Wednesday, May 4, 2016 10:42 pm CDT

Guest User May 4, 2016

56 degrees F Clear Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:56 am CDT Sunset 8:23 pm CDT

I just got home a little while ago - at 10 pm.

As I stepped out of the car, a loon was wailing. And it sounded closer to the middle or this side of the lake.

Then there was an answering wail from off to the left side of the camera, but not close to the camera. Not across the lake but closer.

I went out to the lakeside of the house to see if I could tell where they were.

Then the wails became more frequent. And were soon joined by yodels. Then answering tremolos. Then yet another wail from further away, more across the lake.

There obviously were at least 4 loons calling back and forth although I could not see any of them in the darkness. So it was hard to tell who was who. It seemed like the calls from the left of the nest was a pair. And the two wails were from 2 other loons, possibly singles since they were separated by some distance.

But they could also be a pair because pairs will often spend time separated from each other at some distance.

I stood there just enraptured with the chorus. What a beautiful and even magic sound.

As I was standing listening to the loon symphony, there was a large and loud SPLASH that was definitely near the nest. My first thought was that it was a large fish jumping. A bass or a carp. Or that it might be a loon on or near the nest.

But then remembering the family of geese being on the nest a couple nights ago, I wondered if it might be the goose family again.

I rushed inside to look at the monitor. No sign of anything on or near the nest. Or that the geese or any loons were in the immediate vicinity of the nest.

So whatever was going on, it was wonderful to hear the loon symphony on a very calm night with the lake like a sheet of glass. It is so good to be rid of the wind which has been non-stop for the last couple days.

But it was good to know that several loons were around and active.

Let us still hope for successful nesting this year. Unfortunately the clock is ticking and time time is running short for our loons to lay eggs and hatch them.

But let's keep our fingers crossed. In ever present hope.

Questions or comments? Email us at LoonCam at yahoo dot com. Because of the volume of email I will not be able to respond personally to each email. But I will eventually read every one and for recurring questions I will try to answer them here in this blog.

Sunday, May 1, 2016 11:02 pm CDT

Guest User May 1, 2016

53 degrees F Clear Wind NNE 5 mph

Sunrise 6:00 am CDT Sunset 8:20 pm CDT

Today has been a beautiful spring day here in Minnesota.

After a week of rain, finally we have been seeing some sunshine even if the wind has stayed around.

Almost as if to prove the old adage, I watered the plants on the loon nest since there had not been any rain for two weeks - and within a day or two, the rain started and just would not stop.

But it is so true that April showers bring May flowers. Lawns are greening up. The trees are starting to leaf out. Plants are growing. And spring flowers are in full bloom.

The forecast for the next week is for many days of blue skies and warm temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Ahhhhh, the days we dream about all winter long.

But we also dream about loons nesting.

And so far that is not happening here on the LoonCam.

Other than the one time that one of the loons got on the nest on April 13th, the loons have not been on the nest. And they have spent precious little time around the nest. The loons are still on the lake. Just not on the nest.

Since ice out I have seen one single loon and one pair of loons numerous times. However, they are not spending time on this side of the lake. Just the occasional swim by.

Late yesterday evening, a single loon flew directly overhead sounding his flying tremolos as he went. I could hear him as he went far to the south. And finally his call faded off into the distance.

Just before dawn this morning I heard some very loud flying tremolos as a pair of loons came to the lake. It was dark enough that I could not see them but it sounded like they landed on the other side of the lake.

Loons flying at this time of year does not have any significance to be concerned about. It seems like they will often fly even when they are actively nesting. I am not sure why but I would not be surprised if it is just a way of keeping their wings in good shape and getting some exercise.

So hearing the loons flying and calling with their flying tremolos does not mean they are leaving the lake permanently nor does it mean that new loons are coming onto the lake.

I have expected to see a second pair of loons on the lake since we have had a second pair that has nested for several years. But so far I have seen only the one single loon and the one pair that you also seen on cam. That is not to say that there is another pair on the lake. Just that I have not seen another pair.

