Loon Cam FAQ
When will the eggs hatch?
This early Looncam pair usually lay egg in mid to late May.Incubation is approximately 28 days, so if the hatch is successful, it should occur in mid to late June.
How does the loon cam work?
The solar powered camera is mounted to a wooden post that is driven into the bottom of the pond, just a little offshore and 30 feet from the nest. An Ethernet cable supplies power and an internet connection to the camera, which runs underwater to an equipment box, on shore.Sound comes from a microphone, mounted on a post in the pond, close to the nest. It is muffled to avoid picking up people talking and there may be occasions where it is muted to protect the privacy of the neighbors. The signal is sent via Wireless Ethernet to a residence and an internet connection. the video stream runs 24×7, over a 35 megabit per second internet service to YouTube Live. With this design, hundreds can view the video feed at the same time, and the stream is converted to match the viewer’s device and internet connection speed. We also employ a 7 day streaming archive service and can make a video clip of interesting events.
Can I see the archived videos?
The YouTube player is configured so that you can replay the most recent twelve hours of the video stream. This is useful if you missed watching a nest switch or egg turning. Edited video clips from the archive are occasionally published on the Loon Preservation Committee’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/LoonCenter. Let us know if you see something interesting that we’ve missed. The archive goes back a week.
Is there a Twitter hash tag to alert people to special events?
Yes. Our blogger, Biff, will continuing using Twitter again this year. To participate, follow the #LoonCam hashtag. We encourage viewers to send out a Tweet with #looncam in the text when something special happens. That will help us go back through the archives and publish a video clip of the events. Our Twitter name is @lpc_nh.
Where is the loon cam located?
For privacy of the loons and the gracious people that allow placement of the loon cam, the location is unidentified. It is in New Hampshire, within an hour’s drive of the Moultonboro based Loon Center.
Can I donate to the operation of the loon cam?
Yes! Please use the donation button on the loon cam page and select the “Loon Cam” button. We upgraded the bandwidth this year and bought new batteries for the solar powered Looncam 2.The budget is about $2000 to operate two Loon Cams in 2019, from May into July. Your donations help make it possible.
How do I control the view?
The camera may be programmed to periodically rotate through a sequence of preset scenes. At times, the LPC staff may take control of the camera and change the scene or follow interesting events. If you want a specific view, send us an email or mention it in the YouTube chat room and if the loon cam operator is watching, your request may be granted.
Can I make the picture bigger?
Yes, use the YouTube full-screen icon, which shows when you touch or mouse-over the bottom of the picture. Be sure to select a high resolution with the settings gear on the stream. You can also open up the stream on the YouTube web site, smart TV, or mobile application. On the YouTube page, there is a chat feature, where you can have a discussion with other Loon Cam Viewers. The LPC staff will chime in when they have a chance and not in the field.
Can you turn the sound up? I can barely hear it.
The camera’s microphone is very sensitive and is set as low as possible, to provide some natural sounds while protecting neighbor’s privacy. At times, the microphone will be muted.
Why is the picture jerky or fuzzy?
If you are on a slow or congested internet connection, YouTube reduces the resolution and the picture will be less sharp. The slow-down may also be on our end.When there is a lot of movement, like wind on the water, we can run out of upload bandwidth.We broadcast in 1080p resolution and strive for 15-20 frames/second.
Who do I contact if I have a problem or question?
For technical questions or problems with the looncam, send email to looncam@loon.org For other questions, contact volunteers@loon.org
The Nesting Pair
One egg was laid on Friday, June 14 at 7:27 PM and the second egg on Monday, June 17 at 8:40 AM The expected hatch date is 28 days (give or take), so about July 12’th.
You can tell the female from male by the bands on their legs. The Female has a White Stripe/Blue on the left leg and Silver/Yellow Stripe on the right leg. The male has a Red/White on the left leg and Silver/Red Dot on the right leg. The male was originally banded in 2006, so he is at least 16, but more likely 19 or more. The female was only banded in 2017, so all we know is that she is at least 5. From 2006-2016, the male only fledged 4 chicks. 4 chicks in 11 years is slightly lower than the NH state average (which is 1 chick fledged every other year). However, since he’s been with his current mate and on this territory, he’s fledged 2 chicks in 2 years, which is double the state average. To be alerted when a hatch is underway subscribe to the free LPC newsletter.
