Loon Feeds Loonlet

I walked down to the lake this morning and had the pleasure of watching a mother loon feed breakfast to her fluffy little loonlet (yes, that’s what they’re called).

She’d dive down and disappear for half a minute or so, and it didn’t take long before she came up with a fish. And another. And another.

Here, she’s “handing off” a crayfish (we used to call them crawdads when I was a kid) to her little one. Whenever she came up with a crayfish, she would knock it around and whip it back and forth to subdue it before feeding it to the youngster.

–Photos by me

Shot of the Day 7/9/24

A blue heron is dwarfed by the world’s largest floating loon on Silver Lake in Virginia, MN. The loon, unlike the heron, is tethered by a cable to the bottom of the lake, and only comes out of the water in winter.

I don’t know what it is about us Iron Rangers, but we also have the world’s largest hockey stick in Eveleth, a couple of miles from here.

–Photos by Aaron

summer breeze

walking, talking

we find ourselves

hand in hand

on a shoreline stroll;

lapping, slapping

the waves set up

an ancient rhythm

that stirs the soul;

splattering, spattering

wildflowers are drops

that fell when nature

painted in the spring;

rushing, gushing

the summer breeze is

the breath of life here

connecting everything

–photo by me