Tuesday, May 28, 2019 10:15 pm CDT

55 degrees F Clear Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:30 am CDT Sunset 8:50 pm CDT

Today truly has been a SIMON SAYS day!

Brilliant sunshine, deep blue skies, gentle breezes, stunning spring green colors all around, apples trees and pear trees and plum trees and tulips and daffodils in bloom and warmer temperatures. These are the days that Minnesotans dream about in the depths of the short cold days of winter.

Yesterday was once again a day of constant rain and wind and cold.

But that gives our loons a little bit of respite. Other than the constant bouncing of the nest on the rolling waves, the loons are comfortable in the rain and cool temperatures. They are even used to riding up and down on the large waves.

The cool temperatures and wind and rain have given our loons a break from the black flies which torment them. Black flies have been known to cause loons to abandon nests if they get bad enough. There is some relatively new research that show that older females are more apt to abandon their nest due to black flies and other disturbances. It is not yet known for sure why that is but the data seems to indicate that.

Twenty two of the first 28 days of May have been below normal in temperature. So apparently the feeling that it has been an unusually chilly spring is borne out by the data.

But it may be that for the last few days of May, Mother Nature may actually listen to SIMON!

Temperatures are predicted to warm over the next few days and by the end of the week we may see temperatures of 80 degrees. While we appreciate the warmer temperatures, the loons do better in the cooler temperatures.

As the temperatures warm, watch for the loons to sit with an open bill as they pant. Much like a panting dog, it is a mechanism for the loon to get rid of excess body heat as it sits in the warm sun.

I realized that I have not talked here in the blog about expected hatch dates for our eggs.

The first egg was apparently laid at 2:01 pm on Saturday, May 11th. And the second egg was laid at 12:21 am on Tuesday, May 14th.

The eggs should hatch sometime between Thursday, June 6th and Thursday, June 13th. I would not expect them to hatch before the 6th nor after the 13th. If they have not hatched by June 13th, I would be concerned about whether they will hatch at all.

Now if I have to make my best guess (always a dangerous thing to do!), I would guess that they best chance of hatching would be June 8 - 10.

Eggs often do something called ‘catch up’! Even though the eggs were laid 2 1/2 days apart, it would not surprise me at all to see them hatch within a day of each other.

The last day or two of incubation chicks can actually be heard ‘peeping’ inside the eggs. And it is believed that chicks actually communicate with each other as well as the parents, even though they are still inside the eggs.

So prepare yourself for the excitement as we approach expected hatch dates.

And as we all are glued to our screens hoping to catch that first glimpse of a beautiful little loon chick!

It doesn’t get any better than that!

Copyright 2019 Larry R Backlund

Saturday, May 25, 2019 11:01 pm CDT

53 degrees F Partly Cloudy Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:32 am CDT Sunset 8:47 pm CDT

15 hours 15 minutes daylight

We are in the middle of the Memorial Day weekend and the loons had a pretty easy day as far as boat traffic.

While there was increased boat traffic, it was not nearly as much as it is many years. I think that is partly due to the fact that Mother Nature just can’t make up her mind about warmer weather.

Today was supposed to be warm and sunny. But it was cloudy and actually chilly. They are promising sunshine and warmth tomorrow - before rain moves back in on Monday. We have had more rain than we need. But that is part of what makes Minnesota such a beautiful green state. Something that we take for granted.

The loons have had other things to concern them today.

This evening the male loon went into extreme hangover and then bolted off the nest.

When I looked to see why he left the nest, there was an ‘intruder loon’ in the area and both of our loons were confronting the intruder.

There was a lot of excited diving and some splashing and a few calls.

But eventually the intruder left and the male came back to sit on the nest.

There were a couple times when the male went into hangover and I could not see anything that was disturbing him. All of the boaters seemed to be very respectful and kept their distance away from the nest. Eagles continue to patrol over the lake and the loons are not happy at all when the eagles are around.

