MinnesotAAHHHH! The Joy of Loons *(birds, not people)

Sunday evening I spent a long time watching the lake and the loon family that lives in our bay. There is one baby and the parents were taking great care in teaching their youngin' how to properly swim and hide from danger. There is great peace in watching the loons. At the end of evening, we were treated with the most beautiful unique sunset. My daughter tells me that I put too many pictures of sunsets on this blog. I told her "naah, it's not possible to see too many sunsets on Lake Lida.

(I also told her it is my blog and I can print what I want to!!)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the LOON, here's some info I stole from the internet.

Listen. That eerie sound you hear is not a ghost haunting a northern lake. It's the call of the common loon. This bird, whose ancestors roamed the earth 65 million years ago, can be found on many states lakes in the summer. They come to breed and raise their young. Come fall, they head to the ocean coasts to overwinter.

Because the loon's legs are so far back on its body and because its body is so long, loons have trouble taking-off. Have you ever seen a loon "running" across a lake? A loon has to run across the water for up to ¼ mile beating its wings in order to get enough lift to take off. This need for a long runway means that loons need a certain size lake in order to take off. You'll rarely find a loon in lakes under 9 or 10 acres.

Loons are fast in the water, but have trouble walking on land. They don't spend much time on land, except to nest. Their nests are made of weeds and grass and are usually located in grass along the lake shoreline. A loon may use the same nest year after year. Two olive-brown eggs are laid. Crows, ravens, gulls, skunks, mink and raccoons (especially raccoons) eat the eggs. Both male and female loons take turns sitting on the eggs. The eggs hatch in about one month. Soon after birth the chicks are in the water swimming with their parents. Swimming in the cold water is hard on the chicks, so from time to time they hitch a ride on their parent's back. This also protects them from predators like snapping turtles and muskies.

There are many Native American stories about loons. The Ojibwa (Chippewa) Indians called the loon "Mang" or "the most handsome of birds." They thought the loons haunting cry was an omen of death. In some native legends the loon is a bird of magical powers, in others a messenger or a symbol of power.

I believe they are powerful and they always give me the message that I need to hear.

Courtesy of the website EEK Critter Corner