Wednesday, May 24, 2017 6:00 am CDT

Guest User May 24, 2017

46 degrees F Partly Cloudy Wind NE 5 mph

Sunrise 5:34 am CDT Sunset 8:46 pm CDT

The pattern of constant rain and wind seems to have broken for the next few days and we should should return to more normal temperatures for this time of year ... into the 70s.

The loons could use a break.

The pair has already faithfully made their nest exchange early this morning and the female is on the nest right now.

It is interesting to watch the difference between the two loons. The male does not let much of anything concern him. He sits with his head held high most of the time. I can be mowing or working down in the front yard and he could care less. I have at times even raked weeds along the shore and he never lowers his head.

One of the few things he reacts to is an eagle. And if the eagle flies close overheard, he will cry and leave the nest.

The female on the other hand is much more cautious.

If she even sees me way up by the house, she will lower her head. So I do not go anywhere that she can see me most of the time. She is not used to me (or anyone) yet. I will periodically purposely walk to the front of the house or even down in the front yard to try to get her more used to me and more relaxed where she knows she can trust me.

But it is a long process.

She is much more cautious about everything she sees and will go into hangover for the slightest reason.

And if there is an eagle overhead, she will almost surely leave the nest.

I think there is an eagle in the area now because she has been wailing repeatedly and looking around. And the crows have been cawing repeatedly. But so far she has stayed on the nest. At least the eagle must not be flying.

With the return of warmer weather and the hopefully less wind, the bad part of that is probably the return of the black flies which can be so bothersome to loons.

But the black flies are an amazing story in and of themselves.

In what is believed to be one of the most host specific and dependent in nature, this particular species of black flies (Simulium annulus) feeds almost EXCLUSIVELY on loon blood! How is that for specialization?

And dependence!

There was an unusually bad outbreak of these flies in 2014 that caused many loons to abandon their nests.

When the black flies are around, you will see them especially landing on the loon's head. The loon can only shake its head to try to get rid of them. Or rub its head on its back to try to dislodge them.

If that fails, the loon may be forced to leave the nest and dive underwater to try to get rid of them. Too many times of leaving the nest and the nest fails.

So let's hope that today, there is just enough wind to keep some of the black flies away from our loons.

And that the eagles find other places to hunt.

And that they only hunt fish!

Monday, May , 2017 8:47 pm CDT

Guest User May 22, 2017

56 degrees F Partly Cloudy Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:36 am CDT Sunset 8:44 pm CDT

All of us are VERY puzzled.

The sky has turned a strange color today - BLUE!

And there is some kind of a big bright yellow light in the sky. Like a big hot torch.

I don't think we have ever seen anything like it before. Or if we have, we have long since forgotten what it is!

It is wonderful.

Today the clouds have started to break up. The sky is blue in between broken clouds. And we have had almost no rain today.

It seems like forever since we have had a day like this.

And it has also been a good respite for our loons as they have had a mostly quiet and uneventful day. Apart from one apparent eagle flyover tonight.

The male on the nest let out a frightening couple of calls. And he was on VERY high alert. But he didn't leave the nest.

Right now there are an amazing number of night hawks flying over and around the nest.

I don't think I have ever seen that many at one time before.

It is amazing to watch them as they swoop and turn and dive and glide. All of it so effortlessly.

I assume that they are after mayflies that have been hatching for the last several days.

Normally they appear just as it is getting dark and they fly all night long. But they have already been out and about for an hour or more.

Some of them were even flying this afternoon which I had never seen. I guess those must be a "different species" - "afternoon hawks"!!

I watched the loon as they swooped close to him on the nest. But it did not seem to bother him at all. But then he never lets much of anything bother him. Except eagles!

Let us hope for an uneventful and restful night for our loons with no incidents or excitement.

We are now at roughly the midway point of the development of the eggs. A very crucial time.

I would expect them to hatch in 2 weeks. Or maybe even a couple days less than 2 weeks.

And while we waited with anticipation for the first egg. And then held our breath as the loons sat on the eggs and were sometimes pulled off the nest by one threat or another.

But nothing compares to seeing the first telltale signs that one of the eggs may be hatching.

And then the sheer "AWWWHHHHH" moment when we catch our first glimpse of that active little black ball of down that is so unbelievably cute and beautiful.

There are no words to adequately describe that moment.

So join in the vigil.

And invite everyone you know to join you in this wonderful experience.

Sunday, May 21, 2017 9:41 am CDT

Guest User May 21, 2017

46 degrees F Cloudy Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:37 am CDT Sunset 8:43 pm CDT

We have had more rain overnight.

But right now it is a wonderfully calm and peaceful scene on the lake.

The lake is like a sheet of glass. The loon is on the nest and relaxed. Swallows are flitting around catching bugs.

And there are no eagles flying overhead or especially targeting our loons.

It would be nice if it would stay this way all day and give our loons a rest. But they are always alert for any changes or any danger to them or their eggs.

It is good to have some relief from what has seemed like non-stop wind and non-stop rain over the last number of days. We probably are still not done with the rain because the weather pattern all across the country is very unsettled. But today there should not be the constant rain that we have seen.

The level of the lake has risen some from all the rain. We have had over 4 inches of rain over the last few days.

But there should be no danger of the nesting raft going under water. A couple years ago I lengthened the anchor ropes when due to heavy rains the lake rose 17 inches in 24 hours! And there was danger then that the nesting platform was being pulled underwater by the anchor ropes.

But the ropes should be long enough to handle this amount of rain with no trouble.