I still have not figured out why the female seems to spend a great amount of her time in hangover. For some reason, she is very skittish. Most of the time when she is in hangover, there is nothing that I can see that would be of concern for her. But she knows what concerns her.

The male tolerates me (and others) being in the front yard or even by the lakeshore. She does not. So when she is on the nest I try to not even be anywhere she can see me.

We have reached the halfway mark of the incubation of the eggs. Can it be that we are that far along already. It was 2 weeks ago this afternoon that the first egg was laid. I always am SO curious to know what is going on inside that egg. The miracle of life itself. A yolk and egg white becoming a living, breathing little loon chick!

A few years ago I did some research on the day by day development of a loon egg. I should find that and repeat some of it for you. I think you would find it very interesting to know what is happening inside those eggs right now.

A holiday weekend like this is a good opportunity for you to remind your fiends and family who may be boating to be aware of the presence of loons and to be respectful and observe them from a distance. There probably is a very slim chance that they will ever see an actual loon nest in the wild since they are normally very well hidden.

But if they do see one, remind them to stay at least a couple hundred feet away from the nest and observe them with binoculars. That way they will minimize the stress on the loons and prevent them from leaving the nest. Or even abandoning it.

I wish all of you a very special Memorial Day Weekend as we remember those who have paid the ultimate price so that we may have the freedom and life that we enjoy!

Copyright 2019 Larry R Backlund

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 7:14 am CDT

44 degrees F Raining Wind ENE 10 mph

Sunrise 5:35 am CDT Sunset 8:34 pm CDT

15 hours 9 minutes of daylight

This spring Mother Nature sure doesn’t seem to be listening when SIMON SAYS that it is time for a warm Minnesota spring day!

Instead it seems like we have been getting day after day of cold and wind and rain. Some Minnesotans are starting to feel like Noah and they are building arks in their back yards - just in case!

But for the loons this is better weather than really hot weather. The rain is no concern to them. They come with some of the best raingear on the planet. And the rain and the wind help to keep the black flies from tormenting them. And the cloudy weather helps them stay much more comfortable as they sit on the nest.

The danger for loons with this much rain is that if they are on a ‘natural’ nest there is always the danger of rising water flooding their nest site. But with this floating platform, it simply rises as falls with the rising and falling water levels.

Although that has its limitations as well.

Some of you may remember a number of years ago when we had some unusually heavy rains and the lake level rose over 17 inches in a matter of 36 hours!

It just kept rising and rising. And the anchor rope on the nest was not long enough to accommodate an unprecedented rise like that in the level of the lake. So the anchor rope itself was pulling the nest underwater.

The nest and the eggs themselves were in danger of being drowned and destroyed!

Most of you know that I never go anywhere near the nest when the loons are here. They own it all. But there have been a few true emergencies like this one that demanded that I do something.

In that case, I had to go out to the nest, unfasten the anchor rope, tie a longer extension on and refasten it.

I did it with great fear and trepidation because I knew that the loons could very possible attack me. And such and attack would not be a pretty sight. I would definitely be the one who would come out on the short end of that attack, probably getting stabbed in my legs.

I knew that the loons would not be happy. But I had no other choice.

As I made my way out to the nest, the loon kept its eye on me. All of a sudden it hurtled from the nest into the water. But it did not go far. A few feet from the nest, it did the penguin dance and it tremoloed and yodeled. It was not a happy camper.

But that made two of us. I was not a relaxed camper either.

By this time the other loon had come in to confront this intruder that was messing with their nest.

I hurriedly untied and tied ropes like I had rehearsed over and over in my mind before I ever went out there. Both loons were there. Both loons were unhappy. Both loons were splashing and diving and calling.

I worked as fast as I could. All the time trying to keep an eye on two upset loons that were only feet away.

Neither loon seemed to understand that I was there to help them.

Several times I felt the rush of water as they swam within inches of my legs. They could have stabbed me. But they didn’t.

