A Day with the Loons

On the first truly free day of my summer – just this last Wednesday – I decided to go looking for loons in the Adirondacks. I’m happy to say my search was successful. I hiked around Black Pond near Paul Smith’s, and spent as much time crouched or sitting on the shore as walking. I believe I spotted six different loons. I tracked one of them for better than an hour, and was rewarded when he swam within 15 feet of the edge of the lake, practically posing for my camera.

The next day, I told a group of pastors that I had spent the previous day “with the loons,” and one of them quipped, “What – you went to Washington?” Another asked, “What do they do besides swim and fly?”

Why make a trip to spot loons? Well, for one thing, there aren’t any around here. Unless you live near a lake somewhere in Canada or the upper reaches of the U.S., you have to travel some distance to see them. But also, June and July are their breeding season. For only these few weeks in the summer, their plumage is exquisite, and includes a black head, an even blacker, sharp bill, a striped black-and-white collar, a blue necklace, prominent white checks on their backs and a white underbelly. And then, there’s the call – oh, that haunting call – the song of the deep woods at the end of a summer’s day.

Their official name is “common loon,” but I regard them as anything but common. Known as the “Spirit of Northern Waters,” the loon is also celebrated as a symbol of unspoiled wilderness. Loons mate for life. Each spring, they return to the same breeding ground and renew their bonds with synchronized swimming, head posturing, and diving. According to the New York D.E.C., they are not as populous as they were before the 1800s, when European settlement and development disrupted their habitat. The U.S. Forest Service designates loons as a species of special status, not only because of loss of habitat, but also because of widespread poisoning from accidentally ingested lead fishing tackle.

I’m sure I’ve seen loons before, probably on one of those Adirondack camping trips when the boys were young, but I didn’t care enough to appreciate them at the time. Now, I have become quite cognizant of birds. I’m having a spiritual experience when I see a Goldfinch, a Purple Finch, a Cardinal, and a Titmouse all perched on one of my backyard feeders at the same time. I thrill to see woodpeckers light on the peanut feeder (especially the large pileated woodpecker). I revel in the Great Blue Herons, the Egrets, the Green Herons, and the Bitterns that grace Onondaga Lake. And my heart is full watching the Ospreys, Red-tailed Hawks, and Bald Eagles that soar above the lake.

I am privileged to see so many large and small birds right where I live, but the lure of the loon in its season of greatest elegance bids me northward. Looking for loons is a way to experience the Adirondacks without being part of the over-run that threatens its High Peaks Region (see last post).

My day at Black Pond was rejuvenating. Before I drove home, I also hiked the “Heron Marsh Trail” through a gorgeous bog filled with color and – yes – some feeding herons. But the highlight was the time spent with no sense of time watching those incomparable loons swimming, diving, flapping their impressive wings, and just letting me be with them for a while.

©2018 by J. Mark Lawson

Comments

[Elaine Southard]

Your posts always lift my spirits, and I love loons, so this is a gift. Thank you!

[Kathy Boyer]

What a blessing your received on your first free summer day! Keep looking for them Mark and maybe one day you will have the opportunity to see baby chicks riding on their parents backs without a care in the world. That would be an exciting picture to capture! Thank you for sharing the joy of your day.

[Larry Boyer]

Beautifully written and photographed!!! Takes my heart back to the ADKs and gentler days by the water with these majestic beautiful birds!!! Thanks for the memories that your wonderful writing inspired!!