The Truly Gorgeous with a Haunting Call | Common Loon

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
  • Truly gorgeous with a haunting call, the common Loon is a familiar and adored waterbird of the Northern lakes.
    Timestamps
    00:00 Intro
    00:39 Common Loon swimming underwater
    01:06 Where can you find a common loon?
    02:58 What is the common loon known for?
    03:04 Common Loon Wail
    03:14 Common Loon Tremolo
    03:47 Common Loon Wail
    04:07 Common Loon Yodel
    04:35 Common Loon Tremolo
    Common Loons spend a great deal of their day swimming slowly on the surface of the water, often sticking their heads below to scan for fish. If any are spotted they quickly dive down without much of a ripple left above.
    Common Loons have solid bones, which makes them not so buoyant therefore allowing them to dive very well. An interesting thing is that When they dive into the water, their feathers are compressed and the air is forced from between the feathers and from the air sacs in the body. This loss of air lets them quietly sink below the surface and avoid danger.
    Common Loons like to raise their young in forested lakes or large ponds throughout northern North America. One great thing about Common Loons is that since they need crystal clear lakes, their presence is a good indicator of water quality. A good population of small fish along with the ability to see them underwater is needed in order for a pair to take up residency. A small lake between 5 to 50 ha can sustain one couple. Lakes that have coves and islands are preferred, helping to provide them with cover while they nest or take a break.
    Nesting takes place on land in a well-protected quiet spot hidden in the lake shore, like the lee of islands, or in a sheltered back bay. Walking is not their strongest attribute because the legs are placed very far back on their body. This makes them awkward on land. For this reason, nests are placed close to a bank that has a steep drop-off, permitting them to approach the nest from underwater.
    Artificial nesting platforms are used by common loons as well, typically in places with a lot of shoreline development. They are known to reuse a nest site the following year. Fixing up the old one rather than starting all over again.
    Typically around late June to early July, little dark brown fluffs appear on the water, the chicks. Only two eggs are usually laid, so there are just one or two babies, which are able to swim right away. Despite being able to navigate in the water immediately, chicks prefer to ride around on their parent's back a lot of the time. Where they are can rest, prevent too much heat loss since they are mostly down, and hide from large predators. Parents provide a great deal of care to their babies, feeding and protecting them in the early stages. As many as 70 times a day the chicks are fed, but As Summer nears the end the fledglings are capable of feeding themselves.
    The most iconic thing about these birds is their captivating calls which have a way of creating a sense of peace and serenity. Common loons can be very vocal, especially in the late evening. After sundown, the north woods is described as reverberating with the echoes of wails, yodels, and tremolos. Their calls have an eerie yet beautiful aspect to them, especially the wail, a soulful cry that loons give back and forth to know each other's location. Another haunting call, the Yodel, is made by males who use it to claim territory. Not every male's yodel is the same, each has its own signature sound, and can change it if he moves to a new territory. Even tremolos which are usually used as alarm calls are quite something to hear.
    Videos of loons underwater provided by
    Curtis Lahr
    / lahrcm
    MikeyFish3574
    / mikeyfish3574
    Thumbnail 1:
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    Thumbnail 2:
    Screenshot from video by
    MikeyFish3574
    / mikeyfish3574
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ความคิดเห็น • 631

  • @LesleytheBirdNerd
    @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +64

    If you liked the video the best way to support the channel is by SHARING it with other fellow birders.
    For anyone interested in official LesleytheBirdNerd merchandise
    www.lesleythebirdnerd.com/
    I appreciate each and every one of your support and I hope you enjoyed the show!

    • @marilynvardy4255
      @marilynvardy4255 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Awesome video!!

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@marilynvardy4255 thank you so much, Marilyn 🐦🙂

    • @micahbirdlover8152
      @micahbirdlover8152 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@LesleytheBirdNerd I love the sound of common loon yolding 🥰

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว

      @@micahbirdlover8152 it's a pretty cool call

    • @mikeyfish3574
      @mikeyfish3574 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Excellent video Lesley! Thanks for featuring my video!

