2025 Lake Vermilion Loon Camera Live Stream

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Loon Chicks in the “Nursery” – June 29, 2025
By Noel Sederstrom, VLA Volunteer

Lake Vermilion, Minn. (VLA) – In the 18 days since the loon chicks hatched and took to the waters of Lake Vermilion, they both have grown tremendously.

It makes perfect sense. They’re focused on three things: to eat, swim and grow. No doubt the loonlets are also learning life lessons and survival skills from their parents.

The bay beyond the small island where Mom and Dad Loon built their nest back in early May is what we’ve come to consider the “nursery” for the little ones. It’s shallow and somewhat protected from boat traffic and predators.

It’s there that the loon family was spotted early on Sunday, June 29. One of our YouTube Channel loon watchers, Ellen Richter, noticed them coming into view on our Live LoonCam at 5:48 a.m. Ellen and another chatter known as “Ebbandflow” monitored their activities for nearly a half hour before they swam out of view.

Because of their vigilance and posting the key timestamps on the YouTube Channel chat page, many other people were able to enjoy the images. The YouTube system records 12 hours of the livestream so it’s easy to use the slider at the bottom of the video window to “go back in time” and see what you missed. Even if you can’t be glued to the LoonCam’s image, it makes it possible to follow the loon family’s adventures with the help of the timestamps left in the chat column.

The loon family meanders across the water quite a way up and down the shoreline. It’s fascinating and a joy to see them every once in a while. Over the three months of summer, the loonlets will grow to be nearly the size of their adult parents, with enough wing strength to fly. They’ll need that to be able to fly south when the weather turns cold.

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Loon Family’s Happy Ending – June 14, 2025
By Noel Sederstrom, VLA Volunteer

Lake Vermilion, Minn. (VLA) – There’s great joy in the Loon World thanks to what happened along one shoreline of Lake Vermilion in far northern Minnesota. The mating loon pair we’ve been monitoring this spring was able to bring two new chicks into the world!

Our site host believes Mom Loon laid one egg back on May 14 or 15, and a second one within days. One of our most experienced loon-watchers who chat and compare notes on our YouTube Channel, GailH, predicted the most likely “Hatch Day” would be Tuesday, June 10. So, as dusk fell that evening and the hours stretched toward dawn on June 11, our top people were on pins and needles watching the VLA’s Live LoonCam for any clue on what was happening. A lot of it might seem totally “loonie” to anyone outside of our group.

“4:13:37 loon lifts up back end,” reported one of our best Loon Chatters, Debra B. And her reports then came fast and furious:

That’s right! While perched up on her nest, Mom Loon had night visitors.

A large beaver was munching on greenery for hours about 15 feet of her. Now—within 15 feet of a new fragile little life peeping away like crazy under Mom’s wing.

Beaver was not alone out there in the wee hours of June 11.

A muskrat was also seen on-camera swimming past the island where the loons had built their nest. Muskrat returned later to snack on something along the shoreline.

As the morning light began on the horizon, a Great Blue Heron screamed at the coming dawn.

Mom Loon kept her vigil, protecting the new chick and incubating the second egg for a few more hours.

Then just before 8 a.m. she hit the water and called out to her mate, who was nowhere to be found. They usually had a “shift change” right about that time every morning. Where could Dad Loon be? The loon chatters were spinning on this for hours.

Eight hours later, just before 6 p.m., Dad Loon finally came back to the nest. In the meantime, the first little chick had already been swimming with Mom and began trying to climb from the lake up to the loon nest. It was difficult to watch. The little thing peeped and screeched and begged for help for two hours, but Mom Loon made it figure out how to scale the “mountain” without any help.

When Dad Loon did arrive, he bellowed aggressively and made quite the scene to let anyone and everyone know he was large and in charge. And for any prospective intruders to stay far away.

We figured out later by studying the video captured on the YouTube recorder that Dad Loon only stayed on the nest for about an hour before going back out “on patrol.” While he was there, though, the second chick actually hatched.

Now Mom Loon was back and cuddling a chick under each wing.

It was a quiet night at the loon nest, the silence only broken by occasional loon calls and the noise of Muskrat chewing on lake grass. The small critter would eat for a while, then look up at Mom Loon ten feet away, then go back to his food.

A beautiful day broke on Lake Vermilion on June 12, a perfect day for loon chick swimming lessons. The only problem—one of the chicks, the little one, was still terrified of the water. After two hours of coaxing and pleading, it was persuaded it was safe and it jumped in to join its sibling.

The day would be filled with swimming lessons, a survival exercise for the chicks on climbing from the lake up the hill, and consuming food from the lake. Already the oldest chick had grown tremendously in just one day.