Normally I am not able to get out on the lake at all while the loons are here. But Kevin Kenow of the USGS asked me last week if the other pair was on the lake. So on Friday I was able to take the canoe out and to check the area where they had nested in previous years.

I did not see them nor did I see where they had started to nest if they are around. I checked where they had nested before and the area around there but there was no sign of any active nesting.

There has to be at least one other male on the lake since there have been numerous yodels, especially at night, with answering yodels coming from another part of the lake. That could be the male of a second pair or it could be the single loon that I have seen.

As you will remember, the yodel call is made only by male loons. And it is very much a territorial call made by the males.

So they are very much talking in "territorial terms". But so far not LoonCam nest terms.

There is still time for them to nest.

But we are rapidly reaching the point where it is questionable whether they will use the LoonCam nest this year.

If we do not see them coming to the nest and spending time on the nest in the next few days, it becomes increasingly possible that the nest will go unused this year.

As I have mentioned since we lost the LoonCam male last summer, it would be a very interesting spring to see what they do.

I listed three possibilities: 1) the LoonCam female from last year would come back with a new mate and use the nest, 2) a new pair of loons would use the nest or 3) the LoonCam nest would go unused this year.

One of the reasons that we are so interested in the other pair of loons on the lake is that we have not yet been able to retrieve the geolocater data recorder that we put on those loons several years ago.

Those geolocater tags will tell us where the loons have been, including how deep they dive.

We have not been able to retrieve the geolocater tag taht we placed on the female who was our faithful LoonCam female who got replaced by a new female in 2013.

It would be good to be able to retrieve all three of those data recorders to add to our knowledge about the loons. Especially since these are some of the most observed loons in the world!

I have carefully viewed the video of the loon on the nest on April 13 (thank you Lee!).

But I have not been able to see it clear enough to definitively say which loon it is - other than that it is definitely a loon is banded.

Kevin Kenow has studied the video carefully and he told me he thinks it might be the female that we banded in 2012! Not the female from last year. That would be very interesting if the female from 2012 is still around. But none of us are positive in our identification at this point.

I will let you know if we are able to glean any more information.

But your sharp eyes and your videos help us to identify the loons.

For now, we can only hope that the loons will come and use the LoonCam nest again this year. In all the years of doing this, there is only one year that the nest was not used. And that was in 2013, the year that the 2012 female was displaced by a new female. And they did not nest that first year.

So it is very possible with the loss of the male last summer that we might face the same situation this year.

But stay tuned.

NO one knows the final chapter of this story.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016 1:17pm CDT

Guest User April 27, 2016

49 degrees F Cloudy Wind ENE 13 mph

Sunrise 6:06 am CDT Sunset 8:15 pm CDT

Once again it is a cold blustery windy day here in Minnesota.

There was some chilly sunshine this morning but clouds have now moved back in. There is a prediction of more rain later today and off and on for the rest of the week.

There still have been no loons using the nest.

It was very encouraging when one of the loons was on the nest for 10 minutes back on April 13th. (Thank you Lee and others for posting video of that while I was in China. btw, there were four wonderful young people with us on the trip. Hi to Sam, Isaac, Paula and Jack who said they would be watching the LoonCam!)

It is so good to have so many eyes on the nest documenting everything that happens.

Especially after that extended visit to the nest I am surprised that they have not been back up on it again. It is obvious from the video that the loon was banded. But I have not been able to get a good enough look to say definitively what loon it was. It may have been the female from last year but I am not sure at all.

IF it was her, that explains why she seemed so comfortable getting up on the nest and staying for some time. It also may be that it is an entirely new male that we have not seen before. And that that is why he dove excitedly over and over. He just wasn't sure what to make of the nest.

It has been encouraging to know that they are still on the lake.

And it is encouraging to see them continue to swim by the nest to check it out, even though they have not gotten back up on the nest.