As I finished lengthening the anchor rope, I started to back away from the nest. I kept trying to watch for the loons and keep track of where they were. But they dove and they ‘just disappeared’.

I kept backing away from the nest toward shore - but still a LONG ways from shore.

Where were the loons? Where did they go? I had never seen such a complete disappearing act like this.

After I was some distance from the nest, I turned to walk towards shore.

And that is when I found out where the loons were!

There they were just a few feet in front of me. Swimming underwater. They had been behind me the whole time I was trying to figure out where they had gone.

And I have no better way to describe it that there were two underwater guided missiles frantically going back and forth.. I could have almost reached out and touched them, they were that close. Back and forth they went at surprising speed. Streamlined just like underwater missiles.

They could have so easily stabbed me in the legs. But they didn’t. For which I am eternally grateful.

Once I reached shore and left the area, they swam back to the nest. It took them some minutes to calm down and get back up on the nest. But they did.

And once again all was right with the world. And their eggs were once again safe.

I made some adjustments to the anchoring system in following years to prevent this kind of disaster from ever happening again. But we have never had such an amazing rise in the level of the water since that one time.

During all the rain from the last week or more, the lake has come up almost 5 inches. But the new anchoring system has handled it without any problem.

And our loon’s nest is not going underwater!

Even with the incessant battering of the waves, the nesting material seems to be doing pretty good at staying in place. That is a whole other story. There is much more to it than just throwing a bunch of stuff on the nesting platform. That would wash away or blow away in short order. But that is a story for another time.

For today, our loons are safely on the nest protecting two precious eggs.

One egg will be 12 days old today. And the second egg just passed the 8 day mark.

“Normal” incubation for a loon egg has always been said to be 28-30 days.

But with what we have learned from the LoonCam over the years, “normal” may be slightly less than that.

We will talk more about that in another blog entry.

For today, we sit back and enjoy that rain with the loons. Soon the rain and cool weather will be gone and they will be sitting in sun and warmth.

And hopefully very soon we will see two beautiful loon chicks!

Copyright 2019 Larry R Backlund

Monday, May 20, 2019 10:15 pm CDT

49 degrees Clear Wind Calm

Sunrise 5:36 am CDT Sunset 8:42 pm CDT

After the “monsoon“ of the last several days, today truly turned out to be a “SIMON SAYS” day!

Although the high temperature here at Loon Lake of 64 degrees F was slightly below average, it was a GREAT improvement over the cold and rain and wind of the last few days.

There was brilliant sunshine and deep blue skies and only a hint of a nice breeze.

Over the weekend we got over 3 inches of rain here at Loon Lake. In a town not too far from here a friend of mine said they got over 3 inches of rain just Saturday night through Sunday morning. And his basement flooded.

And it was cold. It got down to 31 degrees F here at ‘Loon Lake’ last night! Snow showers were dancing around us. Getting all too close! Duluth had 2 1/2 inches of snow and one place in northern Wisconsin got 7 1/2 inches!

This is way too late in the spring for this kind of cold and snow. Even for us winter hardened Minnesotans.

We are supposed to get some more rain tomorrow night into Wednesday morning. This is the same storm that has dropped snow on Denver and caused many many tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas. So I guess we are fortunate.

The forecast is for the temperatures to continue to improve through this week and right now the Memorial Day weekend is looking to be very nice.

For the most part our loons have settled into their own routine and have been very faithful on the nest.

During the height of the cold and rain and wind yesterday I watched them make one nest exchange that was textbook and picture perfect. The female got up from the back side of the nest, sat and waited as the male went off the front side and then she moved onto the eggs, rolled them and settle down on them.

The whole exchange took no more than 5 seconds and the eggs were exposed for only a couple seconds during the exchange.

The male continues to be much more relaxed and at ease on the nest. Very seldom does much of anything bother him. Although I have seen and heard him get very concerned when an eagle flew too low over the nest. Whereas the female often goes into hangover even when I don’t see anything that should be concerning to her. But she knows. And through it all she has been very faithful in staying on the nest.

