Monday, April 24, 2017 5:58 pm CDT

62 degrees F    Light Rain    Wind 6mph S

Sunrise   6:12 am CDT    Sunset   8:11 pm CDT

 

Well, it has been quite the day.  On several levels.

I did a blog post earlier this morning.  But the internet ATE it.  Who knows where it went!

But if you see it floating in the ether somewhere, would you send it back to me?  ;-)

So let me try to reconstruct some of what has happened today.

Just before 7 o'clock this morning, both loons were up on the nest!

But better yet, they mated.

That shows real interest in the nest and that they are taking ownership of it.

As they left the nest and swam away, the male yodeled FIVE times.  Just in case anyone had a question, he was saying "This is now MY territory.  Stay away."

But also and just as important, we now know who the male is.

He is a male that we banded several years ago.  He has green bands on both legs.  And he has successfully nested on the lake for the last several years.

This is also the male that I had a very special encounter with last summer.  If you want to read about that, you can find it in my blog at http://mnbound.com/larrys-loon-blog/2016/5/19/thursday-may-19-2016-616-am-cdt

So now we know who the male of this pair is.

I could not see the female's legs for sure when she left the nest but I do not think that she had any bands.  This fits with what I thought was the case about this pair - that something had happened to the female we banded along with him and that he had a new mate.

So now we will probably have a chance to get to know them much better over the next month.

Then shortly after 8 am the pair of loons was back and swam around the nest but did not get back up on it that I saw.

And then to make this day even more special, the loons were back again, for a third time about 11:30 am.  They swam around the nest for about 10 minutes and the male with the green bands got up on the nest for a couple minutes.

But it didn't stop there!

Shortly before 4 pm, they were back again!  This made FOUR visits today.  There were a couple soft hoots from one of them but as far as I saw, they did not get up on the nest.

And THEN!

According to chat, they were back around the nest shortly before 5 pm.  The FIFTH visit of the day!  I missed seeing that one.  

Can it be that we have more blessings than we know how to deal with?

But it wasn't done yet!

About 5:30 pm, they were back for the SIXTH visit to the nest.

AND the second MATING.

I think it is fairly obvious that they have claimed this nest as home!

Now we will wait for nest building behavior.  And hopefully the first egg to be laid!

Does it get any better than this?!

 

Copyright  2017   Larry R Backlund

 

 

 

Sunday, April 23, 2017 9:42 am CDT

48 degrees F   Sunny   Wind NE 6mph

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

 

If it is spring in Minnesota, that means LOONS.

If there are loons, that means the LoonCam!

The LoonCam is LIVE once again.

With all the suspense.  With all the drama.  With all the unknowns of what is going to happen this year.

Will we have loons use the nest?

Will they lay eggs?  Will the eggs hatch?  Will we see those beautiful, cute little chicks?  Even for an instant before they leave?  Will the chicks survive to adulthood?

What drama will we witness this year?  It always seems like there is something that no one ever anticipates.

So many questions.  And so few answers.

We only find the answers as the drama unfolds while we watch.  And learn.  And there is SO much to learn.

So now is the time to prepare yourself for this year's soap opera "Days of Our Loons"!

Let your friends and family know about the LoonCam so that they can join you in the joy and wonder of loons that you have found.  

What a wonderful way to spend time with your kids and grandkids.  And maybe even your great-grandkids.  Making memories that they will never forget for the rest of their lives.

The signs that the nest may get used this year are very encouraging.

As many of you will remember, the male from the LoonCam was killed in August of 2015.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was initially very encouraged that we would be able to find out what happened to him and what caused his death.

Unfortunately they were not able to determine the cause of death.  So we will probably never know what killed him.

As you know, because of his death, the nest was not used last year.  The female came back.  But she did not have a mate so she did not nest.  She still showed some ownership of the nest, but she could not nest.

A couple other pairs of loons also showed some interest in the nest last year but they did not nest on it either.

So now the question is WILL some loons use the nest?  And 'who are they'?