The major impact of all the rain and wind and waves is that the waves have eaten away some of the nesting material. But so far things seem to be holding up quite well under the circumstances.

Last night we passed the two week mark on when the first egg was laid. We are already halfway to the much anticipated and hoped for hatching of the first egg. But the second halfway is a still a long road.

There has been some question about how old this male loon is and that he is very young and inexperienced.

That is not the case at all.

We banded this loon in 2012 after he had produced chicks that year. That was 5 years ago. Since loons usually do not start breeding until they are about 5 or 6 years old, that would probably make this male at least 10 years old. And I have some reason to believe that he is older than that.

Loons have surprisingly long life spans. It is commonly accepted fact that loons live to be 25 to 30 years old. But there is so much that we do not know about them. And we are learning every day. So if anything, that expected age span will probably only go up slightly as we learn more about loons.

But suffice it to say that this male has a fair amount of experience and has successfully raised chicks before.

I cannot give you the same information on the female, since I do not know for sure who she is or what her age or history are. If they have chicks this year, we may be able to catch her and band her later this summer. And then we can learn more about her as well.

But continue to watch the fascinating story and saga of what happens with our loons and their eggs this year.

And let's all learn together.

Friday, May 19, 2017 11:56 pm CDT

Guest User May 20, 2017

46 degrees F Cloudy Wind 9 mph NE

Sunrise 5:38 am CDT Sunset 8:42 pm CDT

The unusually cold, rainy, windy weather continues.

This feels more like early April than late May. It was only 39 degrees here this morning!

But the loons are fine with the cold rainy weather. EXCEPT when they are pulled off the nest by threats. Threats of bald eagles, intruder loons or even geese.

Geese are usually no big deal to our loons. But eagles and other loons intruding on their territory are great threats that they will go all out to fight

And today they they have faced both eagles and another loon.

There seems to be another loon that has appeared within the last week. And every time he appears, both of our loons go out to confront him.

That is stressful enough for them. But the danger is when it pulls them off the nest and exposes the eggs to the rain and cold weather.

And today the loons have been pulled off the nest at least three times (maybe more) by eagles.

The first one I did not actually see happen but my neighbor told me about it. He said that two eagles were actually dive bombing the loon and drove him half way across the lake.

Then shortly afterwards there was a single eagle that kept soaring right over the nest and the loon left in a panic. The loon returned to the nest but then left once again as the eagle came back.

I think we have had more problem with eagles this year than any other year that I can remember. I am thankful that eagles are on the rebound. But when they harass and attack loons, not so much.

I am also ready to be done with the rain and the wind!

The wind and waves have washed away a fair amount of the nesting material along the front of the nest. I don't think the nest is in any danger yet. I think the perspective of the picture makes it look worse than it is. But I would much rather that all the material that I had placed there was still there.

I will continue to watch it and if it seems like the nest is in danger, I may look for an opportunity, if the loons are off the nest and well away from the area, to bring more nesting material out there to replace what has been washed away.

But I think the chances of that are pretty slim. Plus I do not want the loons to be off the nest nor far from the nest.

I took a look at dates that the eggs might hatch. This is dangerous territory to make a guess and wander into!

I would say the eggs should hatch sometime between June 1st and June 8th. My best guess would be June 3rd, 4th or 5th.

Loon eggs, and eggs in general I think, do any amazing thing called "catch up". That is where the second egg hatches faster than the first egg - hence the name catch up.

Two eggs may be laid 3 days apart (or in the case of our eggs this year, 2.5 days apart) but yet they hatch LESS than 3 days apart. The second egg 'catches up' with the first egg.

Let's see what happens with our eggs this year.

Thursday, May 18, 2017 1:10 pm CDT

Guest User May 18, 2017

49 degrees F Clouds and Rain Wind 10 mph NE

Sunrise 5:40 am CDT Sunset 8:40 pm CDT

A cold north wind blows across the lake forming waves that buffet and bounce the loon's nesting platform.

But they have been faithfully trying to protect their precious eggs from the elements.

In many ways, those eggs are everything. They are the reason for everything the loons do for an entire year. They occupy the loons every effort and energy.

But they are worth it.

Because if they are successful in laying and protecting incubating those eggs, the species continues.

But that effort is not without its challenges. Including challenges from storms.

Last night we 'lost the cam' due to lightning. Many of you are aware of that.

I was actually online talking to some of the people in the chat room when it happened.

There was a bright flash and then almost immediately a clap of thunder. I remember thinking to myself "That was close." But I was not too concerned because it was not that loud a clap of thunder. Not like some of them are when the lightning is very close. You know the kind. When it actually shakes the house and rattles everything in it. When you feel it in the very core of your body.

This one was not anything like that.

It was just a 'run of the mill' lightning flash and clap of thunder.

But within a few seconds the sound started this very loud 'CLICKING' sound and the picture froze.

When I checked the signal coming from the camera and checked the server, the server was working but the picture from the cam was frozen.

My heart sank.

We lost a camera a couple years ago from a lightning strike. I could not believe that it might have happened once again.

IF the lightning had taken out the camera, that would be it for the year because I would not be able to go out to the nest to work on replacing the camera as long as the loons were already on the nest.

The Broadband 'miracle workers' have been working this morning on trying to find out what happened and to resolve it. And they have done it.

A few minutes ago we once again had A LIVE LOONCAM!

I have not heard yet what was needed or what had happened. But as of now the camera seems to be working and we can once again see our beloved loons!

Enjoy the view.

We have once again been reminded of how fragile and special it is.

Minnesota Bound

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