  • @sminthian
    @sminthian ปีที่แล้ว +387

    I used to work at an animal rescue in Alaska and we'd get loons in sometimes. Something people don't seem to realize is, loons can't walk. Their legs are back too far and they can't hold up their front. They drag themselves onto land just to make nests. When they're in captivity (temporarily if they're in trouble) they need a towel under their chest or they get hurt because they're not supposed to be sitting on land that long. They float on water, that's 99% of their lives.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +71

      Thanks for adding this comment, a lot of great information for people out there unaware. Maybe Ill do a separate video one day on this

    • @micahbirdlover8152
      @micahbirdlover8152 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@LesleytheBirdNerd yeah new video 😊

    • @micahbirdlover8152
      @micahbirdlover8152 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@LesleytheBirdNerd there yolding is so beautiful and peaceful 😌

    • @LizbetPCB
      @LizbetPCB ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I didn’t know that! They also sit so low in the water, which is how they can be spotted from a distance.
      I love their voices 🥰

    • @reverie6034
      @reverie6034 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      What amazing facts! Solid bones. Can’t walk on land. I had no idea! I love loon calls. We used to hear them when we lived in Illinois. I grew up
      in Oklahoma with meadowlarks which are calming to me like the loon is for others.

  • @barbiesboats4522
    @barbiesboats4522 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    My Grandfather took me to a log cabin on a wilderness lake in Maine during the summers. I'll never forget falling a sleep at night to the calls of the Loons.

  • @nancybusso6171
    @nancybusso6171 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

    I think that Loons are the most exquisite birds on the planet. Their feathers, markings and calls are perfection.

  • @jscrackwood
    @jscrackwood 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    Every summer in vacation I sit at the lake's deck at around midnight and wait for a loon's concert while looking at the stars. Best time of the year

  • @benslusher1698
    @benslusher1698 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Absolutely no words to explain how beautiful this bird is!

  • @klinej54
    @klinej54 ปีที่แล้ว +77

    36 years ago my wife and I sailed our 25 foot sailboat to the North Channel of Canada for our 3 week honeymoon. At one point we were fogged in for three days in a small island cove. The only other residences were a family of loons. For those 3 wonderful days and nights we were serenaded by those amazing birds and their lovely songs; absolute magic. What a wonderful gift, and a happy memory. Thanks for reminding me of it; I’m smiling right now. Think I’ll find my wife, tell her I love her, and ask her listen to the loons.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +12

      That put a tear in my eye. Absolutely beautiful. 🥰🐦

    • @suehamblin9652
      @suehamblin9652 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      What a wonderful memory of an incredible experience. Wow.

    • @kellyrodgers4961
      @kellyrodgers4961 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Absolutely beautiful memory you've experienced there!
      In all seriousness, this comment needs pinned.

    • @klinej54
      @klinej54 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thanks. That's very kind of you to say.@@kellyrodgers4961

    • @lizoconnor2752
      @lizoconnor2752 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      You are a thoughtful man

  • @gettingold59
    @gettingold59 ปีที่แล้ว +174

    One of my favorites. Nothing says wilderness like the call of a loon

  • @bluesioux9538
    @bluesioux9538 ปีที่แล้ว +81

    When they go underwater, they act like they're first cousins to the penguins! There's something about the Loons that bring a calmness & a feeling of nature as they call on the water.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +13

      So true they do behave similar under water. I agree they just have that way of bringing some peace. Beautiful beings🥰🐦

  • @francineh.7825
    @francineh.7825 ปีที่แล้ว +86

    They have a beautiful call that I absolutely love. Their sound gives the same feeling that I get when I hear wolves or whales...haunting.

    • @John-Adams-Can
      @John-Adams-Can ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Majestic!

    • @janicedeeter577
      @janicedeeter577 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@John-Adams-Can Oh yes... Nature heals

    • @ricknally8730
      @ricknally8730 ปีที่แล้ว

      I'm with you all then way .
      Love the 3 you mentioned . Wish l could hear them in real life .

    • @Madasin_Paine
      @Madasin_Paine ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@janicedeeter577
      After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on-have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear-what remains?
      *_Nature remains_*
      ~ Walt Whitman
      No doubt, Walt Whitman was properly inspired by nature, but so too of course, was Henry Thoreau who casted The Loon as a central character in Walden Pond
      Like our creative productive generous host, his narrative about the Loon did much to help them and many other creatures, including the human kind.
      Nature = Truth
      Truth unites Us
      Lies divide.
      Doubt delays.

