Friday, April 1, 2016 5:40 pm CDT

Guest User April 1, 2016

39 degrees Sunny Wind NNW 20 mph

Sunrise 6:52 pm CDT Sunset 7:52 pm CDT

WE ARE LIVE!

The LoonCam is LIVE for 2016!!

There is a cold cold wind out of the north that sweeps across the lake. White caps dot the surface of the lake. And waves roll in.

The LoonCam nest is bouncing on the waves.

There were even a few snow flurries earlier this morning!

But the important thing is that the nest is out on the water and ready for loons to occupy it.

The water is bitterly cold. And when you factor in the strong frigid wind, it was not a pleasant day to be working on the nest or in the water.

I had to come up to the house several times to dry off and thaw out. But it had to get done today because I will have very limited access to work on the nest, the cam or the blog for the next couple weeks.

But it is out there and ready for the loons ... and YOU!

It will be SO interesting to see what happens this year.

For those of you who may be new to the LoonCam or who have not been able to follow closely, last year the nest was used by the same pair of loons that has used it for several years. But then in August last year, the male loon from the LoonCam washed up on shore dead.

We still do not know how or why he died. Hopefully we will learn soon the results of tests being done to determine the cause of his death.

But with the male gone it will be interesting to see what happens. Will the female come back with a new mate? Will a new pair of loons take over the nest? Will the nest go unused?

We will only know what will happen by watching to see what happens.

We have done everything we can to provide the nest. Now it is up to the loons whether or not they will use it!

Stay tuned. And keep watching.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 12:36 pm CDT

Guest User March 30, 2016

43 degrees Rain Wind Calm

Sunrise 6:56 am CDT Sunset 7:39 pm CDT

It is a cloudy, rainy, hazy day.

A haze lies over a quiet northern lake. Shorelines are reflected in muted grays and browns on the surface of the water.

There are seagulls but no loons in sight.

After I posted last Thursday, I did see one loon on the lake on Friday morning. It was out in the middle of the lake and was no where near the nesting area. So was it one of "our loons"? There is no way to tell without an opportunity to see if it has bands or not.

After the ice went out of the lake, I was 'up north' for a Missions Conference for a week. All the lakes in the furthest northern reaches of the state and into Canada were still totally covered with ice. So obviously no loons could make it that far north yet.

In fact, the area up there had well over a foot of snow during the week.

There was no internet access or cell phone service in the area where we were so I was totally out of touch. When I got home I found out that there had been a death in the family and I was asked if I would do the funeral. So it was repacking quick and then heading up to another part of northern Minnesota.

But just before I left on Friday morning I did see the one loon here. So at least one loon was back - or at least 'passing through'. Since I got home from the funeral a couple days ago, I have not seen or heard any loons.

So we are 'close'. But we are not there yet.

Yesterday I worked on the nest and all the technical stuff to get the LoonCam connected. And this morning I have been working with the good folks and technical wizards at BroadbandMN to do more of the many things that must work to bring you the LoonCam pictures.

And I have good news!

With relatively few problems, the camera is working and we have pictures coming from it! We are not live yet but that is a major step forward. There is still a lot more work to be done.

If I get a break in the rain today and tomorrow, I will try to do more work on building the nest itself and more work on the LoonCam and the infrared light. And then hopefully I will be able to put the nest in the water and check once again to make sure everything is working.

When all of that is done, we will once again be able to go live with the LoonCam!

Let your friends and family and teachers know. Spread the word on facebook and twitter and all the other social sites.

It is almost LOON TIME!

Thursday, March 24, 2016 11:01 pm CDT

Guest User March 24, 2016

27 degrees Clear Wind Calm

Sunrise 7:07 am CDT Sunset 7:37 pm CDT

I think I am finally able to post to the blog again. Hopefully. I have no explanation why the system would not let me post before. But let's give it a try.

We are rapidly approaching the most special time of the year that all of us look forward to - LOON TIME!

The ice went out of the lake here on Tuesday, March 15th. That is the earliest that I have ever seen it go out.

So far I have not seen or heard any loons.

But then I have not been home much since the ice went out. When the ice went out a week ago Tuesday, it was very rainy, cold and foggy day on the lake - with some wind. So it was hard to see or hear anything if the loons had been there.

Then I left on Wednesday and was gone the whole week, returning night before last. It has been very windy yesterday and today so it was hard to see if there were any loons, or to pick them out among the waves if they were there.

The seagulls are here by the hundreds if not the thousands.

