Blog Archives
Weekly Photo Challenge:Geometry
Friends, Geometry is all around us in nature. When I first took this photograph, i loved the way the Common Loon was suspended in a sea of sine waves. Upon further study (sine waves on water), I learned that these waves are more correctly called trochoidal shapes and are narrower at the peak than a true sine wave. A geometry lesson for me. Never heard of a trochoid shape before. til Tomorrow MJ
Portrait at 8 weeks
Friends, this loon was hatched on June 6, 2012, so this week he is 8 weeks old. He and his sibling have grown very fast and on this morning he was still being fed by an adult bird. The other sibling is out on his own in an adjacent lake. This morning the water was like glass with the only ripples made by the bird, the early morning light peeked out from behind a dense cloud deck and illuminated the birds just briefly, I never get tired of seeing these wonderful birds or of photographing them. til Tomorrow MJ
Portrait
Friends, I took my husband to Crex to watch the loons feeding their babies, as we watched they swam very close to our vehicle. After one of the dives, this adult bird surfaced within ten feet of me and i was able to shoot this shot. The morning was cool and the water was like glass. i couldn’t resist showing you one more loon in a little different pose, but the eye is still there. Til Tomorrow MJ
one more loon
Friends, this loon chick is now ten weeks old and starting to get some flight feathers, they can dive after some of their food, but the adults are still feeding them to supplement their diet. they are starting to look like loons, have lost most of their chick down and now have a smoother head. They are almost as long as the adults. til Tomorrow MJ
me and my brother
Friends, these chicks are about 11 weeks old now and getting lots of new feathers. I love their brown eyes and wonder how soon their eyes will turn red like the adults. It was a rough day on Phantom Lake and they love the big waves. Below image shows the feathers at 11 weeks, they may start to fly any day now. til Tomorrow MJ
Loony at 5 weeks
Friends, this loon chick is about 5 weeks of age and spends most of his day floating on the water waiting for one of his parents to feed him. He is still covered with lots of fuzz but has started to shed his fuzz on his head. He is starting to look like a real loon. The tiny bubbles in the foreground are all that is left of the parent who brought the chick food and then dove out of sight. til Tomorrow MJ
Mother and Child Reunion
Friends, sometimes the mother and child reunion is over lunch right here on earth. A sweet scene reenacted over and over again this summer in an effort to raise this bird to adulthood. It is a long journey, longer than most birds, the bald eagle baby has already flown from his nest and is hunting on the marsh. This loon is still being fed by his parents. must have a thing for old songs this week. I will see my own mother this morning after driving 90 miles one way, twice a week come rain (today) or shine. she will probably want to feed me lunch 🙂 til Tomorrow MJ
A Truly Handsome Bird
Friends, this common loon is sitting high on the water, they can regulate how their body sits in the water, when they are feeding the chicks, they sit very low and sometimes all you see is their heads speeding toward the chicks with a small fish in their bills. Most of the time they dive to go underwater, but sometimes they just slip away under water. Sink or dive that is the option for fish hunting, this bird can stay underwater for up to five minutes before returning to the surface. til Tomorrow MJ
Baby Stretch
Friends, this baby loon is about six weeks old and is starting to get his flight feathers on his wings, time to get started on strength training by flapping and flopping about on the surface of the water. He is getting strong enough to fly south when the weather goes south 🙂 as it does in our country. This baby and his sibling came within ten feet of me while i sat in my vehicle blind quietly, but when another car drove by, they headed out to sea and out of telephoto range. Just enough time to snap his portrait. til Tomorrow MJ
Hiding in the Grass-Late Nester
Friends, this Common Loon in Crex Meadows is just now sitting on her nest. Two other Loon couples have chicks that are six weeks and 3 weeks old already, will be interesting to mark her progress. Another opportunity to map the chick progress if they hatch and make it through the summer. This day in June was pretty hot, 88 degrees F, so she was panting a little. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 