  • @FlyTyer1948
    @FlyTyer1948 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My favorite bird. It’s very comforting & pleasing to hear their evening calls. In late summer/early fall, they often gather in large groups to hunt as a team. They form in a curved line & dive together to herd & catch fish. It’s especially funny when groups of new adults get together & start showing off, flapping their wings, rising up & calling.

  • @magicalmysterygirl1072
    @magicalmysterygirl1072 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Drawn by their call, I first visited and then moved to Maine. That powerful!

  • @mr1pearl
    @mr1pearl ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Right at dusk you can hear them across the lake and they are a good distance off ! Such character !

  • @albertvanlingen7590
    @albertvanlingen7590 ปีที่แล้ว +41

    This bird has the most epic call of any bird by a very very long way! 😱

  • @passinthru4328
    @passinthru4328 ปีที่แล้ว +51

    Love the Loon’s calls too. Impressed also by their underwater swimming.

  • @lorirober2536
    @lorirober2536 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I once went camping on the Stillwater Reservoir up in NY state, well over 30 years ago. Hearing the Loons was one of the best and most memorable experiences of my life. Hearing loons still gives me chills. Incredibly beautiful call. Thank you much for this video.

  • @mariaandharold
    @mariaandharold ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I have a cottage & I can definitively say that the loon calls are the best indicator of the arrival of summer; it is the most soothing sound to relax & fall asleep on the dock

  • @3coins.
    @3coins. ปีที่แล้ว +7

    The loons on Devils lake in Michigan have brought me peace. Love these sounds.

  • @williamb7245
    @williamb7245 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Lesley, Thank you! This video sent my wife and I down memory lane. We took several backpacking trips on Isle Royale (Lake Superior) and hands down, the fondest memory was listening to the Loons. It was truly other-worldly. I still choke up whenever I hear their calls and it always makes me want to get out in the wild again.

  • @TheDotDetective
    @TheDotDetective ปีที่แล้ว +18

    My fondest memories of camping on remote lakes in the Adirondacks are because of the beautiful calls of these birds at dawn and dusk.

  • @jordane19969
    @jordane19969 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I love waking up at the cabin in northern minnesota and sitting outside by the lake listening to the loons. On a sunny, 60 degree morning in July it is the most relaxing noise and there is no place I’d rather be in the world

    • @jeffvikings6240
      @jeffvikings6240 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Your part reason why our wilderness in Northern Minnesota is disappearing! People like you won't be happy until they have the B.W.C.A developed! The government sucks for selling the land and you suck for developing it 😭😭😭😭😭

  • @LeeLonerRipOwl
    @LeeLonerRipOwl 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    One of my happiest childhood memories is waking up in the middle of the night at summer camp in Maine and hearing the loons on the lake. It was so comforting for a homesick kid and lulled me back to sleep. Thank you for sharing this lovely, very informative video!

  • @dwamish
    @dwamish 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I started visiting a lake in western Maine in the early-70s, but never heard or saw a loon there until the 2000s. Given a chance, nature can make a comeback.
    Great vid, ty for posting.

  • @diannajepson8708
    @diannajepson8708 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    I love loon calls too. My parents live on a lake, and my grandparents used to have a camp on a lake, both in the beautiful state of Maine, so I have been blessed to hear loons all of my life.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Oh how lucky. Truly beautiful calls yo hear. 🐦❤️

    • @ricknally8730
      @ricknally8730 ปีที่แล้ว

      Invite me up . I'd give anything to hear them in life . I live in Ky

  • @cowgirljane3316
    @cowgirljane3316 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Every time I hear a loon, I get goosebumps. I've never heard them in real life. Another bird that can make me emotional is the whip-poor-will. I used to hear then as a child, but it's been years since I heard one because of all the housing developments being built around here.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +4

      That is so sad about not hearing the whip-poor-will. Loons have given me goosebumps too.

    • @sickofcrap8992
      @sickofcrap8992 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      And the Bob-whites. I used to hear them at my Aunt's house in the country. I'd whistle their calls back to them and they'd answer. Bob White and the Whip-or-will. I felt so close to nature when the'd answer. It's been about 52 years since then and I still miss it. I wonder if they still live near that house.

