Thursday, November 12, 2020
After seeing a post by local birder, Lindsey Story, about a COMMON LOON being present at Red Mountain Park on Brown Road not terribly far from where I live, I managed to get away in the afternoon of the following day to see if the Loon was still present.
Yes! Staying under water much longer than it stayed on the surface of the lake, I first spotted the COMMON LOON come up from a dive in front of a fisherman on the west side. Following the Loon toward the NW corner of the lake, I watched AMERICAN COOT, on the surface of the lake moving away from whatever it was doing to them underwater. Scooting the Coots, I think!
Hard to gauge exactly when the LOON would break the surface again, I stood my ground and took several quick photos of it before it dove again. I gave it a ratio of 5-1: down for 5 minutes; up for one! Then I lost track of this large bird on this small pond.
COMMON LOONs are more readily found in Arizona at Lake Pleasant in Peoria, north of Phoenix. That lake is 10,000 acres with a depth of 170 feet. In contrast this pond at Red Mountain Park is 8 acres with a maximum depth of 17 feet. Needing 24 yards to take off into the air again, I was concerned about the health and safety of the COMMON LOON on this local, stocked fishing pond.
Having hung out there for quite some time, I began walking in the direction of the east parking lot, still watching for any sign of the LOON. There! - On the east end of an island, I caught sight of it just as it dove again. But, good news, maybe? It appeared to be heading my way. I stayed very close to the edge of the lake waiting...waiting...
Whoop! Whoop! Almost directly in front of me, the COMMON LOON surfaced for a while, swimming around. The first two photos were caught when it surfaced briefly while foraging in the NW corner of the lake. On the final dive I saw it take, it DID swim toward my point on the shoreline, giving me the frontal view and a very close-up photo. Had never been that close to a COMMON LOON!
Fortunately, I saw the Loon prior to its contact with a fishing hook the next day. It's my understanding that it was rescued by Liberty Wildlife and may or may not be relocated to Lake Pleasant (or elsewhere).
Other birds, I managed to photograph while there included:
AMERICAN WIGEON
Canada goose
Two GAMBEL'S QUAIL: Foreground, Male; Background, Female
Click on link below to view eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S76169606
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