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Category Archives: Common Loon

Loon Watching at Crex Meadows

On a recent visit to Crex Meadows we drove on to Phantom Lake Road as the evening sun was getting low in the sky. We encountered a pair of Loons with two chicks right along the road. I think this was the first time I’ve been able to photograph Loon chicks. We watched them for quite a while. There was one adult with the chicks with the other adult about seventy five yards away most of the time while we were watching.

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The adult with them was fishing. The adult would dive and the chicks would swim around then head to the location where the adult was going to pop up.

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At one point the adult caught a fish and appeared to be trying to share it with the young. It didn’t appear to be a successful transfer because the dead fish sank into the water and had to be retrieved by the adult. Finally the adult ate the fish.

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As we watched the adult not with the chicks would rise up and perform a territorial display. Soon each of the chicks seemed to be mimicking the territorial display of the adult.

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More photos from Crex Meadows can be found on my Website.

Tettegouche State Park

Shovel Point View

This past weekend we made our spring trip to the Minnesota North Shore. One of our stops was at Tettegouche State Park. We decided to hike out to Shovel Point. It was a beautiful sunny day with white clouds in the sky. The lake was the calmest I’ve seen it in some time.

Bunchberries

There were a variety of flowers out along the trail including Bunchberries, Bluebead Lily and Virginia Bluebells. They have been working on the trail out to the point for the last couple of years and construction continues. they have widened the steps considerably probably to account for growing obesity of Americans.

After returning from Shovel Point we walked down to the mouth of the Baptism River. We were fortunate enough to see a Loon along the shore. It stayed along the shore for some time.

Shovel Point

Good news from the park is that they will be starting a new visitors center this summer. It should be ready by next Year.

More photos from Tettegouche State Park can be found on my website.