There is still time for them to nest successfully. So don't despair. Yet!

Many loons do not nest until even the end of May.

For whatever reason loons have used this nest about a month earlier than many other loons. I do not have a good explanation for that.

But for us that is a very good thing. Because we would not be able to do the nest at all if they nested later. It is not fair to neighbors who limit the use of their own property out of deference to the nesting loons.

So if we go to the middle of May at the latest and they have not nested, I will need to pull the nest in.

In other nests, if the nest fails, eggs do not hatch or chicks die very young, loons will sometimes attempt to renest. However such second nests have a fairly low success rate. It gets to be too late in the summer for the chicks to reach maturity and strength to be able to migrate in the fall. But such attempts do sometimes take place.

So for this year, let us hope that the loons (any loons!) will successfully use the LoonCam nest.

We still have time.

But we are rapidly approaching the time that I would expect to see some - ANY - activity on the nest. If we do not see some activity, then it becomes more and more likely that the nest may not get used this year. So keep your fingers - and your toes - crossed in hopes of nesting loons.

You will remember that a few years ago the nest was not used. That is the only time in all the years I have been doing this that the nest was not used. But that is also the year that we had a change of mates.

So what will this year bring?

Once again, we can only watch.

And HOPE.

Sunday, April 24, 2016 8:13 am CDT

Guest User April 24, 2016

55 degrees F Thunderstorms Wind E 7 mph

Sunrise 6:11 am CDT Sunset 8:11 pm CDT

Thunderstorms are moving through the area right now.

Lightning. Thunder. Rain.

Rain which we need. It has been so dry for the last few weeks.

Minnesota is not like many states out West where rain showers are few and far between and where you can go for months with no rain. Rain every week is what keeps Minnesota so green. And what keeps our 10,000 Lakes in good shape.

So when we go several weeks without rain in the spring and summer, that is a long time for us to go without rain.

The rain is also good for the loons and for the plants growing on the loon nest.

Yesterday I planted a purple pansy in memory of Prince who so tragically passed away a couple days ago.

Normally I have had "natural" plants on the nest. Plants that occur naturally in a loon's habitat.

The irises that I have planted on the nest are reminiscent of the fleur-de-lis that the French voyageurs would plant at portages in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area which preserves the old fur trade routes of the Voyageurs several hundred years ago. Some of those fleur-de-lis still grow in the Boundary Waters.

On Wednesday night I decided to get some yellow pansies to plant on the nest to give some visual interest to a "gray" nest. And to give you something to watch while we wait for our loons to decide if they are going to use the nest or not.

Then came the tragic news Thursday morning of Prince's death which seems to have caught the attention and touched the heart strings of the world. Normally I do not comment on things other than loons here on the LoonCam. But for some reason after I had planted the yellow pansies it just seemed fitting to plant a 'purple one' as well.

So I went to the local nursery yesterday and got a purple pansy which now joins the yellow ones on the nest, as well as the other plants that are slowly starting to grow.

But I digress.

We are here for LOONS, aren't we?

For those of you who are new or have not followed closely what has happened, let me quickly summarize.

The LoonCam loon nest has been used by loons every year (but one) for well over 10 years.

And we have had phenomenal success with eggs being laid and chicks hatching.

Normally loons use the same nest that they used the year before. Especially if the nest has been successful.

But last summer tragedy struck as the male from the LoonCam pair of loons washed up on a neighbors shoreline, dead!

We still do not know for sure what killed him.

So that has thrown everything into question for this year's nest.

Will the female from last year come back with a new mate? Will a new pair of loons take over the nest? Or will the nest go unused this year?

All of those things are very real possibilities for this year.

There is still a good chance that loons will use the nest this year. It is still early in the season. If they have not gotten serious about nesting in the next couple weeks, then there is reason for concern as to whether they will use the nest this year. But for now there is still great hope that loons will once again use this nest this year.

The good news?

