Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Common Loon at Camp Nakamun, Alberta.

A mating pair of Common Loons.
I have had the pleasure of going to Camp Nakamun four times now.  Both my kids, Josh and Leanne, have worked there.  My son found his love there and was married there.  Besides all that, it just happens to be a great place to visit.

Wherever I am, I always have my camera in hand and look for an opportunity to get some photos.  One of my visits there was in early summer.  There is an abundance of water birds present at this time.  This includes an assortment of ducks, grebes, sandpipers, and at least one breeding pair of common loons.  Many of the birds seem somewhat acclimatized to people as they let me approach closer than what would otherwise be possible. 

I have photographed loons in a number of places, but have never had the opportunity to get as close as I did here.  What was great was that, as I approached, they seemed to be without concern as they paddled along in front of my kayak.  Once at a decent distance, I just waited.  They eventually swam right in front of me. 

The photo you see above is not cropped to facilitate an enlargement.  It was pretty much that way in my viewfinder.  Keep in mind though I used an APS-C sensor sized DSLR with a 150-600 mm lens on zoomed all the way out.  So the relative focal length was 900 mm, which is approximately equivalent to a magnification of 18x.  I made a 16x20 inch print of it and donated it to the camp.

 I love to sit quietly and watch when nature shows up.  Sometimes you have to go out of your way to find it, other times it just happens in front of you.  Loons are remarkable birds.  They are one of the few species of flying birds that have solid bones instead of hollow ones.  This makes them denser than their relatives and gives them the ability to dive to remarkable depths.  Loons also have their feet set farther back than most other waterfowl, a fact which further facilitates their swimming prowess.  It also explains why you usually don't see them on land; for them, walking is for the [other] birds.

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