Loon! And other first-of-the-year sightings

We've been checking the Superior Drive pond just about every day for new arrivals, and this afternoon we were rewarded by the majestic sight of a common loon (not so common here -- typically seen only briefly, in migration). I noted a loon at this location on April 5, 2008, and I know that they've been seen at around this time at the same pond in other recent springs. I also noted seeing one at Lake Byllesby last year on April 18.

It is hard for me to tear my eyes away from this magnificent bird -- so impressively large and low in the water, its head so absolutely black without any shine, its bill so powerful, its black-and-white markings so striking, including vertical stripes around the neck and the elaborate checks-and-spots pattern of its wings.

The eyes are a dark red, though they do not show up well in these photos.

The loon is a diving, fish-eating bird. It was challenging to get in the scope for these photos, because it tended not to stay above water for more than 10 or so seconds at a time. I'd just get everything lined up right and it would jackknife down again and reappear some seconds later many yards away.

Other newcomers at the pond today were several pied-billed grebes, the chicken-beaked diving bird that looks absolutely tiny in comparison to any other bird on the pond.

We also went to Lake Byllesby this morning. The water is far too high to be welcoming to shorebirds yet, but we saw a raft of many dozens, probably hundreds, of ducks -- mostly northern shovelers mixed with some mallards, first-of-the-season green-winged teals, and American wigeons. We also got a good look at our first-of-the-year American white pelicans and, on the way back, three great egrets and a belted kingfisher. Almost every bird mentioned here was a life bird for my son, so he was thrilled. It was a very good day of early spring birding!

First Shorebirds and Many Ducks

A very pleasant sunny afternoon in the mid-60s called us over to Lake Byllesby near Cannon Falls, where we spotted our first shorebirds of the season other than killdeer, plus several dozen American white pelicans, many different kinds of ducks, a loon, coots, and Forster's terns. We viewed the lake from three different spots -- a deepwater public access area facing north, the shallows of the Cannon River as it enters the west end of the lake by the Hwy 56 bridge, and from our favorite shorebird viewing spot on the shallow north shore near the west end of the lake. We saw the loon in the deep water. I always get a thrill to see one of those in our region.

Looking northwest from the Hwy 56 bridge; the mudflat on the right is where we saw the solitary sandpiper.

Our first shorebird spot was a lone specimen on the edge of a mud flat on the west side of the Hwy 56 bridge, which we eventually identified as a solitary sandpiper. (Before we pulled out the field guide, I was asking, "Where are its friends?" It comes by its name honestly, apparently.)

Solitary sandpiper -- note clear eye ring, long bill, dull greenish (not yellow) legs, and mottled chest coloration that stops fairly high up on the breast.

Ducks we saw included decent numbers of northern shoveler, blue-winged teal, and ring-necked duck, plus smaller numbers of green-winged teal, gadwall, and pintail.

Blue-winged teals (white splash near tail and on head are diagnostic, as are the flashes of blue seen when the birds are in flight), with one green-winged teal at right rear (note cinnamon head).

Here's a view of the shallow side of the lake where we saw most of the ducks, coots, yellowlegs, and (further out) pelicans.

American white pelicans are enormous and are I think particularly stunning when seen in flight, when a lot of black shows on their wings that is almost completely hidden when the birds are at rest. The flashing black and white as the birds turn in the air almost creates an optical illusion and is really something to see.

American white pelicans (taken through the scope but without the help of my zoom lens, which is nonfunctional these days -- hence the lack of good resolution to several of these photos).

We saw modest numbers of greater and lesser yellowlegs. Here's one:

A yellowlegs chowing down. Since identification as greater or lesser yellowlegs depends largely on comparative bill length, this specimen will have to remain nonspecific.

In addition to all the birds already mentioned, on this outing we saw two bald eagles (a mature one and a juvenile that didn't yet have its white head and tail) , several tree swallows, an American kestrel on an overhead wire, and a wild turkey crossing a side road in front of us. We also saw the first chipping sparrow -- our smallest sparrow -- of the season. And we had one exciting non-avian sighting: a red fox near the side of the road on our way to Byllesby! An excellent day indeed.

Want to See Loons? Go to California.

Although the Common Loon is the state bird of Minnesota, here in southern Minnesota we generally see loons only in migration; a pair was spotted on a Northfield pond last spring. However, several species of loons winter along the Pacific coast, among other places. On our recent birdwatching trip in northern California, we saw loons (Common, Pacific, or Red-Throated) most days, in protected salt-water harbors and at Clear Lake.

The bird below is probably a Common Loon transitioning to its black-and-white breeding plumage. Its sturdy bill helps distinguish it from the very similar Pacific Loon. We spotted it in the harbor at Woodley Island, just north of Eureka, along with a number of grebes and a large group of Marbled Godwits. One of the tell-tale signs of a loon is its low position in the water.

Loon in Northfield

This is the best shot I was able to get of the loon that has been spending time on the pond off Superior Drive in southeast Northfield -- probably one of the largest expanses of open water in the area, other than the river. This was taken a little after 7 p.m. on Friday. The bird was difficult to capture with the camera, as it was fishing out in the center of the pond and then when it had a fish it kept changing its position, trying to realign the fish for easier swallowing. It was not difficult to recognize -- larger than almost anything other than a goose, dark and low in the water, and with that long flat back. Through the binoculars we could easily see the diagnostic spotted back. Here is a little more about loons from the Cornell Ornithological Lab.

Mary and I briefly saw the loon on our walk earlier on Friday, after it was pointed out to us by a neighbor; thereafter it made itself scarce. The man commented that they have had loons there before and that his daughter had written all about one they'd seen for school but was told by her science teacher that it could not have been a loon and must have been a coot or something else. Well, loons may not spend much time here, but here is evidence, if a little blurry, that they certainly do indeed pass through as they follow open water north in the spring.

I've only been privileged to see loons on one occasion previously, during a lake vacation north of Bemidji almost seven years ago -- the occasion also of seeing my first bald eagle. After I'd been living in Minnesota for a while, I was startled to realize that the loon is the bird featured by another name in one of the Swallows and Amazons books, a classic British children's series of quite substantial novels by Arthur Ransome. As the child of British parents, I'd grown up reading and loving these books about capable children having independent sailing and camping adventures in the English Lake District and a few other locations between the World Wars. (You'll learn quite a bit about sailing, the Lake District, charcoal burners, mining, signalling, carrier pigeons and more if you care to take a look. Definitely recommended for about ages 9 and up!) The book in question, in which the children try to thwart a threatening egg collector who is after the nest of a rare breeding loon in the far northern British Isles, is called Great Northern? -- the name by which the Common Loon is known in Europe being the Great Northern Diver, which suits it very well indeed.