A joyful loon update!

This blog post is a brief detour from my usual artsy post, to update a heartbreaking story about a loon that I shared on the blog here, almost two years ago, especially for those of you who are long-time regular readers of my blog.  Here' s a link to that former post.  At the time, I had encountered an injured loon, with fishing line and lure stuck in his neck and mouth, that seemed to be making it difficult for him to dive and therefore feed himself.

This weekend, I was kayaking at our lakeside camp ( the Adirondack term for a cottage or cabin or such), and I came across the loon pictured above and directly below.  These are crops of the the photos I took, as I wasn't able to get very close to the loon.  When I got home, I put the pics on my laptop.  I started zooming in and cropping the pics, and made an amazing discovery: this is THE SAME LOON as the one in my post from two years ago!!!  Take a close look at the neck in the pic directly below, and then compare it to the second of the two images below, which was taken two years ago and appeared in that former blog post.  While the new pic is not a great photo, you can see the fishing line and a swivel hook to a lure or some sort of weight on the line in exactly the same place.

 Here's another picture I shot this weekend.

While I am saddened that the bird has to live with this disability, it's clear he's found a way to adapt.  I noticed a very unusual fishing style, for example.  Generally, a loon will swivel his head around, and then dive down, coming up a few minutes later at some distance away.  This loon was lowering his head and neck, almost flattening himself against the water, before diving.  I couldn't imagine why, until I realized he was the loon with the injury.  I'm absolutely tickled to know he has survived and apparently thrived.  I've been asked, from time to time, if I knew what had happened to the loon, and I'm happy to be able to share this story with you.

If you read my 2-year old blog post, you'll note that I feel a bond with this loon, so I'll be on the lookout for him as the season progresses.  Here's a view from my kayak, as I was on my way back to our "camp" from my little kayak sojourn.   The lake water is cold still, so I wore a spray skirt on my kayak, but the sun was out and it was a glorious day.

 As my husband was locking up the camp before we left, I took a little walk up the road and saw these unfurling fiddleheads.  I've never seen the fuzz on them, so luckily my husband was patient while I took a few minutes to snap these pictures.  I'm sure that even if I get back there in a few days, they will not look the same.

 And finally, a last look at the lake from our dock, which my husband just put back in the water for the season.  We are lucky to have this beautiful location just an easy 35-40 minute drive from our home.