Saturday, May 16, 2015 7:30 am CDT

57 degrees CDT     Mostly Cloudy     Wind  Calm

Sunrise   5:42 am CDT     Sunset   8:38 pm CDT

Birds sing their morning song.

Peaks of sunshine sneak through what is a mostly cloudy sky.

The lake is calm except for a few ripples from whispers of wind.

The geese seem to be much quieter now.  At least three families of geese have new goslings that apparently have hatched within the last few days.

And there is a loon sitting on a nest in Minnesota taking care of the 2 precious eggs that contain the promise of a new generation of loons.

Does life get much better?

Once again overnight the male has done the yeoman's service of sitting on the eggs, keeping them warm and keeping them protected from predators.  This last shift overnight was 15 hours and 8 minutes!

It would be interesting to know what goes through a loon's mind that drives them to spend so much time in an environment that is so foreign to them.  For being out of the water is very foreign to them.

They were made for the water.  That is where they spend their life.

But for these few short weeks, something changes and drives them to leave the water and to sit high and dry on a nest.  Out of the water.  In hot sun and cold and rain and wind and sometimes even frost and snow.  Something so deep within them causes them to totally change their behavior for these few weeks.

Luckily for us and future generations of loons that change in behavior results in 2 new loon chicks!

Today they are predicting rain moving in later this afternoon and lasting through most of tomorrow.

Temperatures are supposed to get up into the upper 70s today.  So the clouds and the rain will help to keep the loon on the nest cooler.

You will notice when the loon is sitting on the nest and the sun is out, that they will sit with their beak open.  They are doing exactly what it looks like - panting.  Much like a dog panting, it is the loon's way of coping with being out of the cool water and it helps to cool them off.

Before we had sound on the LoonCam, some people thought that the loon was calling when it had its beak open.  And they were wishing they could hear the loon calling all the time.  But no, the loon is not calling.  It is just trying to stay cool.

Loons for the most part are very silent when they are on the nest.  That seems to be a way of not drawing attention to the location of the nest.

But with today probably being a warm day, watch for the loon panting as it sits on the nest.  It would probably be much happier to be swimming in the cool water.  But sit it must.  The eggs demand it.

Also watch for something else today.

This is one of the many miracles about loons that just amazes me.

But it also makes me feel sorry for the loon.

You may notice very small flies that fly around the loon's head and land especially around the eyes and the 'nostrils'.

This is a species of black flies.  Not the kind of black flies that fly around us and bite humans.  This is a black fly that is the size of a gnat or even smaller.  But it is not a gnat either.

It is a black fly that to me is one of the stunning examples of the specialization of nature.  For these black flies are thought to feed almost exclusively on loon blood!

I shake my head every time I think of it.

How can a fly develop and survive if it only feeds on loon blood?!

The scientific name for that black fly is Simulium euryadminiculum. 

It was first described in 1949 in Ontario.  But has since been studied and verified by a number of different scientists through the years.  The latest being studies done by the University of Northern Michigan.

All of these studies seem to confirm that this particular black fly only targets loons.  In fact, in several tests, when given the choice between an old museum loon skin specimen and a live duck, the fly targeted the old loon skin!

It is not known what the attractant is.  But it is thought that one of the prime possibilities may be the smell given off from oil that loons produce and use to coat their feathers.

There is a small gland at the upper surface of the loon's tail that produces this oil.  If you watch a loon grooming, you can see them use their beak to rub against this gland.  And then they will spread that oil over their feathers.

You can actually feel and see this gland if you handle a loon.  It is a small bump on the surface back by the loon's tail.

Now as amazing as the specialization of this black fly is, one cannot help but feel sorry for our loons being tormented by the fly as they sit on the nest.

They do not have our luxury of bug sprays.  They cannot go inside a screened in porch to get away from this biting black fly.  They have to just sit on the nest and endure it.  

There have been cases observed where the black flies have become so bad that loons have actually abandoned their nest.

For no other reason than black flies, I am sure the loon would prefer to stay in the water.

So watch today for this black fly around the loon's head.

And if you want, brush your computer screen and see if you can help the loon by keeping the black flies away!!

Copyright   2015   Larry R Backlund

Friday, May 15, 2015 6:28 am CDT

52 degrees F    Cloudy     Wind 3 mph NW

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

On a cloudy and overcast morning, with a haze hanging in the air, our loons have just smoothly completed their nest exchange of the morning a few minutes ago.

Once again the male has taken the long shift and has been on the nest for 10  hours and 26 minutes over night.

He seems to consistently be the one this year that does the overnight nesting sitting duties.  And he also seems to be the one who does by far the longest time on the nest.

Even with the female sitting close by for the last half hour, he was in no hurry to leave.