    • @ricknally8730
      @ricknally8730 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Me too . I also love the song of purple martins .

  • @danieljakubik3428
    @danieljakubik3428 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Loons create some of the most haunting and beautiful sounds in nature. I have heard them in natural settings and they always stop me in my tracks with their lovely, captivating sound.

  • @sandidueckman1491
    @sandidueckman1491 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    My grandparents had a cottage on Loon Lake just outside of Gravenhurst, Ontario...the cottage was sold after my Grandpa passed but some of my very best memories are being there...the lake was called Loon Lake for a very good reason...just seeing and hearing them bring back soooooo many happy memories 💕

  • @josephvanwie6706
    @josephvanwie6706 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I live in upstate NY and they're beautiful birds with a soothingly haunting call. Especially watching them during twilight. Thanks for the post!

  • @AniFam
    @AniFam ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The patterns on their back/wings are sooo pretty~💞
    Thank you for sharing this video~🤗

  • @sy851
    @sy851 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Loons will always remind me of camping fishing trips in MN with my dad. He spent so much time up north he would come back with amazing pictures, stories and even mimicking loon calls

  • @colby7625
    @colby7625 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Yay, another favorite bird. Would vacation in northern Minnesota every summer as a kid and enjoyed this bird all the time. If your boat got too close it would disappear under the water.

  • @MaryM-uy8nh
    @MaryM-uy8nh 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I love the echo of their calls across the water… I have never heard it in person but someday….!

  • @gregorysagegreene
    @gregorysagegreene 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    💜 Imagine living next to a lake that sings. 💜

  • @dr.susanchaudoir8576
    @dr.susanchaudoir8576 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    You are so right...nothing like the calls and song of the loon. One of our worlds most beautiful creatures. I never tire of them. Ever. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary snapshot into their world.

  • @donnaleighjenkins4952
    @donnaleighjenkins4952 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love their black & white feathers! I remember them from my childhood hearing them call off in the distance when I visited my Aunt & Uncles house very close to a large lake. Beautiful!! Babies are so cute!
    Thanks Lesley!❤

  • @Rangersly
    @Rangersly ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I worked for 5 years in the Laurentian forests, and the sound of loons on the lake, at the end of a long hot summer day was the perfect lullaby.

  • @JoJoDoxieMom
    @JoJoDoxieMom ปีที่แล้ว +41

    I remember vacationing in southern Maine as a child and hearing loons from a nearby lake at night 🌉 🌙. Strange for a city kid but oddly comforting at
    the same time.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I'm glad you experienced hearing their calls for your self 🙂🐦

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Totally agree! I'm a bit of a city kid myself

  • @dennislively1852
    @dennislively1852 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I recently spent a week canoe camping in the Boundary Waters of northern MN. The calls of the Loons was a daily treat.

  • @Odonanmarg
    @Odonanmarg ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The Loon is absolutely one of my favourite birds❗️

  • @Terri_Stauffer
    @Terri_Stauffer ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I watched the loon nest cam for the first time this year. Just beautiful and love their calls.

  • @sherryw.1466
    @sherryw.1466 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Yes their calls are very hauntingly beautiful…and that sunset shot!!! Wow! Great video!♥️

  • @pokedude104
    @pokedude104 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    the soundtrack of camping in the Ontario wilderness. They call right before the sun comes up and just as the sun goes down. The most beautiful alarm clock you could ask for.

  • @poodlegirl6371
    @poodlegirl6371 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I clicked on the video just to hear that beautiful, haunting call. Not that they are not beautiful. I live in northern Indiana and have seen a Loon only once.

  • @robaldridge6505
    @robaldridge6505 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    LOVE this one, Thank You Lesley... I'm so old that I can remember when the sound of a loon was the sound of the wild, now the wilds are all tamed and inhabited, but the loon and I are still here...

