Saturday, May 6, 2017 11:11 pm CDT

7:01 pm CDT   WE HAVE AN EGG!

Barely an hour and a half after I had posted that the arrival of the first egg seemed imminent, the loons laid their FIRST EGG!

It all happened very fast.  Only about 5 or 6 minutes from the first signs that she was pushing an egg until there was actually a brand new egg laying in the nest.

But she never left the nest.

She sat on the nest for over a half hour.

But then a pontoon stopped outside the buoys which was ok.  But I think it was the fact that they stopped and stayed there that may have concerned her.  And she left the nest.

She joined the male as they positioned themselves between the pontoon and the nest.  They did not seem overly concerned.  They just calmly sat there to make sure it didn't come any closer.

I expected that when the pontoon left, one of the loons would return to the nest.  But they didn't.  They just stayed slightly outside the buoys.

Then shortly before dark, they swam out into the lake.  And the egg stayed right where it was.  All alone.  On the nest.  And now at 11 pm they still have not come back to the nest.

This is the first time I have ever seen this kind of behavior.

I would be MUCH more comfortable if one of them did come back and sit on the egg.  But at this point I am not overly concerned ... unless it would get down to freezing tonight.  But it should not get that low, the forecast is for the low 40s.

Since this egg has not actually started to be incubated and the chick developing, it should be ok.

But, having said that, I would still be MUCH more comfortable if a loon was sitting on the egg.

;-)

Copyright  2017    Larry R Backlund

Saturday, May 6, 2017 5:20 pm CDT

 68 degrees degrees F   Sunny and Clear    Wind NE 5mph

Sunrise  5:54 am CDT   Sunset  8:26 pm CDT

It is another beautiful. if somewhat breezy day, here on Loon Lake.

It seems like we have had more than our share of wind for the last week or more.  Although we have not had the flooding rains that people back east are having to deal with.

Yesterday afternoon there were gale force winds that really bounced and battered the loon nest platform.  I am always concerned when waves hit the nest that hard.  But it seems to have held together quite well.  Which is a good omen for when we actually have eggs and loons on the nest.

I won't bore you with details, but through the years I have had to experiment with different ways of placing the nesting material on the platform.  In the early days, a lot of the material washed away.  But with experience and experimentation, we have been able to improve each year to the point where now even in the high wind and waves very little of the nesting material is being washed away..

Nesting activity by the loons has been picking up with each passing day.

Yesterday the male loon spent 25 minutes of non-stop nest building.  Digging, turning, pulling material, digging some more, turning some more.

 And today both loons have been on the nest numerous times.  Each time they do some more nest building.  Digging, pulling turning, digging again.

All of these are classic and very hopeful signs that we are getting closer and closer to the actual laying of the first egg.

One of these times when the female is up on the nest, you will just sense something is different.  Finally she will actually climb up on the wall of the nest bowl.  And you will be able to see her pushing and contracting.

And then an egg just suddenly pops and makes it grand entrance into the nest and the world.

Sometimes it happens pretty quick.  But I have also seen it take up to 20 minutes before the egg actually is laid.

Exciting times indeed.

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

Now is the time to tell your family and friends that we are getting close.  Show it to your kids and your grandkids.  Tell their teachers about the wonder of the LoonCam.  Call the neighbors.  text your friends across the country.  Email your friends around the world.

It is LOON TIME!

Copyright  2017     Larry R Backlund

Thursday, May 4, 2017 5:27 am CDT

45 degrees F   Clear   Wind Calm

Sunrise  5:57 am CDT    Sunset  8:23 pm CDT

So far everything seems to be advancing right on schedule.

The sun will not be up for another half hour.  The wind is calm but there are 'remains' of waves from overnight that are gently rocking the nesting platform.

And the loons have already done a swim around the nest.

They have not gotten up on the nest yet as I write this, but they have looked at the nest to make sure everything is still ok.

This seems to be normal activity for them - to check it at all times of the day and all conditions.  That way they can be sure it is a suitable and safe place for them to nest.

They are spending increasing amounts of time at and near the nest.

They have mated a number of times on the nest.  They have started to exhibit nest building behavior, which includes digging with their feet in the material on the nest to start to form a bowl for the eggs to be safely contained and to move material with their beaks to also build that bowl.

These are all very good signs that the loons have taken ownership of this nest and that they plan to lay their eggs here.

So what should you watch for?

Watch for the loons to visit the nest with increasing frequency.  Watch for them to spend longer times actually on the nest.  Watch for them to continue to form the nest bowl by digging with their feet and by moving nesting material with their beaks.  They will normally reach out and grab a piece of material an then place it alongside their body.  They will repeat this over and over.

At some point, it will look like there is more urgency to this nest building activity.

That is a very good sign that we are getting close to the laying of the first egg.

When the time comes for the actual laying of the egg, you will see the female start to make movements that show something new is going on.

Eventually she will almost prop herself up along the edge of the bowl of the nest with her feet somewhat extended.  She will spread her wings slightly to steady herself.

It will take some minutes of this activity.  But then all of a sudden with a rapid "pop", the egg will almost shoot into the nest.  

At that point she may lay their for a few minutes while she recovers from all the hard exertion.

I remember a few years ago the first time I saw the laying of an egg as it happened.  It was one of the few times that anyone has ever seen the actual laying of a loon egg.  They build their nests in such hidden areas that few people even see the nest.  Let alone the actual laying of an egg.

