Monday, April 18, 2016 10:22 pm CDT

Guest User April 18, 2016

69 degrees F Cloudy Wind NE 12 mph

Sunrise 6:21 am CDT Sunset 8:03 pm CDT

The last few days have been 'mid-summer' days, not spring days of April. High temperatures have been in the 80s.

I have just returned from a couple weeks in China. So I have no idea right now what time zone I am in!

Thank you to all of you who have so faithfully watched and documented what has been going on with the LoonCam.

I see that it was down a couple times while I was gone. But thanks to the good folks at BroadBand who I assume are the ones who got it restarted.

I have seen at least one pair of loons on the lake and one single loon. That is encouraging that they are on the lake.

I appreciate knowing that a pair of loons has been up to and even on the nest at least one time. That is also VERY encouraging.

For those of you who may not have followed the LoonCam closely in the past or may have forgotten, in August last summer we had tragedy strike.

The male from the LoonCam last year washed up on shore dead!

We still do not know the cause but hopefully by the end of this summer researchers will have been able to determine the cause of death. When and if I hear anything results of the necropsy, I will let you know.

I do not know what killed him. One of the neighbors thinks it was an eagle. I don't know that for sure but I will give you his reasoning some other time.

If the male had survived, I would fully expect that he and his mate would return and use the nest again this year. They laid two eggs last year and hatched one chick that survived.

The second egg apparently was infertile. That unhatched egg will be a part of a major study at the University of Connecticut to monitor impacts of the Gulf Oil Spill.

But with the death of the male, everything is up in the air and this will be a VERY interesting year to watch to see what happens.

Will the female from last year return with a new mate?

Will another pair use the nest this year?

Or will the nest go unused this year?

There are so many things that we do not know and cannot predict. And we have no control over any of them.

The nest is there ready to be used. But will the loons use it? We can only wait and wonder.

There has been no rain here during the more than 2 weeks I was gone. So everything is very dry and we need rain.

I am sure the nest and the plants on it are very dry with the lack of rain and very warm days. There was 2 inches of snow on the nest when I left for the airport at 2 in the morning a couple weeks ago this last Saturday. But that is the last time apparently that the nest got any water.

We have rain in the area tonight and it it forecast to rain here as well. But so far there is nothing.

If we do not get any rain in the next day or two, I will probably try to go out to the nest to water the plants.

I also want to check everything else on the nest. From what I can see on the cam, it seems to be holding together quite well so far. I am told that we had some very high winds while we were gone. There were a lot of dead branches down and heavy lawn furniture tipped over. So it must have been pretty high winds.

It is always a challenge to build the nest so that all the nesting material doesn't blow off in high winds or wash off in high waves. So far it seems to be intact.

But if the loons are not around it will give me a chance to check on the anchors and everything else on the nest.

There is no reason to be concerned that the loons are not using the nest yet. We still have plenty of time. But I along with you always am concerned until they actually take up residency. The fact that one pair has already checked out the nest is a good sign.

So now we wait.

But it is time for you to tell your friends and family and neighbors to start watching. And especially for you to tell your kid's and grandkid's teachers about the LoonCam. It is one of the most phenomenal educational tools for teachers to use with their students.

The SHOW is about to begin! And it is much better than anything on tv. And we have NO idea what the script will hold for this year.

And you don't want to miss a minute of it.

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.

Minnesota Bound

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