This morning we will pass the 8 day mark since the laying of the second egg and have already passed the 10 day mark since the first egg was laid.

It is hard to believe that it has been that long already.

Last year I did a look at the development of chicks inside the egg.

I took what is known about the normal development of chicks inside chicken eggs which is well documented, and extrapolated to what might be happening with the longer incubation time of a loon egg.

At this stage today, the heart of the developing chick has already been beating for a number of days!

Blood vessels have grown.  The limbs, brain and eyes have begun to develop.  Even the beak has begun to form.

How can one even comprehend the wonder of that?!

From "nothing" in the egg just a few days ago.  To now a new living creature being formed.

I will never get over the wonder of that.

Our loon parents both seem to have matured so much this year, especially the female.

Where last year she was so skittish and would scare off the nest at the slightest disturbance - or no disturbance at all - this year she has been very faithful in the nest exchanges and sitting on the eggs.  She still is much more apt to show concern and go into hangover than the male, but she has done so much better this year.

I have assumed that she may be a very young female who is still getting used to this whole routine.  She was new to the nest in 2013.  And that year she did not even seem to dare to get up on the nest more than a couple times.  They did not nest that year.  Which was the first time in all the years I have been doing this that the loons did not nest on the platform.

But now she seems to be learning what is expected of her and is much more comfortable with the whole routine.

I have mentioned "hangover" a couple times this year but realize that I have not really explained what it means.  Most of you already know.  But some of you who are new to watching our loons, let me explain.

A loon normally sits on the nest with its head held fairly high.

However, when it senses danger it will lower its head.

This danger might be from an eagle, from a boat or canoe in the area or just about anything else that might concern them.

The more concerned they become, the lower their head will go.

They will not leave the nest.  Yet.  But the lower their head is, the more concerned they are about whatever it is that has caused the disturbance.

They are trying to lower their profile and their visibility.

As they continue to become more concerned, their head will go lower and lower.  Until they are laying it right down against the nest.  With their neck outstretched.  They can still watch everything that is going on around them, but they have dramatically reduced their visibility.

It is what we call "hangover" position.

If the threat goes away, they will gradually raise their head again as they become more comfortable.

But if the threat does not go away, or especially if it continues to get closer, the loon may very well leave the nest.

They will swim away from the nest hoping to draw the threat away from the nest.  And apparently also draw attention away from the location of the nest.

That is why I encourage fishermen and canoeists or anyone on or around the water where there are loons, keep your eyes open and be aware of your surroundings.

If you see a loon on a nest, keep your distance.

We all want to see a loon closeup on the nest because it is something that we never get a chance to see.

And that is the beauty of the LoonCam!

You are able to watch the loons on the nest close up and never disturb them one iota.

Everything you see is their natural behavior.

It is something that researchers from years ago could only dream about.  But now we take it for granted.

But if you see a loon in the wild that is on a nest, don't approach it even though everything in your body says you want to get a closer look.  Carry a pair of binoculars with you and then you can watch 'close up' from a distance and not disturb the loons.

Usually if you stay about 300 feet away from the nest, the loons will not care and you are not stressing them.  If the loon starts to go into hangover position, it means you are getting to close to them for the loon to be comfortable.  Slowly back away and they will once again raise their head as they become more comfortable.

Our here on the LoonCam is a perfect example of the difference in loons themselves, even the same pair.

The male of this pair very seldom goes into hangover unless he is really concerned about something.  The female, however, is still prone to go into hangover over the slightest little thing.  Or sometimes what to me looks like nothing at all.

Watch for that difference in behavior as you watch our loons.

Before it was hard if not impossible to know for sure which loon was on the nest.  Now that they are banded, we can easily tell "who's on first"!

The male has a blue striped band on his right leg and silver bands on his left leg.  The female has a green band on her right leg and two red (sometimes they look more orange) striped bands on her left leg.

Yesterday we had an "intruder loon" that our loons went out to confront and to keep him away from the nest.  They do not want any other loons in their territory.  Other loons can be a threat to the nest and the eggs and especially the young chicks after they hatch.

They did not get into a big battle but their was a lot of excited diving and even a couple penguin dances and calls.  Finally the intruder left the area and the loons got back on the nest.

But it always concerns me when they are off the nest for any amount of time, especially at this critical time in the development of the eggs.  And yesterday morning, the intruder drew them off the nest while it was raining.

Many times I find myself becoming concerned over things I know that I cannot control.  And so I have to just walk away.  But that is easy to say.  And hard to do.

You may experience those same feelings at times.

But the wonder of watching all of this miracle unfold before our eyes is far greater than the stress it puts on our poor hearts.

And seeing those unbelievably cute loon chicks in a few weeks makes all the heartburn and heart attacks worthwhile!

So once again today, enjoy this little peek into the lives of our loons.

