diff --git a/configfile.c b/configfile.c
index 2132b979..c1b87abe 100644
--- a/configfile.c
+++ b/configfile.c
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ _parse_config(t_configuration_options *options, ItemList *error_list, ItemList *
 	strncpy(options->location, DEFAULT_LOCATION, MAXLEN);
 	memset(options->promote_command, 0, sizeof(options->promote_command));
 	memset(options->follow_command, 0, sizeof(options->follow_command));
-	options->monitor_interval_secs = DEFAULT_STATS_REPORTING_INTERVAL;
+	options->monitor_interval_secs = DEFAULT_MONITORING_INTERVAL;
 	/* default to 6 reconnection attempts at intervals of 10 seconds */
 	options->reconnect_attempts = DEFAULT_RECONNECTION_ATTEMPTS;
 	options->reconnect_interval = DEFAULT_RECONNECTION_INTERVAL;
diff --git a/configfile.h b/configfile.h
index d637001e..e66a7a4e 100644
--- a/configfile.h
+++ b/configfile.h
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ typedef struct
 		false, "", "", "", "", { NULL, NULL },	\
 		/* repmgrd settings */ \
 		FAILOVER_MANUAL, DEFAULT_LOCATION, DEFAULT_PRIORITY, "", "", \
-		DEFAULT_STATS_REPORTING_INTERVAL, \
+		DEFAULT_MONITORING_INTERVAL, \
 		DEFAULT_RECONNECTION_ATTEMPTS, \
         DEFAULT_RECONNECTION_INTERVAL, \
         false, -1, \
diff --git a/dbutils.c b/dbutils.c
index 66ffaa96..828a57a5 100644
--- a/dbutils.c
+++ b/dbutils.c
@@ -2368,8 +2368,10 @@ _create_event(PGconn *conn, t_configuration_options *options, int node_id, char
 
 		*dst_ptr = '\0';
 
-		log_debug("_create_event(): executing\n%s", parsed_command);
+		log_info(_("executing notification command for event \"%s\""),
+				 event);
 
+		log_detail(_("command is:\n  %s"), parsed_command);
 		r = system(parsed_command);
 		if (r != 0)
 		{
diff --git a/repmgr.h b/repmgr.h
index f84c5fa3..ddb2f193 100644
--- a/repmgr.h
+++ b/repmgr.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 #define DEFAULT_PRIORITY		         100
 #define DEFAULT_RECONNECTION_ATTEMPTS    6
 #define DEFAULT_RECONNECTION_INTERVAL    10
-#define DEFAULT_STATS_REPORTING_INTERVAL 2
+#define DEFAULT_MONITORING_INTERVAL      2
 #define DEFAULT_ASYNC_QUERY_TIMEOUT      60
 #define DEFAULT_PRIMARY_NOTIFICATION_TIMEOUT 60
 #define DEFAULT_PRIMARY_FOLLOW_TIMEOUT   60
diff --git a/repmgrd-bdr.c b/repmgrd-bdr.c
index eb578f6b..6be261f5 100644
--- a/repmgrd-bdr.c
+++ b/repmgrd-bdr.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 	RecordStatus  record_status;
 	NodeInfoListCell *cell;
 	PQExpBufferData event_details;
+	instr_time	log_status_interval_start;
 
 	/* sanity check local database */
 	log_info(_("connecting to local database '%s'"),
@@ -139,13 +140,13 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 
 	log_debug("main_loop_bdr() monitoring local node %i", config_file_options.node_id);
 
-	log_info(_("starting continuous bdr node monitoring"));
+	log_info(_("starting continuous BDR node monitoring"));
 
 	while (true)
 	{
 
 		/* monitoring loop */
-		log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "bdr check loop...");
+		log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "BDR check loop...");
 
 		for (cell = nodes.head; cell; cell = cell->next)
 		{
@@ -189,6 +190,8 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 								cell->node_info->conn = NULL;
 							}
 
+							log_warning(_("unable to connect to node %s (ID %i)"),
+										cell->node_info->node_name, cell->node_info->node_id);
 							cell->node_info->conn = try_reconnect(cell->node_info);
 
 							/* node has recovered - log and continue */
@@ -240,6 +243,31 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 
 	loop:
 
+		/* emit "still alive" log message at regular intervals, if requested */
+		if (config_file_options.log_status_interval > 0)
+		{
+			int		log_status_interval_elapsed = calculate_elapsed(log_status_interval_start);
+
+			if (log_status_interval_elapsed >= config_file_options.log_status_interval)
+			{
+				log_info(_("monitoring BDR replication status on node \"%s\" (ID: %i)"),
+						 local_node_info.node_name,
+						 local_node_info.node_id);
+
+				for (cell = nodes.head; cell; cell = cell->next)
+				{
+					if (cell->node_info->monitoring_state == MS_DEGRADED)
+					{
+						log_detail(
+							_("monitoring node \"%s\" (ID: %i) in degraded mode"),
+							cell->node_info->node_name,
+							cell->node_info->node_id);
+					}
+				}
+				INSTR_TIME_SET_CURRENT(log_status_interval_start);
+			}
+		}
+
 		if (got_SIGHUP)
 		{
 			/*
@@ -259,7 +287,6 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 		log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "sleeping %i seconds (\"monitor_interval_secs\")",
 					config_file_options.monitor_interval_secs);
 		sleep(config_file_options.monitor_interval_secs);
-
 	}
 
 	return;
@@ -385,6 +412,8 @@ do_bdr_failover(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 	/* update node record on the active node */
 	update_node_record_set_active(next_node_conn, monitored_node->node_id, false);
 
+	log_notice(_("setting node record for node %i to inactive"), monitored_node->node_id);
+
 	appendPQExpBuffer(&event_details,
 					  _("node '%s' (ID: %i) detected as failed; next available node is '%s' (ID: %i)"),
 					  monitored_node->node_name,
@@ -411,6 +440,8 @@ do_bdr_failover(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 		event_details.data,
 		&event_info);
 
+	log_info("%s", event_details.data);
+
 	termPQExpBuffer(&event_details);
 
 	unset_bdr_failover_handler(next_node_conn);
diff --git a/repmgrd-physical.c b/repmgrd-physical.c
index df42726b..67f6fbcc 100644
--- a/repmgrd-physical.c
+++ b/repmgrd-physical.c
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ monitor_streaming_primary(void)
 
 				if (monitoring_state == MS_DEGRADED)
 				{
-					log_detail(_("waiting primary to reappear"));
+					log_detail(_("waiting for primary to reappear"));
 				}
 
 				INSTR_TIME_SET_CURRENT(log_status_interval_start);
diff --git a/repmgrd.c b/repmgrd.c
index 099321c5..d8e85755 100644
--- a/repmgrd.c
+++ b/repmgrd.c
@@ -647,7 +647,10 @@ try_reconnect(t_node_info *node_info)
 	}
 
 
-	log_warning(_("unable to reconnect to node after %i attempts"), max_attempts);
+	log_warning(_("unable to reconnect to node %i after %i attempts"),
+				node_info->node_id,
+				max_attempts);
+
 	node_info->node_status = NODE_STATUS_DOWN;
 
 	return NULL;