Loon Encounter

 I had originally planned on arriving at the lake this morning before sunup but after staying up into the wee hours of the morning with a cow that was having problems delivering her calf; I instead chose to sleep a little longer delaying my arrival until 7:30.

At first I did not see any waterfowl activity. Shortly after beginning fishing I heard the familiar whoop of a loon. Looking towards the sun I spied a pair of loons in winter plumage gently gliding past. The backlighting created sparkles on the surface in each swirl of the loon's wake.

A few hours later as I approached a shallow shoal a loon popped to the surface

Obviously totally at ease with my presence, the loon swam with its eyes beneath the surface, a position that affords the bird an excellent view of the underwater environment.

During the course of the morning I encountered three loons, a flock of Lesser Scaup, two Mallard males, two Broad-winged Hawks, one Osprey, three Double-crested Cormorants, two unidentified Terns and one Great Blue Heron along with an assortment of songbirds.