July 5

In Michigan

In the stillness of the oncoming dark, after the wind has calmed, and we sat enjoying a few quiet moments before turning in, two loons began calling to one another in their mournful way. They must have been fairly far apart on the lake, for the first call came from off near the eastern shore, closer to where we sat than did the answering cry, which came a half a minute or so from the opposite direction and more distant.

Their daylight call is the trilling familiar laughter, and we see them occasionally out on the lake, usually alone and away from shore. They will dive and swim if encroached upon, and it is remarkable the distance they can travel underwater, head reemerging on the surface hundreds of feet away.