Consider how amazing it is that these loons built a nest, protected and incubated two eggs for a month, only a short distance from a busy noisy boat dock. When fishermen get ready to launch, the loons watch them carefully. They teach their little ones to stay clear of the boating channel area. But there’s no fear. Only when they cannot figure out where the churning noise of a nearby propeller is coming from do they get worked up and voice frustration. The chicks are learning by example.

Both Dad Loon and then Mom Loon came back to the little island the afternoon of June 12 to take one last look at their “perfect nest.” Then they swam away with their little ones out into the lake, for the protection of the water.

After last year’s terrible experiences with high water levels that flooded their nest and then repeated attacks by three minks, this year’s story was just the opposite. It had a brilliant outcome—truly a wild story with a happy ending.

We’re grateful to be able to use contributions by seven artists through the Free Music Archive:
– “Outro” by Holle Mangler, with CC BY-NC 4.0 International License
– “One Breath at a Time” by Brylie Christopher Oxley, with CC BY 4.0 International License
– “Sunset Beach (Tropical Travel Vlog Music)” by Pro Tunes, with CC BY 4.0 International License
– “Marathon” by Amarent, with CC BY 4.0 International License
– “Dimensional Drift” by Jangwa, with CC BY 4.0 International License
– “Atch – Read Your Mind” by Atch, with CC BY 4.0 International License
– “Spring Morning” by Maarten Schellekens, with CC BY 4.0 International License
The VLA’s Live LoonCam Team is also grateful for the internet services provided by Access Broadband of Virginia, Minnesota.

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Life on the Water – June 10, 2025
By Noel Sederstrom, VLA Volunteer

LAKE VERMILION, Minn. (VLA) — There’s a lot of joy just being out on the water of Lake Vermilion—that’s true for nearly all of us humans. But if you’re a loon, you’re also a moving target.

While on the nest guarding two eggs on the morning of May 24, the loons we’ve been monitoring were scared out of their wits. Three times in three hours.

At 5:24, 7:33 and 8:21—the loon on the nest fled in a panic for the water and safety. Each time, the loon had scanned the trees on the mainland to the west and saw something threatening.

We can only guess that it was an eagle, either perched in a tree, or circling the sky like they do.

Eagles are among the loons’ most feared enemies. Two of our veteran loon watchers were remembering the horrors of last summer for “our” mating loon pair while commenting on our YouTube Channel page. Last year it was a gang of mink that tormented the loons.

“It that was horrible to watch them playing with egg and then it rolled off nest,” noted 603born (the commenter’s screen name).

“Sure was,” added GailH. “Now eagles and mink are both on my ‘no longer tolerate’ list.”

Back to the morning of May 24. Each time the loon was “flushed” from the nest, it would stay away for a time until it felt it was safe to return. Then gingerly it would settle back on the two precious eggs.

Life on the water, for loons, is not a thing of high anxiety every day. Some days it’s just the opposite—it’s like being in paradise.

And so it was on the morning of June 7. It was spectacularly beautiful. Our Live LoonCam captured the two loons taking turns on their nest, cooing and politely taking on their guard duty in consummate teamwork.

That day was one of those picture-perfect times on Lake Vermilion, so dazzling it takes your breath away.
It’s quite a contrast to the scary morning of May 24, when it seemed to the loons that life itself was on the line.

We’re grateful to be able to use contributions by three artists through the Free Music Archive:
–“Gaia (Shattered Vessels of Light Remix) – electronica” by Soularflair, with CC BY 4.0 International License
–“Echoes” by Piotr Hummel, with CC BY 4.0 International License
–“Dawn” by Maarten Schellekens, with CC BY 4.0 International License

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They Came Back! – June 9, 2025
By Noel Sederstrom, VLA Volunteer

LAKE VERMILION, Minn. (VLA) — Lake Vermilion, Minn. (VLA) – The loons migrating from the Gulf Coast and along the Atlantic Ocean returned to Lake Vermilion just as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported all the ice melted May 5.

Among the arrivals was the mating loon pair we’ve been following on the Vermilion Lake Association’s Live LoonCam Team. The loons returned to their familiar summer destination, a small island that provides cover for them for a nest to lay eggs and attempt to hatch chicks.

There’s great interest in Minnesota in nurturing and growing the loon population. The loon is part of our collective identity, a part of the state’s lore and lure.

Within days of arriving, “our” loons had picked a nesting site. They built a nest using materials nearby and as of May 14, Mom Loon was spotted sitting on one egg. Mom and Dad Loon began taking turns guarding their treasure, which at some point grew to be two eggs.

Wildlife experts say loons will usually lay a second egg 2-3 days after the first.

Our VLA marine team of Bill Michaelson and Tom Tamte deployed our Live LoonCam gear on May 16. An Axis camera and parabolic mic are mounted on a wooden post with a weighted base that sinks into the mud of the lake-bottom. They connected the electronic gear using a waterproof Ethernet cable to our router and MSN Switch which power and control it.

