There are certain species that just make one’s day. In the early Spring it’s the Common Loon for me. The early migrants are all nice but it’s the sighting of a loon that brings home to me that the migration is in full wing. They conjure up visions of pristine northern lakes before the vacationers and cottagers impact them.
One bird was seen on census by Ethan and Dave. I saw a second one about an hour later. Mine was high up heading NNW. With the southerly wind the loon was making great time and went across the sky, from horizon to horizon, in just a short time. If it was going 60 km/hour (and I would guess it was doing at least that), it would reach the southern end of Georgian Bay in just 4 hours.
Weather conditions today were lovely – clear blue skies and, by mid-morning, shirt-sleeve temperatures. There wasn’t a lot of visible migration however although the goldfinches were hitting the feeders pretty hard (and steadily).
Banded 43:
2 Mourning Doves
1 Brown Creeper
4 Golden-crowned Kinglets
1 American Tree Sparrow
4 Song Sparrows
4 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Red-winged Blackbird
3 Brown-headed Cowbirds
23 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 41 spp.
Rick