GOOD MORNIN' FELLOW MOONDANCE BROTHERS & SISTERS

[pink flamingo]

Whysper, that eagle/duck story is terrible! YIKES! My friend told me her daughter was going to go down to the lake at their cabin to look at the baby loons on the mom's back and an eagle swooped down and grabbed one of the babies right of the mom! I'm sure her daughter was traumatized for life! The "circle of life" as you say Flutter...

Sure hope the loon family we are watching has a HAPPY ending!

[Whysper]

terrible, but so true. It's horrible for the duck, but for the eagle it's a success story. More to the point, it proved to be a life lesson for the group laughing at the silly duck. There wasn't a happy face in the crowd afterwards.

How easy it seems to laugh at others misfortunes, until we see the reality of it all.

I remember a number of years back when my mother in law decided it was a great idea to get baby ducks for all the girls, without asking. I was the only one who thought this was a horrible idea. The first night the girls forgot to put the duckies back in the shed there was a night time feasting. The girls were horrified, while mom and mom-in-law consoled the girls with "oh it wasn't your fault", I was stuck with a lump in my chest. It was their fault. They were put in charge of the lives of those ducks and they failed to live up to their responsibility. Oh no, said Mom-in-law, they were too young to be responsible. "guess that means the person who gave them too them was responsible then" I replied. Oh they were just ducks, no big deal, she said.

I always wonder about people who have no respect for life, even a little duck.

[pink flamingo]

How very insightful, Whysper, and so true...

[Whysper]

Thanks, pinkie. I am lovin' the loon cam, too. I've passed it on to a few friends and all are excited by it. Come what may, it's an interesting glimpse of Mother Nature at work. I'm hoping the Loons come out on top this year. They're so damn cute....

[OLDFLUTTERBY]

The time is approaching!! The normally accepted incubation period of 28 days will be up on Wednesday and Friday of this week for each of the two eggs.

Larry Backlund states " it is not out of the realm of possibility that an egg may hatch as early as tonight or tomorrow!!!
It is also not out of the realm of possibility that they may go to 30 or 31 days. That would mean they would not hatch until next weekend."

So keep checking back at the live Loon Cam for 2 cute loon chicks!

[OLDFLUTTERBY]

Looks like there will be no hatching this year.

Larry will be removing the last egg.

Sad, but such is Mother Nature.
It was fun and exciting at times watching the Loons & eggs.

Looking forward to next year.

[pink flamingo]

My first year watching the Loon Cam (never knew about it before)... I think it is very sad... they work so hard to keep the eggs safe & warm and no babies to show for it. Hopefully next year will be better for them...

[OLDFLUTTERBY]

Gooooood Mornin' Gfam

Been a looooong time since I've posted, did ya miss me?

While we're waiting for the rest of the bands to be announced, it's almost that time of year again, when we anxiously await the Loons to settle into their nest & lay their eggs, watch 'em hatch & jump for joy when the fluffy little Black Bobber Babies take to the water. We had many nail biting moments last year, lurking at the Loons, feeling helpless when the eggs got pushed into the lake & thankfully Larry rescued them! With our hopes dashed when the eggs didn't hatch! hopefully Mother Nature will be kind & we can see successful happenings for our Loons this year.

The Loons are on the move flying north. This is what Larry stated on his blog on Tuesday,
"One of the loons that we implanted a satellite transmitter has now started to move north!

This is the loon from Lake Sagatagan in Minnesota that we implanted a satellite transmitter into last summer. He is also know as loon #55480 on the USGS website where you can track the progress of some of the loons that are carrying satellite transmitters.
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/m ... tions.html

Loon 55480 had spent much of the winter just off the Florida Gulf Coast near Tampa/St Petersburg. He had moved slightly south of Tampa near Sarasota and then started to move north to near Tallahassee just before he took off on his flight north.

He left the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, March 17th and flew 320 miles to Weiss Lake in Alabama. Then on Friday, March 18th to Center Hill Lake, TN and on Sunday, March 20th to Lemon Lake, IN.

So the excitement of the northward migration has started."
Yesterday Larry posted " Our Sagatagan Lake loon #55480 is not far away either!
He is eager to get home, too!

He is now on Eagle Lake in Wisconsin just west of Racine and near the western shore of Lake Michigan. He made stops on Weiss Lake, Alabama; Center Hill Lake, Tennessee; and Lemon Lake, Indiana before arriving in Wisconsin. Soon the other loons will also be on the move.

Lakes here are still frozen solid up to shore. So he cannot make it home yet. But as soon as the ice goes out, he will try to move closer and closer until he is finally home.

The same is probably true for "our loons" from the LoonCam. We don't know where they are right now. But you can be sure that they are feeling the same urges that #55480 is feeling. The urge to fly north and once again build a nest and raise a new generation of loonlings."

Larry Backlund's Loon cam should be up & running by the end of April according to Larry's blog.
http://www.mnbound.com/live-loon-cam/

Can't wait!

Have A Most Stupendous Weekend All!

Bring on the Bands & 80DAS!


Peace
Flutter

[ontario rocker]

that is so cool ! We have loons on our little lake in front of our house too. Do any of the ones you track go to NW Ontario ?

[OLDFLUTTERBY]

Hey Ontario Rocker not sure if they go to NW Ontario. But I'm betting that the Canadian Wildlife Service may have a similar tracking program. Try & contact them, or maybe these people can point you in the right direction.
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/volunteer/cmmn/i ... etpg=index

Ask them if a Canadian Loon Satellite tracking program exists. Hope this helps, Good Luck. I only now what's available for us in MN.