A technician from Access Broadband helped us trouble-shoot WiFi internet service at our somewhat remote location on May 27. After some difficulty configuring our gear, we were able to remotely communicate with the camera May 28 and its image began livestreaming to our YouTube Channel and website the next morning.

But then we discovered the MSN Switch had successfully powered up the camera on its own back on May 18, just days after the loons had built their nest. The cam had been pre-programmed to record directly to an internal storage card, so suddenly, we found a cache of video showing what the loons had been doing.

On May 18, at 2:51 a.m., our first images are of Mom Loon braving a sleetstorm hurling a wintry mix at her as she sat on the new nest. The low overnight was 34 degrees. Our P1465-LE cam with its infrared capability showed us the astonishing scene.

After that challenge things appear to have gotten easier for the loons. As the weather warmed the small island and the lake grass grew and turned bright green, the loons focus on carefully incubating their precious eggs and every so often dancing for joy out on the water. And on one enchanted evening, May 23, the loon blinks in amazement at the stunning beauty all around them.

The first images of “our” loons and their new adventure are featured in this video clip from the VLA–“They Came Back!”

We’re grateful to be able to use contributions by three artists through the Free Music Archive:
–“Golden Light.mp3” by Audioinsmusic, with CC-BY-NC 4.0 International License
–“Corporate Chill” by Fretbound, with CC-BY 4.0 International License
–“Enchanted” by Sunnyscy, with CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International License

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Mom and Dad Loon return to their familiar nest site on Lake Vermilion
By Noel Sederstrom, VLA Volunteer

LAKE VERMILION, Minn. (VLA) — Only days after “ice out” on the lake, our loon pair returned to their summertime home on Lake Vermilion. They snooped around for a few days, they settled on a spot and built a nest on a rocky outcropping a foot above the water’s edge.

Our marine team led by Bill Michaelson had been waiting to see where the loons decided to call home this year. With that settled on May 14, Bill and Tom Tamte went there two days later to install the Live LoonCam post in the water and string Ethernet cable to our video upload gear.

When they got there, Mom Loon was motionless on her nest, guarding one egg. We’re hoping to be “powered up” this Tuesday, May 27 with help from our internet partner Access Broadband of Virginia.

As you can see from the photo of their nesting site, our live camera and parabolic mic are about ten feet away. To the left, you can see one of those floating nest platforms created for them to use. It features protection from above. But these loons evidently prefer defending their nest on solid ground. Year after year they choose a nearby site on land.

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Loon’s Summer Nesting Spot has New Look
By Noel Sederstrom, VLA Volunteer

LAKE VERMILION, Minn. (VLA) — The favorite summer destination for “our” mating loon pair on Lake Vermilion will look different than last year.

The property owner removed a pine tree the loons nested and hid beneath last year in their second attempt to bring a chick into the world. Many of its branches had died.

As of April 14, when this photo was taken, the whole lake was still completely ice-covered.

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Minnesota loons become “Snowbirds” in winter months, but it’s not always a relaxing getaway on the Gulf Coast
By Noel Sederstrom, VLA Volunteer

Soaking up the sun, diving in the waves of the Gulf off Florida—it’s a snowbird’s dream. The warm waters are a winter destination for a lot of us, and also, for thousands of our northern Minnesota loons.

“My first Florida loon!” said Steve Liffmann, a professional bird photographer from New Hampshire, posting January 5th on Facebook. He was vacationing in Sarasota when he spotted this young one hunting for food. “I was on the beach one morning when this bird was fishing for sardines right up against the shore.”

Liffmann is the Loon monitor for Arlington Pond in Salem, New Hampshire, and supports the efforts of the Loon Preservation Committee. He said he spotted 15 loons swimming in a flotilla out in ocean waters off New England in early March. New Hampshire’s loons just fly a little east to get away from the ice and snow. But Minnesota loons love flying south to Florida.

“I have seen them on Lido several times,” said Doreen Steinhauser. Lido Key is a barrier island just off Sarasota.

The whole Florida coastline is a birdwatcher’s paradise—on December 27 at Escribano Point Wildlife Management Area near Navarre, Maggie Paxson noted three loons among the 37 different bird species there that day.

Vacationers and residents all up and down Florida’s coast report having had closeup encounters with “our” loons. It’s not always a happy experience.

Stephen Slaton reached out to the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge near Navarre, not knowing if he should have tried to help two loons, struggling on the beach in front of his condo. Both of them died, and Slaton wondered “should I have put them in the ocean?”

The experts at Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge had this advice for Slaton, and it’s worth remembering for any of us encountering a loon in distress on Lake Vermilion in the summer months.

