Not all bad light days make for bad shots. The morning I took these this past clouds were covering the sun and the lighting conditions were not optimal. I got some good feeding shots regardless and shots of the parents with fish.
These pictures were all taken at a distance with zoom lens.
A cloudy day does not always ruin your chance at getting good photos. Go out and enjoy nature even when it is not sunny.
I try to keep a distance from the loons, but have several times over the past few years had one or more come up and swim close to me. This is the first time I felt I was being tasked to step in as a baby sitter.
The mother and baby swam up close to my kayak, then the mother disappeared under the water to fish, while the baby stayed above water chilling out near my kayak. Normally the baby swims in the water following the direction the mom went under the water in peeping all the way. This time the baby was quiet.
A few minutes later the mother came up with a fish.
She tried to present it to the baby.
The baby turned its head away. Either it was full or it was too big for it.
Mom continued to swim around with the fish in its mouth hoping the baby would change its mind. Who knew? My new summer side hustle in life is a loon babysitter.
Loons are fun birds to watch. I took 3 kayak trips on a lake over three days. Each time I watch these loons for an hour or so. I have a zoom lens ,an extender and these are cropped.
The lighting changed even within the hour or so I watched them this day. It depended on which way they were facing, cloud cover, and what objects they were near. In this case I believe the green colour was a reflection in the water from a boat cover. The mom kept the little one near the shore of the lake.
The parents kept parading around with small fish that seemed much too big for the baby. I think the baby finally ate them when they cut them in pieces. It is fun to watch nature. Loons are becoming my favourite birds. They have such personality.
Normally I don’t say where I find most of the wildlife I do. Loons are on most ponds and lakes in the Adirondacks that are long enough to host them and with enough fish. These loons are on Loon Lake, of all places, in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
This was the first time I was lucky enough to see a baby riding on its parent’s back. I have been up looking for this in June and July in previous years, but missed out in the past. I went up to stay for two nights, and made three kayak trips on Loon Lake. I saw them each time.
This parent had babysitting duty. The other parent was out and about feeding itself and came back periodically to try to feed the baby.
I was told by someone who lived along the lake that there were two eggs, but one never hatched. Most of the land around the lake is private residences or residences as investment property/ rental.
I probably took one hundred pictures on the first two of the three kayaking trips I made this short vacation. Get out and experience new things! Nature is a beauty to behold.
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