I guess we have not talked about “hangover” yet this year. So especially for new viewers let me explain what I mean by the word “hangover”. No, the loons have NOT been out partying too much.

Many times when a loon senses danger of someone or something getting too close to the nest, they will lower their heads. And in the most extreme cases they will actually lay their head and their next on the side of the nest. This is called “hangover”.

It is their way of being as inconspicuous as possible. And it works!

There are times when I look at the nest and cannot tell if the loon is on the nest or not. So I go in the house and look at the LoonCam and sure enough … the loon is in total hangover and “hiding”. They will stay in this position until the danger has passed and then they will sit with their head up.

But if the danger continues or gets closer, the loon will probably leave the nest and maybe even try to draw the intruder away from the nest.

It is amazing all the tools and behaviours that the loons have at their disposal.

All intended to give the best chance for those precious eggs to produce even more precious (and beautiful) loon chicks!

Copyright 2019 Larry R Backlund

Saturday, May 18, 2019 11:55 pm CDT

43 degrees F Rain Windy

Sunset 5:38 am CDT Sunset 8:40 pm CDT

Well, Mother nature did not listen to SIMON very good, did she? We are back to cold and rain and wind. Today we only had a high of 46 degrees F here at Loon Lake!

Overnite there are supposed to once again be heavy storms with a lot of rain. In fact, lightning and thunder and light rain started just a little while ago.

But the eggs are safe and sound right now under one of the loons.

Last night I was a little concerned when, just as it was getting dark, the female loon left the nest and the eggs were uncovered for over an hour in the chilly temperatures and wind. I was especially concerned because the storms were getting close to Loon Lake.

But before the storms came in, one of the loons returned to the nest and safely tucked the eggs under her/him. And kept them safe all through the night and the rain. We got some over an inch of rain overnight. The rain (and even the chilliness) has little effect on the loons. They are used to water … and rain.

Plus it has had a real advantage of keeping away some of the black flies from tormenting the loons..

Many of you have noticed how awkward the loons are as the get up on the nest. In the next few days, I will explain why loons find it so hard to get around on land. They are birds of the water and the air.

But tonight let me explain briefly about the procedure they go through when they get on the nest.

As they awkwardly get up on the nest, they will ‘stand upright’ as they use their beak to try to position the eggs underneath their body. Sometimes it can be quite the productions.

You may have noticed that they position the eggs far back under their body.

Most birds have a “brood patch” on their chest. It is an area of bare skin that becomes exposed when they settle down on their eggs. The bare skin allows for efficient transfer of body heat to the eggs.

Loons do not have a ‘brood patch’ like that.

Instead they have an area at the far back area of their bodies between their legs that has an unusual concentration of blood vessels. They do not have a bare skin brood patch like other birds. But with this increased amount of blood vessels between their legs, they have extra body heat that they can transfer to the eggs.

So they will carefully do the “egg roll” trying to get the eggs perfectly positioned to benefit from this warmth.

Usually they will get back up after a minute or two and readjust the eggs. Sometimes it will take them 2 or 3 attempt before they get the eggs positioned perfectly and they settle down on the eggs..

Once they settle down on the eggs, watch them also do something else. Especially on cold nights like this.

Normally they carry their wingtips crossed in an “X” above their tail.

When they settle on the eggs, they will lower their entire wing and then tuck their wingtips UNDER their tail.

By doing this they create a little sealed “thermos bottle” all around the eggs. Heat is trapped in. COld wind and breezes are kept out.

And to make sure this wonderful warm cocoon is kept nice and tight and secure, they will lower their tail over the tucked in wingtips and by so doing, lock everything in place!

Just another one of the amazing little things our loons do that can so easily escape our notice and attention. Unless we watch closely.

Right now, on a cold evening (with the possibility a SNOW tomorrow!!!), those precious eggs are locked away. All cozy and comfy in the warmth of the loon’s "incubator”!

Copyright 2019 Larry R Backlund