What's In A Name?

What an uncommon day! For once I had a plan for my blip early in the day and was ready to post, but then exciting photo-ops started to happen. Some were difficult to shoot, others were impossible, but it was evident that a new blip plan was emerging. By the end of the day, I was spoilt for choice. I still had not decided on which photos to post but it was such a lovely evening that an after dinner boat ride around the bay was in order. Blipping could wait. And I am glad it did.. First of all, as we poked along, a Common Loon popped up and cruised along beside us, diving, re-emerging, diving, and at one point putting on a show for us (see extra) and then, right beside the boat, he let loose his haunting call!  OMG... amazing!  We continued on to a tiny island of rocks - an island with no name - probably because it really isn't an island? We call it Tern Island as we think it deserves a name and because that is what you see there.. the Common Tern ( see extra). We shut off the motor and sat for a while watching them swoop about - one with a minnow in its mouth - and also pose, as if for photographs. I was beginning to think about this term "common". Earlier in the day I had photographed a pair of Common Mergansers..( see extra) and wondered about the name even then....I started to rethink my blip plan. What's in a name, anyway? Who names or does not name islands? Who names these birds? And why call them "common" ? It is hardly flattering to be called "common" and these lovely birds are anything BUT common! Why not Magnificent Merganzer..or Elegant Tern, or Superb Loon? Why not do them justice? I decided to give them a chance to show off their uncommon-ness and have featured them in my blip rather than the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth I  captured, by accident, in flight, or the small mouth bass nesting and fanning her eggs not far from the shore. Then there were those I could not photograph but wanted to describe -  the osprey who tried to fly but kept hitting the water with his feet, like a skipping stone hopping its way across the water, the pileated woodpecker who swooped straight at my son-in-law in his boat.. and the beaver once again dragging a leafy branch across the bay home to feed his family! It just never ended today. So many wonderful sightings! Not just another day in cottage country...this was a special and definitely uncommon day!