  • @RiverThamesNatureDiary
    @RiverThamesNatureDiary ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Beautiful looking birds. So sleek and elegant under water. I loved this video 💜

  • @allthumbs3792
    @allthumbs3792 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    What an elegant creature! The precision of the banding colors on the feathers is unreal! Love your videos and song bird calls.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you very much :) and I agree, the colors are gorgeous

  • @solochristo65
    @solochristo65 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This has been one of my most favorite Birds (definitely number on in the duck family) since 1997.......I was camping in upstate NY with a group of my Family Members and Hearing Their Calls and just the whole atmosphere on Rollins Pond (more like a lake) was So Captivating. Plus, my brother and I were Canoeing one early morn and while sitting near a small Island in the middle of the lake A Loon passed us fairly close with her young nestled on her back. INCREDIBLE BIRDS!!!!

  • @MHarenArt
    @MHarenArt ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Excellent video!!!! I love loons, but have never been fortunate to see one in person. I do however, follow the Live Cam provided by the Loon Preservations Society each year where we can watch 24/7 as a pair of Loons location, refurbish and move into a nest, and then lay eggs. Live cam records all through the brooding period and is over one or two days after we see the chick hatch. Your video was wonderful! Thank you!

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks for the info! Ill have to check that out
      Glad you enjoyed the video, thank you

  • @opabinnier
    @opabinnier ปีที่แล้ว +1

    In south London we happily have park lakes large enough to support loons: always such a special experience to watch these stylish and beautiful birds floating so low in the water. And those blood-shot eyes and dagger-like beaks, of my. I love them madly.

  • @juliej5917
    @juliej5917 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The gorgeous loon reminds me of family trips to New Hampshire, and the loon calls as the evening sky glowed with pink and purple.

  • @YinYogawithTrishy
    @YinYogawithTrishy ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This video was a return to my childhood, the loons call wow, thank you Lesley 😄❤️

  • @brucebennett4274
    @brucebennett4274 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hearing a loon takes me right back to canoe/portage camping deep in the dotted the lakes of the Canadian shield... I think part of my soul is there...

  • @stevehamilton3181
    @stevehamilton3181 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    Thanks for this. The loon is high on my list of all time favs! And yep, that call is just so haunting and soothing. Nothing else says you are in the wilderness quite like it.

  • @cherylimeson3006
    @cherylimeson3006 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    We live near a small lake in Alberta Canada. My favorite part of evening is listening to the loon.

  • @APV878
    @APV878 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Loons! I have a deep appreciation and admiration for them. My first encounter was visiting Quabbin Reservoir in Western Massachusetts almost 20 years ago, where (we) saw a pair carrying their babies on their backs, so darling. My encounter with the "laughing" tremolo, was when I worked in Wildlife Care we had a pair that were admitted as they had bruised & abraded their keels from accidentally belly-landing on a paved road (the theory is when it was wet with melted snow it looked like a dark ribbon of water), anyway, we had them in a large indoor pool and they'd sort of mess with us when (the vet techs) had to try and catch them to do condition exams, they'd just dive down to the bottom and look back up to us and play the waiting game. When it finally came time to release them (transported to upper NY State I think) we had these rope "hammocks" to support those keels that fitted inside dog crates. The male at one point belted out that laughing tremolo and I happened to be near the room they were hanging out in (sitting in the crates) and I was surrounded by this wall of sound, it was just incredible how much volume they can produce. It is one of my fondest memories from my time in wildlife care.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Oh my what a thing to witness and good on for you devoting your time to helping birds. I can imagine what it must be like to try caring for loons. It's sad about how paved road with melted snow looks like water to them, I've read that before. The way their calls sound outside in the open is incredible, let alone inside in a room. That must have been something

    • @APV878
      @APV878 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@LesleytheBirdNerd Thanks. For the most part I did enjoy my time in wildlife care for the handful of years I was doing it. The reality is you're the ER Room / critical triage for wildlife and they can't communicate or are trying to defend themselves thinking you're going to eat them, etc. So emotions can run high etc. But, I'm glad to have been witness to a number of successful releases. It did also put me in contact with area Rehabbers / Educators some I'm still good friends with and have drawn their birds for many years.
      I had little to do with those Loons, we had to keep contact/handling to a minimum as they are easily stressed with the whole rigamarole.

  • @bethmattson1875
    @bethmattson1875 ปีที่แล้ว

    Central and northern Wisconsin lakes is where I spend time listening to the loons. Their cries fill me with a serenity I can't describe.

