Loon Lake

I had hoped we would see some loons here , but yesterday none deigned to show up. As a matter of fact the duck population on the lake yesterday consisted of 1 merganser. This AM we decided to cruise the lake first and "bird" around the house later as it was supposed to rain this afternoon( which it did).Today was another story ! Almost immediately pulling out from the dock we saw a loon swimming around. Which rapidly turned into 2 loons- and courtship swim and dives ! The extra is the end of the episode , when one of the birds decided to take off. It paddled furiously across the lake like it was trying to take off but actually stayed on the water till it had crossed the lake. ? bad date? does she have fish breath? Maybe he had to be home by 10? The world may never know.
The birds come home to the Adirondacks and else
where in the Great North to nest and bring up their young. They leave in the fall to overwinter at the ocean. The youngsters come back after a few years but generally don't breed till they are 6-7 yrs old. The yodel, which is an eerie call I was hoping to hear , can be a way of keeping in touch with family members. And they are way bigger than you think they are from photos : we saw a juvenile beached in NC last summer after it had gorged on fish . BIG bird, big beak. The lifeguard said they overeat , pull themselves up onto the sand till they digest and go back out at high tide. Their back legs are so far back they really can't walk on land well enough to get into the air  so they need water to get in the air and fly. They have solid bones too which is rare for a bird, but it allows them to dive  down to 150-200 feet. These guys were only doing short dives when together but before the second loon showed up the first loon would be under for 5-10 minutes and surface 50 or more  yards away .