As far as anyone knows, when we were able to catch it on video, it was the first time anyone had caught the actual laying of a loon egg on video.

This was before we started the LoonCam live webcam.  Now it is "old hat" to many of you.  You have seen several eggs being laid.  And you know what to look for in the loon's behavior that indicates egg laying may be near.  You have seen much more than what the most knowledgeable researchers were able to see for decades and decades.

In fact, many loon researchers watch the LoonCam to see things they could never see if they were out in the 'wild'.

When we captured that first egg laying on video, the light was just right so that the newly laid loon egg looked like it was made out of pure gold.

I think we are going to see the first egg laid in the next couple days.

So let's hope for a view of that "GOLDEN EGG".

Copyright 2017   Larry R Backlund

Wednesday, May 3, 2013 6:12 am CDT

35 degrees F   Clear   Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:59 am CDT   Sunset  8:22 pm CDT

This morning is a spectacular sunrise on Loon Lake.

There is not a breath of air moving.  The whole lake is like a mirror with not one ripple.  Other than from the occasional fish jumping.  Or our loons and other birds swimming.

It is the kind of morning you just want to bottle and keep forever.

Gone are the high winds of the last number of days.  And the cold.  And the rain.  And the snow.

There may be some rain that moves in later on today, but it should be short-lived.  And the forecast for the next few days is spectacular.  Maybe even up to 70 by this weekend.

Even though the loon nest has been battered by big waves, it seems to have held together amazingly well so far.

Our loons have already paid two visits to the nest this morning.  The last one only 10 minutes ago.  Now they have gone back out into the lake.

As they left, the male gave six yodels.  As if to say, "This is MY territory!  Everyone else stay away!!"

But it is encouraging that they continue to visit the nest.

As I said, the frequency of those visits will increase.  And that is exactly what seems to be happening.

Yesterday they visited the nest and even mated once that I know of.  Plus both loons exhibited some nest building behavior by digging with their feet to form a bowl as well as taking material with their bills and piling it along their sides.

You can expect this kind of behavior to continue and to increase in the days ahead.

However, they don't seem to have settled on a location for the 'bowl' yet.  The male has tended to dig toward the front edge of the nest, much too close to the edge for my comfort.  During the high waves yesterday morning, water was splashing onto the nest and filling the bowl with cold water.

The female has tended to dig towards the back edge of the nest, nearer to the camera.

But hopefully they will compare notes and settle on a location right in the middle of the nesting platform.

All of this seems to be going according to "plan".  Visits to the nest.  Mating.  Getting comfortable with the nest (after all, this is a new pair of loons on the nest this year).  Increasing frequency of visits to the nest.  Digging and nest building behavior.

You can expect that on one of the visits (hopefully very soon) the nest building behavior will be obviously more urgent.

And then hopefully soon after that, an EGG!  Or two.

We now approach a VERY exciting time on the nest as we watch - EXPECTANTLY!

Copyright 2017   Larry R Backlund

Monday, May 1, 2017 8:05 am CDT

36 degrees F   Rain/Snow   Wind NE 7 mph

Sunrise  6:01 am CDT   Sunset  8:20 pm CDT

It is a cold, windy, rainy/snowy start to the month of May.

The loons have already visited the nest once this morning.  But it is not a pleasant day for them. Or for anyone.

During the night something happened that I don't think that I have ever seen before.  Two small birds spent the night on the nest in the rain.  I have seen small birds visit the nest during the day.  But I have never seen them stay on the nest during the night before.

There are widespread rain showers across the area and snow in some areas.  Some areas have gotten several inches of snow.  So far it has been only a few snow flurries here.  But you might see some occasional snow flurries this morning.

Beginning tomorrow the rain should move out, the temperatures begin to rise and it should be more like spring in Minnesota.  Forecasts are for  temperatures near 70 this weekend.

So things are looking up!

Now, what would really make things look up is for our loons to nest and lay a couple eggs.

At this point I am not concerned at all about the progress of our loons.  Although at times I do tend to be paranoid.  lol  I always worry about getting everyone excited about the loons and then the possibility that they may not use the nest.  But that is something that is totally out of my control.  I can provide the nest.  But beyond that I cannot do anything.

From that point on, it is out of my hands.  It is totally up to the loons from that point on as to whether they will use the nest or not.

So we can only cross our fingers and hope.

It has been encouraging so far.  The loons have taken an obvious interest in the nest and some ownership of it.  But I think they are still getting used to it.  Remember that this is a new pair of loons on the nest.  If it had been previous occupants of the LoonCam nest, I think they would be more familiar with it and more at home.

I would expect things to speed up this next week.

Watch for the visits to the nest to become more frequent.  We have already seen some slight nest building activities with the loons starting to move material around and a little bit of "digging" with their feet.  But it has been pretty minimal so far.

Expect that activity to increase.

Then one day it will probably be obvious that they have become much more serious about building their nest.  That is a good sign that we may be getting close to the first egg being laid.

Once it starts to happen, it goes pretty fast.

So don't miss a minute of it.

Until then, enjoy the brief glimpses of the loons that we may get.  Enjoy the rain.  Enjoy the lake.

And even enjoy the snow!

Copyright 2017   Larry R Backlund