The lakes in northern Minnesota are still totally covered by ice and probably will be for a couple more weeks at least. But the spring migration will be here soon if it is not already underway. I have already seen robins and red wing blackbirds.

So we are getting closer and closer to another season of watching our loons.

This year will be VERY interesting to see what happens.

As you will remember, we lost the male from the LoonCam last summer. So there are a thousand and one questions for this year.

Will last year's female return with a new mate? Will she come back to the lake at all?

Or will a new pair take over the nest this year?

Or will the nest go unused?

There is no way to know for sure what will happen.

As usual, we are not the ones in control. We are merely spectators. And we can only wait and watch and learn.

But whatever happens, it will be interesting and exciting.

Stay tuned. And enjoy the ride.

Monday, August 17, 2015 11:27 pm CDT

Guest User August 17, 2015

60 degrees F Cloudy Wind Calm

6:16 pm CDT Sunrise 8:17 pm CDT Sunset

I think all of are still reeling at the loss of our LoonCam male loon.

I still find it difficult to comprehend that it has happened.

We know that things like this happen in life. But too many times we have a pollyannish and unrealistic view of nature.

Hopefully we can at some point find out what happened to our male loon.

I took his body to the DNR.

Right now it is at or on its way to a large necropsy lab over in Wisconsin for study.

Carroll Henderson, who I appreciate so much, has said that there is a very good chance that they will be able to determine the cause of death. And also tell us a lot more about him. Mercury levels, lead levels, if there has been any Gulf Oil contamination and a host of other things.

But he cautioned that it could be well into next year before we will find out any of those answers.

So let's hope that they are able to give us some answers of what happened.

I also wanted to let you know about the chick and the female.

After I had retrieved the loon, I went out on the lake specifically to look for the chick and the female.

I found them and they seemed to be doing well.

I was a little surprised at how close the chick was staying to the female. Almost right up against her.

Whether that has anything to do with what happened to the male I cannot say. But it sure made me wonder.

Normally the chick ventures further and further from the adults when they reach this age. And I have seen that over and over during the last few weeks. The chick would be in the same general area of the lake as the adults but would be far from them.

But that night at least, the chick seemed to be determined to never be more than a few inches away from his mother. It was an interesting thing to see.

The main thing for you to know is that both the chick and the female seem to be healthy, active and doing well.

Let us hope that both of them continue to do well and safely make the trip down to the Gulf.

And then next spring we will see if she returns to the nest.

It will be interesting and educational to say the least.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015 5:41 pm CDT

Guest User August 12, 2015

84 degrees CDT Clear and Sunny Wind 3 mph SW

Sunrise 6:10 am CDT Sunset 8:25 pm CDT

I am afraid that I have some bad news for you.

A neighbor stopped by a little while ago and I have just returned from their place.

I now have a dead loon in a plastic bag in the trunk of my car.

My neighbor's son was the first one to spot the dead loon on the beach. (Thank you Chase and Jason!)

All we know at this point is that it washed up on shore sometime between Sunday night and Tuesday morning.

What is so disheartening is that it is the male from the LoonCam.

The male that we watched with such suspense and heartbreak as he tried to decide whether to take care of the chick in the water or to stay on the nest and take care of the second egg. You will remember that difficult evening of watching the desperation of the male trying to decide what to do and the helplessness that we all felt.

Tomorrow I will take him to the DNR to see if they can determine what the cause of death was.

I looked and could not see any signs of fish hooks, fishing line or large cuts from an encounter with a boat motor.

Without going into too much detail, there had been predation on the neck and along the right side near the wing.

There was a small northern nearby that had also been partially eaten.

The neighbor had said that his wife had seen an eagle down on the shore yesterday morning apparently eating something. She did not think much of it since they had seen eagles down there before.

But apparently it may have been the eagle that caused the predation damage.

Now a huge question for next spring is, will the female come back to the LoonCam?

Will she find a new mate?

Will she nest next year?

Or will another pair of loons take over the LoonCam?

Will she be able to take care of this year's chick all alone?

What effect will this death of the male have on the chick? Fortunately the chick is now big enough that he is catching some of his own food. And in the next few weeks he will start his first tries at flying.

So we sadly say farewell to our male loon from the LoonCam, who we have come to know and love. The male who has been so faithful to the nest and to raising the chick. The male who has several other offspring to carry on his bloodline.

And who will be greatly missed.

Minnesota Bound

Sharing Stories of the Great Outdoors