Within the past hour, a pair of loons swam very close to the nest. The did not try to get up on the nest but they were clearly aware of it and interested in it.

This is pretty typical behavior of loons, especially loons searching for a new nesting area.

They will check it out numerous times over a period of time. Seemingly just to see what the area is like and what goes on around it.

Then when they are ready to get serious, things can happen fairly quickly. They will be up on the nest repeatedly and minor nest building all of a sudden becomes serious and the next thing we know they have laid eggs and settled in for the long haul of incubation.

The fact that this pair of loons is aware of the nest and have checked it out several times is encouraging

Will they eventually use the nest?

I can't answer.

Only the loons know the answer to that question.

But we are privileged to have this intimate look into their world. To observe them so closely. To see things that few people have ever had the privilege to see. To observe their behavior 'up close and personal' without ever disturbing them or changing their natural behavior.

What a privilege that is!

Enjoy it.

And share it with your family and friends.

Friday, April 22, 2016 2:52 pm CDT

Guest User April 22, 2016

55 degrees F Sunny Wind NE 7 mph

Sunrise 6:14 am CDT Sunset 8:09 pm CDT

A beautiful Minnesota spring day.

Sunshine. Blue sky. Puffy white clouds. A slight breeze. Daffodils blooming. Apricots and cherries in bloom. Crocuses done blooming. Forsythia is fading. Tulips are ready to start blooming. As are apples and pears.

Trees are beginning to turn green and leaf out.

What a wonderful time of year. New life all around.

But one thing could make it even better - LOONS!

They are on the lake. They have visited the nest.

Now we just need them to take ownership of the nest and lay eggs.

Then all will be right with the world once again.

At this point I am not highly concerned that they have not begun nesting yet. It is still early in the season.

However, as I have told you in the past I become very paranoid and concerned at this time of year every year. And most of that is concern that we get YOUR hopes up, we "promise" you loons. What if the loons don't cooperate?! ;-)

It is VERY encouraging that they have already checked out the nest. And have been up ON the nest at least once.

They have told us that they know it is there and that they are interested in it.

Will they be "interested" enough to use it? There is no way of knowing. And even if we did know, we have absolutely no control over that.

So we wait.

And HOPE!

Many of you watched a couple days ago as I went out to the nest to water the plants. We had not had any rain for well over 2 weeks. So I figured that the plants on the nest must be bone dry.

I was surprised when I got out there that they were relatively moist. I think the action of the wind and waves must have been enough to splash water up onto the nest and water the plants 'naturally' even without any rain.

But just to be safe, I still watered the plants and the entire nest.

I also replaced a little of the nesting material that had washed away, but overall the nest seemed to be in very good condition. In light of the reports that I got that there had been 50 mph winds while I was in China, I think it held together quite well.

Maybe this afternoon I will go back out there if the loons are not in sight and plant a couple more plants. I had wanted to put them out when I put the nest out but the ones that I had dies over the winter and no garden stores had any available that early yet.

I just realized I should maybe have gotten a purple plant in honor of Prince! Or the Vikings.

It has been encouraging to hear calls from loons on the lake, especially at night. So they are still here. And there is still hope that they will nest.

But as I have said before, because of the death of the male last summer this year will be very interesting and educational. Will the female come back with a new mate? Will a new pair use the nest? Will the nest go unused this year?

All of those things are possible.

However, in over a decade of doing this there is only one year that the loons have not used the nest. That was just a couple years ago when for some unexplained reason we had a change of mates.

Every other year the loons have used the nest ever since I built it and first put it out.

That alone is phenomenal. From figures I saw a few years ago, only 60% of artificial nesting platforms ever get used. So to have the kind of success that we have had with this nest is very unusual and very gratifying.

I will not be very concerned that they have not nested until we get into the first week of May at least. Even the first week of May will be fairly normal for nesting on this nest.

So settle back and watch. Let us all learn together. Try to keep your concern and blood pressure down and I will try to do the same. Let us all be amazed together.

Minnesota Bound

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