Year Two Day Forty Eight - Loon

Dear all, 

While up at the cottage today, I had my first experience of a Canadian legend - I was introduced to a family of 'Loons'. 

And no, I was not given a bag of 'Loonies' ( The endearing name given to the One Dollar coin by all Canadians), we were sitting on the deck and suddenly heard the most bizarre and amusing animal call, almost like a circus parade was dancing across the lake *woop woooop woop woooop*. 

 Loons are 'divers' that resemble Ducks and Geese in form also due to the fact that they have webbed feet. Loons are excellent swimmers and can be seen periodically disappearing under water, then reappearing 200metres across the other side of the lake. Pretty impressive! They snack on frogs, leeches and aquatic crustaceans (yum) and also ingest small rocks to aid digestion ( very much like chickens eating grit).

Loons are extremely territorial and it is unusual to find more than one mating pair on one lake. The two small grey dots in the picture below are the ma and pa ( the baby was far too small to be captured on film).

Loons normally only have one or two chicks which they house in a nest usually on an island close to the water. The males decide where to locate the nest which may explain the ardent aggressive behavior in defending their territory. Both sexes incubate the eggs and once the chick emerges, it is fed by his parents for around 6 weeks but after 12 weeks will have learnt to fend for itself. 

I felt quite honored to be serenaded by a family of loons. They appear to be pretty much in charge on the lake so nice to know where we stand in general hierarchy (Bears and Moose are way down the ladder).