Fritz - Common Loon - Gavea immer - M.C. Kinney Photography - Legend Lake, WI

Fritz. Where do I begin to describe Fritz and my relationship with him and his parents? Perhaps I should first state that Fritz is a Loon. A Common Loon I first saw early in the summer of 2014. I had set out in the boat at 5am to make my way toward a cove filled with water lilies, passing a mother Loon and her baby following close behind. As I went by the couple, the mother let out a long, painful wail, and seconds later, her mate flitted across the water to get to her side. When I got to the cove, the early morning light wasn't as dramatic as I had hoped, so I took an image or two and decided to head back home. Of course, that meant passing the family of Loons. So as I got closer I captured a couple of images.

Of course, at the time I didn't yet have names for them, they were just the baby and the Mom. Based on the young chicks size I estimated he was about 3 weeks old here.

After a while, the Mom began diving for food to feed the chick until eventually, he climbed aboard his mom's back and floated off.