Loon Display

I was up late, wee hours of the morning late, last night. So, I slept in a bit and got a groggy start. I got cleaned up, dressed, made the coffee and replaced my charged camera battery. When I saw it... a graceful large animal diving under the water, just in front of our dock. Too big to have been a duck... a loon maybe!? I grabbed my camera and a cup of joe and ran down the steps to the dock. (My hope was that it would resurface in the same general area and I'd be there before it had a chance to notice me.) No such luck, it resurfaced quite far from me. (they are built for speed under water and sometimes travel incredible distances before surfacing.) And even at that distance, she noticed me.

She called to her mate, he replied. He was on the adjoining larger lake. She then paddled to the channel that connects the lakes. Not bad for me... she got close enough for me to get a few passable shots. Then, just before the channel, she dove. I hesitated, but quickly decided to run like an antelope through the brush and trees to try to surprise her on the other side. (Did I mention that I forgot my shoes and am doing this in slippers?) Well, of course she beat me and heard me coming, but again I got a few so so shots. She disappeared to the south, reappearing along the shoreline a few times and was joined by her mate! I high-tailed it through the park, up and over the channel bridge to the closest (tiny strip) of land I could manage. Well, now that they are together, I'm not so much of a threat, (Happy me!) they came back my way! I squatted for better stability, but still seemed to have trouble with camera shake. So I plopped right down on the soggy ground and supported my arms with my knees. I got tons of nice shots and they hung around to check me out. I moved as they moved and it didn't seem to bother them. I stumbled along the shore through neighbors lots and we got even closer to each other. Oh happy day! I managed hundreds of images. Something had to be good.

Check out her big display.

Eventually they moved on and I walked home (soaked through to the skin and scratched up from my maneuvers through the brush, but so please and excited). I did get plenty of images that I was satisfied with. This one is when she was doing a bit of a dance, or stretching her wings. I got a nice one of the two of them where she is just emerging from the water. And the close one of him, where he is floating higher on the water, shows the size a little better. They are really big birds ranging from 28 to 35 inches. The male of this pair is probably close to 30-35 inches.

We are always so pleased to see this mating pair come back each year. The last 2 years they have nested on our lake and then reared the young ones on both lakes. It's so amazing to watch. It's extra special to see them return and have offspring, as they are listed as a threatened species in our area. As I mention above, they are built for speed underwater; they have solid bones to make them less buoyant (most birds have hollow bones) and their feet are positioned far back on their bodies for underwater propulsion. This makes them very awkward on land, so they even nest right on the water. (Usually in a shallow weedy area.) I think they are just beautiful creatures. Their heads look so smooth, like a seal, but of course it's feathers. The only thing I think is strange is the red eyes, but that apparently helps them see underwater.

Note: Did you notice, I actually had the battery back in my camera before running off! What are the odds?? And even though I got up a little later, I found it hard to believe that it was noon by the time I got back home and had sorted through the images on the computer. I never looked at the clock until my stomach growled... I had forgotten to eat breakfast and wasted a whole pot of coffee... but I got the shots I had been after. Oh, happy day!