We recently took an early morning paddle on Eagle Lake for the last kayak trip of the season to this lake. The fog made it eerily quiet (except for the road noise of Rt. 74) and there was only one other kayaker out enjoying these conditions. The sun was trying to burn through, but it never quite made it.
I spotted a loon close to the northern shore and eased my way over to it, stopping when it dove. That is when another one popped up out of the depths, right between the two of us! That is the closest we have ever been to these gorgeous birds. The two ended up making soft calling noises to each other (more like gurgling) and met each other and swam off. We sat there with our mouths open, not believing it had happened.
As we approached the low Rt. 74 bridge, I saw another loon and its offspring in the distance and then heard it calling, which I thought was strange because its 'baby' was right next to it. After passing under the bridge we realized why, because there was another chick on the other side of the bridge which hadn't swam to the other side yet. The two chicks have really grown and lost their fuzziness and we saw the one diving next to its parent. It sure was a fantastic experience to see these loons nesting and then raising their young. I hope they all come back next year and do it all over again.
No comments:
Post a Comment