Common loon
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
Common loons, and their evocative wailing calls, are familiar summer residents on northern lakes. In winter they molt out of the flamboyant breeding coloration shown here into a subdued gray and white plumage. These were photographed on Wonder Lake in Denali Park, Alaska (above), and on Cantwell Lake, near Willow, Alaska (below). Both adults carefully tend their offspring (usually two, but the pair above had only one). Several of these birds, including the ones with fall foliage reflected in the water, are beginning to molt into winter plumage. Near the bottom of the page are images of bird in complete winter plumage, taken in Homer, Alaska and Bolsa Chica, California.
