Another loon family found

Thankfully the pair of loons in our bay seem to be staying together, even after having 2 nests fail this spring.  From what I've researched, loons typically stay together for life unless one dies or they have trouble having offspring. Two Springs ago, when a similar swamping of nests occurred in our bay, there was only one loon swimming about all summer.  I'm encouraged there are still two hanging out thus far this year!

I do have some new loon pictures with babies though!  A neighbor dropped a hint that there was a family of loons about 5 km away in a small inlet in Clearwater Bay.  That evening I jumped on our Sea Doo and checked it out.

Well, there they were.  However, they certainly behaved like a normal loon family; darting about, calling out when I came anywhere near. (like 300 meters).  The problem with the Sea Doo is that it is very hard to keep in one spot.  A pedal boat is much better and makes less noise.  I was determined to somehow get some shots so spent about 1.5 hours slowly moving back and forth, getting closer and closer to the loons. My plan, which seemed to work, was to acclimatize them to me and the boat and by the time 1.5 hours went by, I was able to get near enough to snap a few photos.

The young didn't ride on the parent's backs at all, and seemed bigger than the little ones I photographed years ago.  One of the young was even able to duck under water and swim for a while before popping up about 10 meters away!

I sure miss the moments photographing the family in our bay; they were very trusting and even fed their young while I sat in my pedal boat, just meters away.  I am still thankful I was able to get a few quality pictures to add to my Loon collection.