Kayaking

A friend told me that they had seen a loon with a chick on a local lake. I decided to take my kayak and explore the same area. The weather has been perfect for getting out on the water.

Kayaking

Loon Family 001

It wasn’t long before I found the loon family and they were tolerant of me approaching them within reach of my telephoto lens. For the first five days the babies ride on mom and dad’s back safely protected under the wing should an eagle approach.

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Loon Family 002

The baby seemed to be curious and climbed out.

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Loon Family 003

Loon taxi.

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Loon Family 004

They are so cute when first born.

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Loon Family 005

They do have big feet. Loons can dive to depths of 100 feet and swim faster than a fish.

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Loon Family 006

I really enjoy spending time with loons and learning their behavior.

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Loon Family 007

Feeding time.

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Loon Family 008

They eventually start eating minnows, but for the first week the adults feed them aquatic larva.

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Loon Family 009

The baby can consume a lot of food.

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Loon Family 010

I was curious what they were eating as I saw them eat dozens of this particular larva. A friend told me it is the larva of a Net Spinner Caddisfly.

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Loon Family 011

Perfect timing for the baby in front of mom but it was purely by accident.

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Loon Family 012

As I reluctantly left the loon family the baby was climbing back up on mom ready to hitch a ride.

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Mallard Ducklings 001

While kayaking the bay I came across this family of mallards.

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Mallard Duckling 002

More cuteness.

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Mallard Ducklings 003

An eagle flew over which caused quite a disturbance. The loons let out their tremolo danger warning and the mallard mom gave her danger signal to the babies. They got under some brush where she could protect them.

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Common Goldeneye Duckings 001

On the other end of the bay was five common goldeneye ducklings. There was no mom in sight so hopefully she was just around the corner. They would be easy prey for the eagle.

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Common Goldeneye Ducklings 002

When I left they were taking a break on this downed cedar log.

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Blue Flags

I saw hundreds of blue flags in bloom along the shoreline.

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Painted Turtle

Just before the landing I photographed this painted turtle that looked very comfortable on an old log left over from the early 1900’s logging era.

I really enjoy kayaking on back bays were not too many people travel. You always run into wildlife of some kind.

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