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A baby loon practices wing flapping. Photo by Heaven Walker.

The pontoon bobbed in the water as I stepped onto the deck, clutching binoculars and trying to contain my excitement. 

Since moving to the Northwoods in the middle of winter, I had been waiting for the chance to see a loon, and my chance finally arrived in late May. 

The sunlight danced across the water as our boat left the dock, and we began our search. It wasn’t long before we spotted the silhouette of a loon off in the distance, and headed for a closer look. 

This loon was one of the most regal beings I had ever seen. It swam through the water with quick ease, head held high, only occasionally paying us a bit of attention. It was as if it knew it had our full attention, and as a result flaunted with a casual indifference as it floated around the boat. 

The black-and-white spotted back glimmered right along with the sun reflecting off the water, highlighting the natural camouflage. 

We watched it preen pristine feathers for a while, before it dove below the surface and left us behind. 
My next opportunity to see loons was on Lake Namakagon in mid June. As our pontoon slowly cruised through a marshy area of the lake, we kept our eyes scanning the scenery looking for loons.

It wasn’t long before we spotted a loon, tucked into the dense reeds and aquatic vegetation, doing its best not to be spotted by us. It was in its nest with neck and head extended low in front, body going as flat as it would go. It seemed to me like it was trying to be absorbed into the reeds to avoid our attention. 

As a highly aquatic bird, loons only go onto land to nest. By doing this, they are at a higher risk from predators, because they are very poorly adapted to moving on land. 

To help remedy this, loons nest very close to the waters edge for easy access to the nest, and for easy access to the water. This particular loon’s body language on the nest told us that it was stressed by our presence, so we slowly continued on by. 

That day on Lake Namakagon was the first time I saw loon chicks. The cute brown fluffballs with webbed feet were floating around with their parents, learning how to be a loon. 

I watched as one of the parents dove, and resurfaced with a small fish. Then it was a race from the chicks to see who could reach the parent first, and gobble up its meal. The parents continued to dive and bring fish to the chicks, and the chicks went so far as to attempt to dive themselves. But they never managed to be under for more than a few seconds before their fluffy feathers had them bobbing back to the surface. 

Diving wasn’t the only behavior the chicks were learning. 

As I continued to observe the chicks, one of them flapped their tiny wings and stretched vertically into the air. A wing flap! This is a preening behavior done by loons to maintain their feathers, and keep them aligned properly. It was quite adorable, and comical to see the chick wave its wing nubs about. 

But it wasn’t until finding surprise loon chicks on Lake Owen in mid July that I truly became invested in loons. 

This pair of chicks were born later than typical, even by second nesting attempt standards. When I spotted them on a Loon Pontoon Tour, they gave me a glimmer of hope for having successful chicks on Lake Owen – as there had been no other chicks on the lake that summer. 

I instantly became invested in how they were doing. Week after week, I searched for them on the lake. Whenever it would take longer to locate the chicks on the lake, I would get worried that they had fallen victim to a predator. But then I would spot them swimming in the distance, and my worries would be quelled until the next week. 

As of late August, they were roughly five-to-six weeks old, quite sizable and seem to be doing well. 
My summer observing loons was spent taking in all the new information I could on these fascinating birds. I witnessed adult loons call out in warning of an eagle flying overhead, and watched them track its flight as it went by. 

I watched as they took care of young, preened themselves, dove for food, and swam over to investigate other loons. They have become a new fascination, and I can thank my time in the Northwoods for that. 

Heaven Walker is an Educator/Naturalist at the Cable Natural History Museum.For more than 50 years, the Cable Natural History Museum has served to connect you to the Northwoods. Our Fall Calendar is open for registration! Visit our new exhibit, “Becoming the Northwoods: Akiing (A Special Place). Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and cablemuseum.org to see what we are up to.