The live video image on this page comes from a high-definition Axis video camera with pan-tilt-zoom features and night-time infrared illumination. The camera is mounted on a post, about 30 feet from the nesting area.An Ethernet cable runs across the bottom of the pond to an island. From there, the video stream is sent via wireless Ethernet to a residence, and an internet connection. The camera and Ethernet radio are powered by batteries, recharged only by solar panels. The camera sends a video stream to YouTube, which supports hundreds of simultaneous viewers. A video stream archive lets us replay choice moments and publish them on the LPC YouTube Channel. The webcam is funded through donations to the Loon Preservation Committee’s Loon Recovery Plan. Please click here to contribute to these efforts.
Acknowledgements
Funding for the loon cam project is made possible by LPC’s Loon Recovery Planyou’re your donations. Technical design and loon cam operation is provided by LPC volunteer, Bill Gassman (www.linkedin.com/in/billgassman). Streaming and archiving services are provided by YouTube, Charter Communications, CamStreamer and AngelCam. The camera installation would not have been possible without the generous permission of several anonymous property owners.
So, When Will the Eggs Hatch?
It’s been twenty-three days of incubation now and getting close to hatch time. Reports of the average time for incubation generally call for 27 to 28 days. However, reported ranges of incubation times span from 25 to 30 days. Now that we’ve been closely following this pair for six years, it would seem reasonable that we could narrow that range down by calculating previous incubation times for this pair. The problem is that because of nest failures and egg losses or abandonments we only have two definite times for the first laid egg and two less definite times for the second laid egg.
For the first laid egg, we have 27 days, 3 hours (2017) and approximately 26 days, 10 hours (2018; approximate because we don’t know exactly when it was laid overnight). So the average is a little shy of a full 27 days. This year’s first egg was laid at 8:21 am on May 18th. A full 27 days would be the morning of Sunday, June 14th. It’s also interesting to note that, for this pair, all four recorded hatch times occurred between midnight and 6:00 am. So sometime in the early morning of Sunday looks promising.
We can do the same for the second egg. The records are a little sketchy but it appears that a reasonable estimate for incubation time is 26-1/2 days. It would seem the earliest we could expect a hatch would be Monday night or Tuesday morning.
Now all that’s left is waiting to see if the loons show consistency or decide to make a fool of me. Having come to know these two, I’m thinking the smart money is on the latter.
Nest Visitors
Regular loon cam watchers have witnessed various visitors to the nest, including painted turtles, snapping turtles, great blue herons, muskrats and eagles. Most of these visitors present little threat to nesting loons. In fact, loons can be quite tolerant of painted turtles, herons and muskrats, all of which are likely to use loon nest hummocks and the floating nesting rafts for perching (herons), sun basking (painted turtles) or feeding stations (muskrats). Snapping turtles can be a threat to chicks after they leave the nest but they are not a significant egg predator. Adult loons can easily defend a nest from a snapping turtle. Eagles, on the other hand, have been known to attack chicks, and adult loons in some cases, while on the nest. Most of our recorded eagle attacks in New Hampshire have occurred against chicks in the water after leaving the nest.
The leading cause of egg predation in New Hampshire is mammalian predation, with raccoons doing most of it. This is presumed to be the reason why loons prefer to nest on small islands or hummocks in marshes and use the mainland shore as a last resort. The more difficult it is for a terrestrial animal to access the nest, the safer the eggs. Other mammals known to pilfer loon eggs include coyotes, foxes, and some members of the weasel family (mainly mink). As development steadily increases on New Hampshire’s lakes, raccoons in particular become more prevalent because they have acclimated to human presence and view us and our waste stream as a food source. That plus the loss of good nesting habitat due to development has resulted in a higher probability of nest failure due to egg predation.
Stalwart Dad
The male is pulling 20+ hour nest sitting shifts lately; certainly not unheard of for this pair but normally it occurs later in the nesting phase or it is attributable to oppressive conditions, such as black fly infestations or heat waves. With the exception of one short hot spell, nesting conditions this year have been quite tolerable. Perhaps it’s the female’s old age that makes her reluctant to incubate, or maybe it’s her innate disposition. Two years ago she was AWOL for two complete days while the eggs were hatching, apparently not even on the lake. We looked for her.
But the male has always shown a steadfast commitment to hatching the eggs. If he can solo babysit two newly hatched chicks for over 48 hours, he can handle a 20 hour nest sitting shift.