We will only know by watching.

There is one pair of loons that has already shown a lot of interest in the nest.  Some of you saw them yesterday.

Even before I put the nest in the lake several days ago, they were showing interest.

I was working on the nest down by the lake.  I turned around and saw them very close in "spying".

What do I mean by "spying"?

Loons will do something that I call "submarining".  They will swim completely submerged with only the top of their head out of the water.  By doing this, they can see what is going on without being seen.

So as I turned and looked, both loons were close by, "submarining" as they watched me work.  That alone told me that one or both of them were somewhat familiar with the area and with me.  There is no other logical explanation of why they would come in so close to observe what was going on.

Then yesterday I saw three instances of a pair of loons - I assume the same pair - coming in and swimming around the nest.  There may have been more times but I saw three times.

They swam right by the nest.  So they obviously were very interested in it although they did not get up on the nest, as far as I saw.

But what was even more encouraging than them swimming by the nest, each time one of the loons did some excited "splash diving".  So it was more than just a casual observation of the nest.  There seemed to be some real interest in and excitement about the nest.

So I think that was a very hopeful sign that they may use the nest.

They swam and dove around the nest once in the morning, once in the late afternoon and one more time early evening.

So it is a consistent interest that kept them coming back throughout the day.

I have not seen them yet today but that does not mean they have not been in to the nest and I just missed them.

With all of our eyes watching, we can better keep track of what is happening.  And your eyes are crucial.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy LOONCAM SEASON 2017!

 

Copyright 2017   Larry R Backlund

 

Thursday, April 20, 2017 12:13 pm CDT

41 degrees F  Spotty Rain  Gusty Wind

Sunrise  6:19 am CDT   Sunset  8:06 pm CDT

 

Hang in there!

We are oh so close.  

But that counts only in horseshoes.

We were ready to put the nest out earlier this week.  Everything seemed to be working   And everything was ready.

And then on Monday the camera went down!

With the help of the good wizards (Anthony) from Broadband Minnesota, we got the camera up and running again.

Then Tuesday the infrared light (which allows you to see the nest at night) quit working.

Now we were ready to go.  Right?  

Nope.

Then the sound quit working!

As I write this, the good Broadband Minnesota folks are on their way out to Loon Lake to try to fix the sound.  I figured that you would not be happy if the sound was not there.

I tell you this not to make you feel sorry for us.

But just to give you a little glimpse of all the myriad of things that have to work just exactly right in order to bring the LoonCam to you.

And once the nest is in the water, it is 100 times as difficult to troubleshoot and try to make fixes.

Once the loons are on the nest, then there is no opportunity to fix much of anything.

So hang in there.

We are working on it.

And hopefully VERY soon you will have your beloved LoonCam LIVE once again.

 

Copyright 2017  Larry R Backlund

 

Tuesday, April, 18, 2017 12:12 pm CDT

53 degrees F   Rain  Wind SSW 10 mph

Sunrise   6:22 am CDT   Sunset   8:03 pm CDT

 

There are dark, scudding clouds moving across the sky and it has been raining most of the morning.

It is amazing how things have been greening up so much after the rain of the last few days.

The crocuses bloom is almost done.  And the daffodils have now started blooming.  Forsythia forms a mound of yellow.

Ahhhhhh, the wonder of spring and new life.

We continue to work on getting the nest ready to go in the water.

Yesterday after dealing with a number of technical problems, we got the camera going (not online yet but we were doing all the trouble shooting that is necessary).  But then it stopped working and so we have some more work to do.

It sounds so simple when it finally is up and running.  But simple it is not.  Cameras have to talk to routers who have to talk to servers, who have to talk to other computers, who have to send things out over the internet.  When it all works, it is wonderful.  But there are experts who make it all happen.  So thanks to Anthony for all his brilliant work.

We are getting close.  And hopefully very soon you will be able to watch the new nest as we wait for our beloved loons.

Hang in there.  It is coming.

 

Copyright 2017  Larry R Backlund