• Tuesday-What'sUP August 7 - 01:09 pm

Water fowl here UP North are bringing their families around and showing them what they need to know to survive, this time of the year and we have a trio of photos giving us a glimpse of their adventures at sea.

Well, maybe not at sea, but you know what I mean....we start with a beautiful sunset shot from Karl Johnson. He said this mother Loon and her babies live on the Lake Superior shore, down the beach from his home and he was lucky enough to capture them on a sunset swim recently. Beautiful...

Then Lisa Normand had her camera ready while out kayaking and captured this duck family, sitting camouflaged on a log in the shade. If it wasn't for mama duck floating nearby in the water, Lisa might have missed the little family completely.

The third shot comes from George Hoyem and looks to be a flock of baby Merganser ducks. They seem to be in a hurry to go somewhere, with water splashing all around as the scurry away as fast as their little legs can swim.

Watching babies from the animal kingdom learning how to survive is fascinating pastime and always brings a smile.

Top o the morning

Thanks 4 sharing the loon + duck pics. I believe our Canadian visitors 2 Pasty will especially like the loon pic.

Nice Pictures!

Wow ~ this is fantastic to see that many loon chicks. The most we've ever seen is a couple chicks with loon parents, so this is a very good sign.

Thanks for the great pictures!

Lucky loons and ducky ducks!

For some reason I can not see the pictures, so I'll come back later.

Oops, I got the duck picture now. So cute

Got the loons now. Awesome. We see so many of them in MN when we're out on the lake. They are so darn gorgeous! And when they get read to fly, they're such a spectacular bird. Still can't see the last picture, so I'll check back later.

I don’t believe those are loons. Loons usually only lay 2 eggs. I would guess that the birds in the 1st photo are also mergansers.

I have been waiting for the duck families to stop by our dock! Wonderful photos today!!!!

I wondered about that, Gary. When we see a loon family on the lake, there are never more than 2 babies. At least I've never seen more than 2 so that surprised me.

I can finally see the last picture. Love the shots today. Birds are awesome!

I question the loon picture? They look like mergansers, note the comb on the leading female. Generally loons only lay 2 eggs. One time on Isle Royale we encountered a female merganser with 23 following little ones. We joked that she must be the day care center for that bay. We do have pictures of them. Have a good week.

I've always wanted to hear the call of a loon. Have been told it's an awesome and forlorn sound.
I agree with those of you who question the top photo....doesn't look like the loon in my bird book. Having never seen one in real life, that's all I have to go on.

Aflac!

My hubby says the first picture is a group of Grebes....another waterfowl family. They're not edible or game birds, they're just pretty and there are a few different kinds. He lovss birds and has studied a lot about them.

Okay, that's all I know. Does anybody else have anything to add?

Okay, now he says that they could be mergansers. He says it's hard to tell with the glare, but they're definitely not loons. He said they used to call mergansers fish eating ducks that they tried not to shoot because they taste so bad. But they're very cool looking when you see them on the water.

And Shirley, sitting out on the lake fishing, swimming, whatever, there's nothing like the call of the loon. I love it!

Hi
Based on the bill of the adult, I'd also guess mergansers; I think grebes have a shorter bill. I'd have enjoyed seeing it in person, regardless.

Changing the bird subject, on my way up north last weekend I saw about 20 great blue herons, with a few egrets mixed in, at the Maple River flooding (between Lansing & Ithaca). They were standing in the water with a good space between each one and its neighbor, like they each had their own fishing hole.

In the second picture, it looks like they are sitting on top of an alligator's head. Look Out!!

My favorite of these beautiful creatures is the Wood Duck.:)

I think we have overlooked the fact that maybe the loon in the first pic has been a'messin where he shouldn’t’ve been a'messin and now someone else is getting all his best. That's why he has seven hungry mouths to feed instead of just two.

I think we have overlooked the fact that maybe the loon in the first pic has been a'messin where he shouldn’t’ve been a'messin and now someone else is getting all his best. That's why he has seven hungry mouths to feed instead of just two.

Kathyl ~

Maybe that's a couple family groups where the parents are there with the new kids on the block. There's a heron rookery in that area ~

...hey, what happened? (that deserved repeating)

Hi
Could be so, jbuck; as I was travelling at 65 mph, I only got a couple of glimpses. I know there's a heron rookery up at Houghton Lake but I didn't know there was one near the Maple River flooding.

Janie T., I wonder if the AFLAC duck is there because I don't see that African-American man. (lol)

I looked loon up in wikipedia--they say 2 eggs usually per clutch--and they can resemble mergansers. The picture caught my eye cuz ones I've seen also sit lower in the water when swimming and no tuft on back of head. Loon's beak is more pointy. FYI
Lovely pictures. Nice to frame for the house.

Where's John J. Audubon when we need him?

Here's some interesting information on Loons: Identifying Loons, loon look-alikes — including the Common Merganser(!) and also "Loony tunes" — in four vocalizations: the hoot, wail, tremolo and yodel, all at (click → ) Journey North. Listen to the Loony Tunes!

With the sun behind them it is hard to see the colors, but as Jim G pointed out you can make out a bit of the hood on the back of the lead birds head - the birds in the first photo are Mergansers.

You are so right, Gary and others -- those are
mergansers rather than loons. Beautiful birds
nevertheless. Sadly loons aren't that prolific.

For BEST bird information go to allaboutbirds.org.
It's Cornell's site.

Thank you FRNash for the loon call site. Fasinating! Love it. I always get a kick when a tv show has loon calls in the background. I remember "In the Heat of the Night" seemed to have the most inappropiate bird calls in the outdoor scenes. :) Of course their reruns are still on.