DAAAHHH?? It's A Canadian Loon!

Kinda surprised I didn't get comments/emails from my Canadian friends that this carved duck picture I posted from Xmas is a Canadian (Common) Loon!

DAHH ... how could I have forgotten? I remember my dad teaching me how to take a long, thick blade of grass (took some doing to find the right one too), holding it just so, between the length of my thumbs, cupping my hands and then blowing to make that long, lovely call called the 'wail'. This call is mostly heard on calm lakes as the evening sun sets in the summer. If you get the grass reed calling down right (gosh do I know about practising it!), you can sometimes get the loons to answer you back. It is used to keep in contact with other loons on the lake.

If you've never heard it here is a link .... listen, think of a warm summer's evening, the sun setting on the horizon .... and other than maybe crickets, this is all you hear ....

Wail (474 K AU)