It should clear off later today and we should see some sunshine on our beautiful loons.

And with the rain we have gotten, you can almost see the plants on the nest grow.

Enjoy it all.

Have a wonderful loon-filled day!

Copyright 2015     Larry R Backlund

PS  If you want to get a possible periodic email update even after our loons have left the nest and the camera has gone off, drop a note to LoonCam at yahoo.com.  I won't promise a lot of updates, but there  will probably  be a couple between now and the new loon season next year.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015 5:14 am CDT

39 degrees F   Cloudy     Wind Calm

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

The first light of morning appears and our loon is already awake and looking around.

The morning song of so many birds fills the air.

Little zephyrs of breeze move around but are barely enough to stir the surface of the water.

All is peaceful.

Last night a number of people viewing just as it was getting dark, heard the male loon on the nest call and quickly leave the nest just as the reflection of some large bird was visible in the calm surface of the lake as it flew very low over the nest.

The way the loon reacted, I assume it was a bald eagle.

But when I went and looked, I could not see an eagle in the area or in one of the neighboring trees.  But it was getting so dark it was hard to see.

It could have also been a great blue heron.  But loons normally do not react to them in the panicked way that the male loon reacted to whatever flew over.  We have a number of great blue herons who regularly walk the shoreline looking for fish and frogs.

When they are surprised, herons take off with a loud croaking sound.

It is amazing to me how loons can distinguish an eagle from almost all other birds.

I have watched ospreys and herons and crows fly over and the loons hardly pay attention to them.

But let an eagle fly over and the loons loudly express their concern.

They innately seem to know from thousands of years of experience that eagles are one of the few birds that pose a threat to them or their chicks.

I have watched eagles chase our loons off the nest and then repeatedly dive on them and chase them all the way across the lake.

That happened a number of years ago on one very cold and windy and rainy morning.

The eagle chased the loon all the way across the lake as the loon dove for cover over and over.  Each time it came up, the eagle would dive on it.  Again and again.

During the time the loon was off the nest, three very large waves washed over the nest and filled the nest bowl with ice cold water.

I knew we had lost the eggs.

But if I remember right, miraculously one of the eggs actually hatched.  However, the other egg did not.

When we x-rayed it later, there was a chick inside that had been developing.  But its development had stopped about the time that the wave had covered it with cold water.

On three different occasions through the years, I have heard the loons calling and have gone to look to see what was disturbing them.

There were no people nearby.

No boats.  No canoes.  No eagles.

But they kept calling.

Then when I looked straight up, high in the sky above me was not much more than a black dot.

I had to strain my eyes to even make it out.

But there was an eagle circling high overheard.

How the loons could even see the eagle was amazing.  Let alone know that it was an eagle and not some other bird.

But distinguish it they did.  And they knew that it was something that was a danger not only to their nest but to them as well.  Eagles are one of the few if not the only avian predator that is large enough to even try to take an adult loon.

And loons know it.

Loons are one of the oldest of the bird species.  Some say they go back 65 million years.  Almost to the time of the dinosaurs.

They have had a lot of time to figure out who is their enemy and who is not!

So today, let's hope for bluebirds and herons.  

And no eagle attacks.

If you have any comments or questions, you can either comment here or at LoonCam at yahoo.com.   Because of the number of emails, I am not able to answer each one personally.  But I do eventually read all of them.  And if there is a question that a number of people have, I try to answer it at some point here in the blog.

The weather is supposed to be warming over the next several days.  Back closer to normal May temperatures.  Maybe even 80 by Saturday.

But there is supposed to be more rain tomorrow and scattered thunderstorms over the next few days.  

We can use the rain and the loons do not mind the rain at all.

They are not predicting any severe weather at this point.

So let's hope for blue birds, blue sky, gentle breezes.

And loons on the nest!

Copyright 2015     Larry R Backlund

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 2:12 pm CDT

57 degrees   Mostly Cloudy   Win 12 mph NW

Sunrise   5:47 am CDT    Sunset   8:33 pm CDT

It is a cold windy day here in Minnesota.

We did not have frost here but it did get down to 37 degrees this morning.  The weather should continue to warm over the next few days.  More rain is predicted for Thursday evening and then again on Sunday.

There are whitecaps on the lake that are bouncing our loons around whether they are  on the nest or off.

But they take it all in stride. 

Whether they are on the nest or not, they would be bouncing on the waves.  Obviously they don't need Dramamine nor do they get seasick.  It is just their world.

The loons just did their nest exchange a few minutes ago.

They are getting MUCH better at it and making the exchange smoothly.  The female is getting more and more comfortable on the nest and not ready to leave at the slightest provocation as she did last year.  She is still more ill at ease than the male but she is coming along rapidly.