  • @nathanhancock1819
    @nathanhancock1819 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Thirty years ago, spent a week at cabin on a lake in New Hampshire. One early morning while fishing in the low fog, I heard the yodel. That morning was when the loon became my favorite water foul.

  • @RachelLovejoy
    @RachelLovejoy ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I spent three glorious years living in a loft apartment overlooking a pond located in southern Maine. I looked forward each night to the calls, yodels, and tremolos of the loons. Since then, I often look them up online just to hear them again, and it takes me back each time to my years at the pond...

  • @salblake3229
    @salblake3229 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you for this video. We hear the Loons up in the lakes near our place in the western mountains of Maine. So special to hear their calls. Brings me much peace!

  • @yvonnerogers6429
    @yvonnerogers6429 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thanks 🙏. My family and I just returned home from our trip to New England where the resident loon sang beneath an ocean of stars. It really is a magical thing to hear in person. This is the perfect thing to wrap up the experience with.

  • @jc51373
    @jc51373 28 วันที่ผ่านมา

    alot of my teenage years spent Summers at Winnipesaukee some late nights listening to these birds. It's something I will never forget and always look back on fondly. It's bucket list IMO...Everyone should experience pitch black darkness on a boat dock and hear this sound. Or have one pop up right at the side of your boat and look at you with that red beady eye and then disappear back into the abyss.

  • @michaelsimko7694
    @michaelsimko7694 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I've heard these birds. They winter every year along the shoreline of the state I live in, which is CT. They're calls are beautiful, amazing, and give a feeling of peace, esp during calmer, quieter conditions. They're very quiet when they dive from the surface and hardly make any splash or wake, unlike Cormorants and diving ducks.
    A bird that would fall in the same class as the Common Loon as for calls and songs would be the Barred Owl. Haunting calls that are more like a song and give you that nice, cozy, outdoors feeling, esp during calmer, quieter conditions.

  • @donnabeaudin9114
    @donnabeaudin9114 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I am so glad we are in an area that has Loons. Nothing compares to being in your kayak on a quiet mountain lake, listening to the songs of the Loon. You’re absolutely right Lesley, their calls generate a feeling of calm. Thank you, a beautiful video!

  • @joniangelsrreal6262
    @joniangelsrreal6262 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Happy to drop by…
    Sending love and light to all…🙏🏼

  • @sorrycharlie5773
    @sorrycharlie5773 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My absolute favorite..😍the boundary waters in MN is a hotbed of these beauteous buddies..such beautiful calls they Make..❤️

  • @birbluv9595
    @birbluv9595 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love their calls. I have never been on a northern lake late in the day to hear these calls, despite living 30 years in upstate NY. It would be a dream to canoe on such a lake someday.

  • @AdirondackRuby
    @AdirondackRuby ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The Common Loon is my mother's favorite bird. We live in the Adirondack Park in New York State, and have seen & heard them around Lake Luzerne, Lake Abenaki, Raquette Lake, and Schroon Lake. It's always so exciting. They are such regal birds, but also rather elusive when they want to be.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว

      They head to the coastal areas for the winter. On the Atlantic and Pacific

  • @ricknally8730
    @ricknally8730 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Ive always loved the sound of the common loon . So peaceful . Beautiful markings too . I wish someday to go to a lake with loons on it . I'm 75 , my time is running out . I love your stories . Keep up the good work . God is good

  • @archeewaters
    @archeewaters ปีที่แล้ว +1

    hi lesley, these are my favourite birds. i see them every year when i go fishing in the far north of canada, in quebec. i was lucky to have one swimming next to the boat and curious to see what we were doing. it was surprisingly big and utterly beautiful. i sit on the warf at sunset and listen to their calls. magic

  • @huskytail
    @huskytail ปีที่แล้ว +24

    When I hear the loons I imagine that is how the dinosaurs sounded in the past. There's something so common and yet incredibly alien in their calls. Beautiful birds.

  • @brinkleybear2382
    @brinkleybear2382 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you so much for the video on Loons. One on my favorite videos that you have ever done. Loons are a favorite of mine and I find their calls to be very therapeutic and soothing. We have them in on Lake Michigan in Cross Village, Michigan. They fly over to the big lake to fish from the inland lakes. The Loons keep their distance and are hard to see, but the sound of their calls travel very well over the waters Lake Michigan on calm evenings.

