Common Loon/Great Northern Diver
I'm spending a delightful week cat sitting for Busik while my Chicago kids are vacationing at a cabin in Northern Michigan. They are having lots of adventures and loving being out in nature, although Ella was startled yesterday by a big water snake that dropped onto the bow of her kayak and caused her to drop her phone in the lake. It still works fine and she has been sending me great pictures, including these loon photos that I couldn't resist sharing in the #FeatheredFriends Community!
European name, “Great Northern Diver,” The common Loon is a strikingly handsome water bird with red eyes and an unearthly wild call that is symbolic of summertime in the north.
Loons make four basic types of very memorable vocalizations: the wail, tremolo, yodel, and hoot. Often referred to as the "laughing call" of the loon, the tremolo is an alarm call used in threatening situations, such as when a boat is approaching a chick or a nest too closely.
Their feet are set far back on their bodies, making them powerful, agile divers and they are able to catch small fish in fast underwater chases. They are awkward on land and an incubating adult shuffles to get onto its nest.
Because they are not well built for life on land, loons usually sleep in the water. ... To sleep, a loon turns its neck and rests it's head on its back.
Loons need a long runway to take off, depending on the wind as much as 1/4 mile as they run across the top of the water flapping their wings in order to gain enough speed for lift-off. They have become trapped on ponds that are too small to take off.
Loon with chick
I once came across a loon close to the shore that appeared dead. I had unknowingly come too close to the nest and the bird was limply hanging its head over its nest because it was trying to hide the eggs from predators. It plays dead convincingly!
Loon chicks are on their own after 12 weeks.
I'm looking forward to more great photos this week!
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Loon has a most unusual story line in calls, markings and defense system for a bird. Lovely photography and interesting information, hope the family send many more lovely photographs with bird life in the North.
Thanks for sharing Melinda, we learn something new every day in nature.
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Thanks for the curation, @joanstewart. The call of the loon symbolizes so many great memories for me and for anyone who has spent time beside a northern lake. I added a YouTube link to the post with their calls.
it's funny, as I searched what was the french name for this water bird, I searched "loon" and Google gave me "dive, fool, silly, moron, rascal" but no bird name 😄
then I searched "common Loon" on Wikipedia and then found the "Plongeon Huard"...never heard that name before 😊
Concerning the word "loon", could it be maybe related to the looney tunes, either by the duck, or by the silliness of the characters then ..?😁
Their call sounds similar to a crazy person yelling in the woods, I suspect that is where their name comes from.
Ooh...interesting guess ! 👍
The idiom 'Crazy as a loon' is used here to describe someone acting in an abnormal way.. Thankfully I don't hear it much anymore!
Canada has a one dollar gold colored coin that has a loon engraving on it. It is affectionately called a Loonie.
And yes. LoonieTunes. I've heard that used to describe people, as in She is completely LoonieTunes!
I think @sketch.and.jam is right. These birds can sound Loony!
I added this YouTube link to my post.
Oh my Loon-ness ! This sound is too crazy 😄
Looney, right?
Lol Michigan is famous for their snakes. Whenever I camp in Wisconsin I always hear lots of loons but I can never seem to spot them on the lake.
Ella did great at getting photos of these Loons. Back in the day I spent summers on Lake of the Woods in Canada and had many Loon encounters, but did not have a decent camera.
Amazing how they sleep in water. I can imagine how impressive might be when the loon is taking off.
They literally appear to be running on water when they take off. They are a favorite of mine.
We don't have such a loon living here.
I don't have them where I live. I have to travel further north to see them.
Yes, this is a northern bird. I saw and heard her scream in Finland.
The sound is very strong and even scary at some moments.
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Beautiful bird and really nice pictures.👍
Thanks!
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STOPHello dear friend @ melinda010100 good night
You are very kind to share all this information and the beautiful photographs. Very charming.
I wish you happy dreams
Never seen one and this is probably the first time that I can remember seeing them in pictures. They have lovely feathers and yes, loony sounds.
How many cats are you cat-sitting now? Hope they're not giving you a hard time ☺️