She just spent the last 7 hours and 37 minutes on the nest!

That has to be a record for her.  If you had told me even a couple weeks ago that she  would do that, I probably would not have believed you.  And the male spent 17 hours on the nest Sunday and Monday.

Once again, you learn new things every day.

I think these are the longest shifts that I have ever seen.  But then in previous years without the loons being banded, it was hard to tell who was on the nest and for how long.  But it seemed that most of the time I have been watching loons they seemed to do a nest exchange every few hours, not these long long shifts on the nest.

Once again we are seeing things and learning things that would have been impossible in any other way.

What really surprised me this afternoon was that the neighbor mowed their front lawn with a big riding mower and it did not seem to overly concern the female.

I thought 'this will be interesting to see how she reacts'.  

And she barely reacted at all!

She went into a slight hangover once in a while.  But very little.  I was surprised.  And I wondered to myself if maybe it was the male on the nest and I had missed the exchange.  But no, it was the female who is getting more and more comfortable with her duties.

The neighbors are as concerned about the loons as much as I am.  Or more.  So I knew that if the mowing bothered the loons they would stop.

But the female loon was perfectly ok with it.

I am very encouraged by the apparent maturing of this female.

I have not been able to get over to where the other pair of loons on the lake has nested the last few years for a couple weeks.  With our loons here, I am "landlocked".  But when I checked a couple weeks ago, I did not see any sign that they were trying to nest at that point.  Hopefully they will nest again either at their old site or a new one.

I have not heard nearly as many territorial battles so hopefully territories have been all settled.

One of the reasons I hope that pair has chicks this year is that they were banded and fit with geolocater tags in 2012.  We were not able to capture them last year to retrieve their geolocaters because they lost their chick.  We tried to capture them but were not able to do it.

So if we can capture them and retrieve the data recorder, it will add much more knowledge about loons.  Where they go and what they do.

There is (or was) still an 'intruder loon' on the lake.  A couple mornings ago, our loon was drawn off the nest as they 'did battle' with the intruder.  I did not see it but one of the neighbors said they did.  Apparently it was a fairly short and mild battle.

So our loons continue to face challenges.  Even if we do not see them on the LoonCam and they take place elsewhere.

But today I will hold onto how well our female has been settling into her role.

I am very pleased and happy.

It bodes well for the future of this nest and our little future chicks.

Copyright   2015     Larry R Backlund

Monday, May 11, 2015 5:56am CDT

47 degrees F     Scattered Rain     Wind 3 mpg NE

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

We have just had our morning nest exchange.

The female loon has come in and taken over nesting duties and the male has left.

He has been on the nest since 12:42 pm yesterday - a total of 17 HOURS 11  minutes!

That has to be some kind of a record.  Although it has undoubtedly happened somewhere, sometime before, that is the longest I have ever seen a loon stay on the nest at one stretch.

This pair is getting their nest exchanges down to a routine better and better and is doing them more smoothly.

It takes the female a few tries to get the eggs placed just right.  She adjusts them with her beak and  eventually she gets them in just the right spot and settles down on the eggs to keep them warm in the chilly spring morning air.  Rain continues off and on.

A light breeze blows across the nest and our loon.

Loons roll the eggs to get them in just the right spot near the back of their bodies between their legs.

Most birds have what is called a "brood patch".

A brood patch is an area on the birds breast that either does not have any feathers, or has few feathers.  This allows the bird to put that area of bare skin up against the eggs so that it can transfer body warmth to the eggs more efficiently.

Loons do not have this bare skin "brood patch".

Instead they have an area back toward their legs that has a higher than average number of blood vessels.  It is this area where the loon tries to position the eggs so that they can transfer body warmth to the eggs.

So that is why you see them roll the eggs with their beak, trying to get them positioned just perfectly in that 'magic spot'.

When they have them in the right spot, they will settle down on the egg, wiggle and waddle as they nestle the egg against this spot with all the extra blood vessels.

Then watch them do something else.

Once they have settled their body on the eggs, moved their legs, wiggled their rear end back and forth to get the eggs positioned at just the right spot, they will carefully tuck their wing tips down along the nest.  They will cross the wing tips to seal up the space around the eggs so that no cold air can get to the eggs.

And then as a final step, they will lower their tail down over the wing tips to lock everything in place!

It is almost the loon's version of a Thermos bottle!

The eggs are now securely protected from the cold air as the loon transfers heat from their body to help the little chicks in the eggs develop and grow.

One of so many small miracles that our loons do every day.

So now we watch the clock and the calendar for the next 3 weeks or more.

Waiting for what will hopefully be 2 little  black downy balls to emerge from the eggs.  Our loon chicks.  So full of life!

And so full of "cute"!

Copyright 2015 Larry R Backlund