  • @gshelley3478
    @gshelley3478 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you. I grew up listening to loons when I went to Eastern Ontario with my grandparents. I moved to the Pacific NW 3 years ago, and have not found any in my search for them. I am in central Oregon. I miss those haunting calls and the connection to Spirit that they open in me.

  • @rocketreindeer
    @rocketreindeer ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Growing up in British Columbia, I've literally heard them my entire life. I remember waking up hearing them on a nearby lake in the black of night, but their haunting calls would soothe me back to sleep. They were always so mysterious to me as a child, and hearing legends like how the loon got his necklace deepened that feeling. Hearing them is something that always makes me feel better, and I hope to pass that on to my future kids.

  • @OllieOxyn
    @OllieOxyn ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Loons are the sound of late summer for me, I used to go up north every year with my family when I was young and these birds were quite prevalent up in northern wisconsin. I love them!

  • @iowafinn2602
    @iowafinn2602 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    After college, I was job hunting and spent the summer at my sister's cabin on Black Duck Lake, Minnesota. I got to listen to loons every night. In the morning I would sit outside with my cup of tea and binoculars. I started a bird list and added many birds to my life list..

  • @KyleOfTheNorth
    @KyleOfTheNorth 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The sound is very comforting to me. Reminds me visiting the lakes in northern Minnesota. You always knew you were up north when you heard a loon.

  • @accordionbabe
    @accordionbabe ปีที่แล้ว +1

    So lovely! Loons are so ancient a species, and this video showed them off!

  • @BlitheApathy
    @BlitheApathy 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    It never ceases to amuse me an my ranger friend when we hear loons in movies as wolf howels or some sort of spooky creature and/or when the calls are in areas where Loons don't live. 😅

  • @Cobbmtngirl
    @Cobbmtngirl 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I have only heard loons 2 times in my life. Both I count as among the most amazing experiences in nature I’ve ever witnessed. The first was on a secluded lake in Northern Idaho. The second was at another secluded lake in Oregon. Both times I was camping, so I got extended experiences. Magical, I’d say.

  • @gailnewcomb8256
    @gailnewcomb8256 ปีที่แล้ว

    The most beautiful sound on the water! And my favorite bird, among many others. Lol

  • @anthonydavies6021
    @anthonydavies6021 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Wow that was magical! It is the fact their calls echo so often that adds to the feeling of mystery that they evoke for me. In UK we call this bird the Great Northern Diver, which somehow seems much more impressive than the rather prosaic Common Loon (and for me there is nothing really crazy about them, although I suppose some of their calls might make you think of maniacal laughter). Further they are associated with the remote lochs of Scotland, so not a bird that I have ever been lucky enough to see or hear - I have seen red- and black-throated divers, however. Finally, I think their appearance is truly striking with their geometrical black and white markings. Thank you, Lesley.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I agree, much better name. It's a shame for such an enchanting bird to have the word "common" in it's name. Yea there is definitely nothing crazy about loons, they are magical and beautiful. Their plumage coloration truly is something spectacular. I'm glad you enjoyed this little video. Thank you

  • @howamilooking5952
    @howamilooking5952 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Those calls give me good feels/goose bumps. Thanks ❤️

  • @helenfederoff7603
    @helenfederoff7603 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Love your videos ❤️ ty Lesley! I was fortunate enough to live in Lake Placid - about a million years ago - and that was when I heard a Loon for the first time. It's haunting beauty stunned me to silence. It's a sorrowful but beautiful sound. I feel fortunate to have had the experience. 👍

  • @gerryfedde3040
    @gerryfedde3040 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Many decades ago when I was twelve I attended a summer camp at a lake in New Hampshire. Hearing the loons at night then was like listening to the bird version of the chatter you hear now of katydids sounding off in a summer evening. There were just so many loons around then.

  • @thealucas7247
    @thealucas7247 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    It was just the other day when I was reminded of the loon’s hauntingly beautiful call and rushed to pull up a clip it for my partner.😊 Wonderful video!

