I have to confess to a bias at the very start of this diary. I have the good fortune to see loons every winter in the Gulf of Mexico. However I would trade one hundred winter loons for one in breeding plumage in a northern lake. They are part of my childhood. Most of the lakes where we spent our summer vacations had loons and their wild laughter and mournful wolf howls are an integral part of my experience of the ‘north’.
Imagine my delight last Tuesday when we encountered this loon family on Emerald Lake, in Yoho National Park in BC. They were not too far offshore but essentially out of reach of my camera. However, to my surprise, they actually swam towards the bridge at the downstream end of the lake, despite the swarms of tourists. The loons seemed exceptionally acclimated to humans.
When we first saw them both chicks were sitting on the back of one of the parents. Loon chicks often do this when they are small. On my childhood lakes the loons must have started breeding earlier because any chicks I saw then were bigger than these tiny ones and didn’t need their parents to get around any more. Up in the mountains and further north the loons must nest later.
It became apparent that the reason the loons were approaching the bridge is that they wanted to cross under it to the river on the far side. The hordes of photo-clicking tourists on the bridge seemed to make a bit wary. They would approach quite near to the bridge and then back off slightly. One of the adults passed under several times and called a few times. It is the only time I’ve seen a loon calling up close.
Eventually they nerved themselves up during a lull in the tourist traffic and and swam under and then slowly off downstream.
These birds are Common Loons, Gavia immer. In British English loons are known as divers and this species is known as the Great Northern Diver. The Common Loon is a largely North American species where it breeds widely in Canada and the northernmost US. The other four loon species all breed much further north in the arctic and subarctic.
Loons are diving birds that feed on fish. They breed on lakes in the summer and winter on the ocean or, more rarely on large lakes. Loons are though to be closely related to the penguins and tubenoses (petrels, etc.). Like all divers they are fairly heavy birds and have difficulty taking off. They can only use lakes that are large enough for them to have enough to have a suitably long ‘runway’. Their legs are set so far back on their bodies that they cannot walk on land. Nests are set on the shore next to the water.
That’s it for this week. Comment on all things birdy below.