“Trying to determine whether or not an animal should be captured for rehab can sometimes be a very difficult thing. Of course if we see something with obvious injuries we know it needs help, but we do often hear from people about situations like this – where they saw a fine looking animal nearby one day and then soon after it had passed.

“We can’t always know what the best choice is, many loons come to our shores to rest when they are exhausted by stormy weather and strong currents, so it makes sense if they are suffering from other issues we might see them ashore as well. It is possible the ones you saw passed from something unseen like old age, toxicity, or fishing line and hook ingestion.

“However, with no way to possibly know it can be a TOUGH choice to make, because with loons being incredibly high stress animals, even healthier ones may pass away in captivity just due to the intensity of the situation.

“For this species, we do usually err more on the side of leaving them be unless you see something obvious. We likely would have just asked you to observe the animals for us if you had called, so please know you did nothing wrong by simply witnessing the situation and not interfering.”

They told Slaton even in a perfect scenario, wildlife rehabbers can’t always help birds and other animals the way they want to, and that’s what makes the field truly “difficult to navigate.” But many people don’t realize that—and they can’t seem to leave a loon in distress without trying to seek out an expert to help.

“We love the loons!” said Summer Hignite, the Development & Content Creator for Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge. “They are frequent patients here as their inability to walk on land often leads to them being ‘kidnapped’ and brought in for treatment.”

“With loons, their anatomy is very unique and adapted for a nearly fully aquatic lifestyle,” said Hignite. “Loons are more comfortable and agile in the water than on land, with their legs being positioned at the tail end of the body and sticking straight out, functioning almost like rudders on a boat. This means the loon can dive and swim at shocking speeds, but literally can’t take a full step on land! Instead, they must use their legs to push and scoot themselves across the sand. This can be quite exhausting for them and lead them to look in a very sorry state on land.”

“They need to be in the water before they can take flight, so this means that they may not fly away when approached like other wildlife,” she noted. “This is due to the unique density of their bodies compared to most birds, which makes it easier for them to dive after prey. So, there are a lot of reasons a normal loon can look like it needs help!”

Hignite suggests it’s always best to observe first and call a rehabber if possible before capturing a loon due to the high stress these birds experience in captivity.

Being new to the Gulf Coast can also be a nightmarish experience for a loon.  Hignite shared on a FaceTime call that loons sometimes mistake a dark highway near the refuge to be a body of water, and come gliding in for a water landing.  It results in a stranded loon with road “brush-burn” on its belly.

Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge (ECWR) has produced a video for its fans to help them understand why it’s so hard for loons to walk on the beach (they can’t) and why they need to be in the water most of the time.

Walter Piper, a professor who leads The Loon Project, harnessed data in 2023 from the Bird Banding Laboratory in Maryland. One of his graphics shows clearly that Minnesota’s loons choose to fly to Florida the most, but the Atlantic Ocean’s coastline has drawn some of them over the years.
This data is from loons banded in Minnesota.

The Loon Project’s teams of field researchers have been studying 105-110 loon pairs in Crow Wing and Cass Counties since 2021. They have a longer-term study that has been going on in northern Wisconsin since 1993.

“Most of these lines connect winter spots and breeding spots, and in most cases the winter spots came from recoveries of dead loons in Florida,” said Piper.

The loons who did have an enjoyable winter getaway “down South” are already on the move heading back to Lake Vermilion and other summer homes.

In late April or early May, those of us on the Vermilion Lake Association’s Live LoonCam team will power up our surveillance camera on a post in the water, along with our parabolic dish mic so we can also listen to the lake. The images will get out to the world thanks to our internet partner, Access Broadband of Virginia. Watch for it!

To see all of our archived LoonCam coverage from Summer, 2024 or earlier years just click on the links below—there you’ll find articles, photos and video clips about our loon pair’s determined effort to hatch new chicks on Lake Vermilion.

 

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2024 Lake Vermilion Loon Camera Live Stream – ARCHIVE

2023 Lake Vermilion Loon Camera Live Stream – ARCHIVE

2022 Lake Vermilion Loon Camera Live Stream – ARCHIVE

2021 Lake Vermilion Loon Camera Live Stream – ARCHIVE

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In March, 2021, the Vermilion Lake Association launched a team to design and build a live camera system that could stream a live view of a loon’s nest during the summer months to our website and to YouTube, also creating content for our Facebook friends.  Thanks to our members whose annual dues paid for the equipment, and to Access Broadband of Virginia, MN, for the WiFi service that makes this possible.  It’s our intent to keep the location of the live LoonCam unidentified to protect the privacy of the loon family and their human neighbors.

For more information on our loon population and loon stewardship, please visit https://www.vermilionlakeassociation.org/other-programs/loon-information/.