I recently made my annual trip to Maine for vacation. I've had a whole year to look at my last batch of loon photos, and I went with the goal of capturing more action. I mean, how many shots of loons serenely swimming can I stand?
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| Obligatory Serene Profile Shot |
If there was action, especially water flying, I wanted to shoot it. I got lucky a few times with loons popping up near my kayak. The close proximity and bright morning sunlight let me get some shots suitable for close crops. This one included water streaming from the beak, a deep red eye, lines of beaded water on the head, and texture in that furry head.
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| Dripping After a Dive |
In the summer, adults have their breeding plumage, but underneath those feathers, they are brown. You can only see the brown (down?) when they lift their wings.
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| Showing the Colors |
They float along socializing or fishing. Fishing means sticking the head in the water, and if they spot prey, they dive. The head-in-water thrust is often vigorous.
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| Looking for Prey |
After surfacing, they sometimes spread their wings and shake the water out. This reveals the white underfeathers and white bellies.
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| Wing Spreading |
I saw this display a few times. The loon was among several other loons, suddenly got very loud, stood up, and started splashing.
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| Puffing that Chest Out |
Here's another close crop from a loon that popped up from a dive near the kayak.
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| Checking Me Out After Surfacing from a Dive |
There was one juvenile. Its parents were frequently absent from this youngster, off fishing I guess. I encountered it several times, with and without parents present.
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| Mom and Junior |
I have no idea how that juvenile could eat this fish that is larger than the bird's neck. But eat the fish it did.
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| Breakfast! |
And here's my favorite of the trip.
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| Shake it Out! |
I'll finish with some poor photos, but I'm including them because I like the action in them and I was unable to get anything better...
These birds were made to swim. Flight is not their strength. Here's a shot of a loon that I saw passing overhead, it circled, and landed. The huge webbed feet are hanging out there.
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| Loon in Flight |
Loon takeoffs are excruciatingly long as they swim and flap to gain speed and then they eventually lift off, but have to keep paddling and flapping until they clear the water.
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| "I THINK I CAN FLY" |
Landing is even more comical. They glide over the water, feet dangling behind, neck outstretched, until they touch down and ski/skip over the water until they slow down.
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| Touching Down |
Overall, I had a lot of fun. I went out every morning before 7AM, sometimes catching them in their morning gathering. On my last morning there, I found a group of five, which then merged with a group of four. They never grouped together in a way that allowed me to get a shot of all nine, so I have nothing to show for it. They annoyingly neglected to do any real interactions, no splashing or other displays. Adding the juvenile, I saw ten loons that morning, and that's my single-day record.
