Dear Listers --

Went canoeing from the Loch Raven boat launch yesterday afternoon -- 3:30 to 5 we were out on the reservoir, which was cool, breezy, and gorgeous. Not a great time of day for much birding, but still we got to watch an osprey hunting and diving into the water a few times, and some other usual suspects.

But then, it got better: we watched a pair of common loons for nearly half an hour, and were able to approach them fairly closely in the canoe. Their plumage was partway molted from winter to summer, with traces of the black & white tweedy pattern on their backs visible, and a faint neck ring on one of them. They were sticking together and making little squeaking noises at each other.

Isn't this really late for loons around here? I know we had many loons on Loch Raven all winter, but I would have guessed they would be long gone by mid-May. ??? At any rate, they were fun to watch, and being on the lake with them as opposed to on shore with a scope was that much better.

osprey
5 turkey vultures
6 gull sp. (far away)
barn swallows
canada geese
1 mallard
2 common loons

Lori K. Brown
Baltimore, MD
410-523-2773

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Lori K. Brown
Baltimore, MD
410-523-2773

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