chicken and walking like a loon, isn't there?

Now you know why a loon has such difficulty moving around on land.

As you look at the loon when they get on the nest, you can see that the leg comes out of the body skin way at the back of the loon's body. The drumstick is tightly encased in skin all the way down to the knee joint.

And this makes it very difficult for a loon to get around on land.

Now you can show your friends and family that you know how to "walk like a loon"!

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

Because of the volume of mail, I won't be able to reply to each one personally. But I do eventually read each and every one. And I will try to answer some of the questions here on the blog.

Minnesota Bound

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