  • @beuller7
    @beuller7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Wow, you did it! I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time. Loons have become one of my favorite birds. Hearing their calls - especially the hauntingly beautiful wails - are one of the things I look forward to the most when I visit Maine every summer. Another interesting fact about them is how their legs are positioned far back on their bodies. This makes them nimble swimmers, but awkward when having to walk on land. This is why they spend most of their lives on water and also why their nests tend to be right against the water. And their piercing red eyes are so unusual. Stellar video, Lesley. Well done & thanks so much.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hey thank you so much. And thanks for sharing those other facts. I do plan on making more loon videos especially for next Spring and Summer. I hope to have more videos of them to work with so I can go into other fascinating information.

  • @SeanRhoadesChristopher
    @SeanRhoadesChristopher ปีที่แล้ว +1

    It’s amazing how much a common loon’s plumage changes in non-breeding seasons. During the winter months in Florida they are completely drab looking and rarely vocal. In Maine, during breeding season it is rare not to hear them, especially throughout the night. All the energy needed for this transformation demonstrates the seriousness the Great Spirit has put on the mating process, marriage, and raising children. The nostalgia, gives me goosebumps! 🦢

  • @Sarah-zg5qs
    @Sarah-zg5qs ปีที่แล้ว +1

    when the loons find a mate it's for a lifetime. They teach us a lot

  • @marylangholz8089
    @marylangholz8089 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I have never seen a loon nor heard it. I have their calls on my old walkman by my bed at night. Sounds a bit melancholy to me and relaxing. Thanks so much for this awesome video!

  • @RYANandMICHELLEchannel
    @RYANandMICHELLEchannel ปีที่แล้ว +10

    What an incredible bird the loon is! Winter 2021/ 2022 was the season of the loon for me. I still am hoping to get to see them in breeding plumage. The underwater footage here was incredible!

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว +2

      May you have much luck seeing them in breeding plumage. Very beautiful birds. Yes I agree, Curtis did a great job with the underwater footage. I'm so thankful he allowed us to use it

  • @danaknudson866
    @danaknudson866 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    As a kid my family would take vacations in northern MN. Loved the loon call early in morning on lake of glass! Just perfect!

  • @keiththecarpenter5639
    @keiththecarpenter5639 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thank you Lesley for this excellent informative video on the Loons. I do love their vocalizations. 😀

  • @This1isaJesusFreak
    @This1isaJesusFreak 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I grew up in MN and loved seeing and hearing loons when we went hiking, camping, or fishing. Thanks for the video, it brought back good memories ❤

  • @kathygibson881
    @kathygibson881 ปีที่แล้ว

    Absolutely love the Loons and their calls. Beautiful birds. They are very calming when they call. Love your videos. Thx

  • @bueb8674
    @bueb8674 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My dad and I go to Wilberforce (Ontario) every so often to collect minerals. It's dead silent at night, sky is perfectly clear with what seems like 1000x more starts than you can see in a city. With numerous lakes scattering the landscape, just about every night we'd hear Loon calls echoing across the wilderness. For me, the sound nearly brings tears to my eyes with how beautiful it is.

  • @MamaTtoB-P
    @MamaTtoB-P ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Love this video & love the sounds of Loons. It's so relaxing. Thank you Leslie

  • @Savleira
    @Savleira ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Definitely my favorite type of loon, as it’s calls are the prettiest and it’s the most beautiful one in my opinion, but the other four species are beautiful as well! Loons are so beautiful in general, I love all of them so much! Great video on my favorite type of waterfowl! :)

  • @willmpet
    @willmpet 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I grew up on a lake and they were wonderful. I saw once when a friend of mine took me into the BWCA and the Quetico. We saw a Loon there and watched for an hour!

  • @brianreynolds1098
    @brianreynolds1098 ปีที่แล้ว

    Every summer we head off to the Adirondacks for a week or so and never miss the call of the Loon. Among my favorite memories.

  • @joanistock1672
    @joanistock1672 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I grew up in northern Minnesota. I love the songs of the loon. Thank you.

    • @LesleytheBirdNerd
      @LesleytheBirdNerd  ปีที่แล้ว

      You're welcome. A lot of people have fond memories of hearing loons in the wilderness