Bird of the Week – The Common Loon

Dear cottage lovers,

Does the unmistakable call of a loon make you feel like you should be on a lake paddling a canoe someplace? Well, it certainly does for me. Thus, it was amazing, to hear that unique call of the wild flying right over my head as I was watering my chickens the other morning! That was my most intimate look at the underside of a loon ever and I wish for all of you to be so lucky this summer!

As you all know, Common Loons are elegant black and white creatures with a handsome pointed beak and a patterned band around the neck. What you may not known about them is that their legs are located really far back under their body, which is great for propelling themselves in the water, but not at all great for walking on land. That’s why you’ve likely never see a loon wobbling on the beach or your cottage lawn.

They are strict water birds – other than venturing on land to mate and incubate eggs on floating mats of vegetation they do everything else in the water, including chasing down their fishy food using those powerful webbed feet. But if they don’t have enough of space to do a running take off from the water (like on small ponds) they may get stranded…

 

Posted by: Ewa Bednarczuk