Immature Common Loon

Last summer I was lucky enough to come across an immature common loon while birding out at Crex Meadows. At first there was an adult loon around which was bringing fish to the youngster, who probably was not a proficient hunter yet.Later on the young loon was left alone. It stayed near the middle of the lake which would should provide it with adequate protection from most predators, such as raccoons, fox, coyote, and skunks. Although it still had to be cautious of possible predation from bald eagles. Fortunately the loon is an excellent swimmer and can dive under water well below the reach of an attacking eagle.

The nest of the common loon is usually a mound of grass and sticks located close to water on the shore of a lake or island or sometimes on an old muskrat mound. It is usually hidden the reeds or other vegetation and is used year after year. The female lays a clutch of 2 to 5 eggs which both male and female incubate for 27 to 30 days.

With in a day or two of hatching the loon chicks leave the nest. At two to three days they have the ability to swim and dive under the water. At this point they will spend their whole life in the water until they are old enough to mate on their own. If they need to rest they will hitch a ride on the back of mom or dad.

It takes about eleven weeks for the young loons to learn to fly. Because they are built more for swimming and diving, with their legs placed far back on their bodies, their take off and landings appear awkward. Because of their weight, loons can weigh up to about 12 pounds which is approximately the size of a large female bald eagle in Minnesota, it takes a long run way for them to take off. This loon was practicing his take off that afternoon, skidding across the surface of the water but he never quite made it up into the air. He probably still needed a little more practice.

Calendar Loon

The loon is the state bird of Minnesota. Its haunting call can be heard across lakes across most of the state. This particular loon was photographed at Crex Meadows Wildlife Management Area in neighboring Wisconsin. I took quite a few pics as the loon spent the morning fishing. Loons are efficient divers because, unlike most birds, they do not have hollow bones. This makes them less buoyant, so that it is easier for them to dive, but it also makes them heavier so they need a longer run way to get up into the air.

Crex Meadows Road Trip

The second road trip that I took with the new car was to Crex Meadows. Crex is located about 90 miles north of the Twin Cities just over the border in Wisconsin. All together I ended up driving about 200 miles, this included driving around the park and ended up using a little bit over 4 gallons of gas.

While driving I try and keep an eye on the road, an eye on the dash, it turns green when I am driving more efficiently, and an eye out for wildlife. It's a good thing that I have four eyes that way I can also keep one closed to get some rest while I drive LOL. You never know what you might see while you drive like an American kestrel hanging out on the power lines. Fortunately I spotted this kestrel after I left the interstate so I could stop to take some pics. Usually kestrels are quick to fly away when you pull your car over but this little guy did not seem to mind me very much. If you look closely you can see that he has one foot tucked which is not something a bird will do if he is nervous or frightened.

Crex is named for the Crex Carpet Company which owned the land in the early 1900's. The Crex Carpet Co. harvested wiregrass from the areas marsh lands to create grass rugs. In 1933 the carpet company went bankrupt, later, in 1946, the state of Wisconsin bought the land and turned it into the Wildlife Management Area that it is today. The carpet camps are long gone but the marshes where the grasses where harvested from still exist and are now home to a lot of wildlife. One of the most noticeable wildlife that you can often find in the marshes of Crex during the warm months are the very large sandhill cranes. Sandhills can be found in Crex through out the spring and summer but the largest populations are seen in the fall when migrant birds use crex as a staging area for the fall migration.

Crex Meadows stands on what is sometimes referred to as the Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens. The barrens is a long narrow sand plain that was formed as the Wisconsin glacier retreated 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. As the glacier retreated north, glacial till was deposited in the area forming the sand prairies that make up the Barrens and much of Crex.

The sand prairies support the growth of many different prairie grasses and plants. Wild flowers like butterfly weed, black-eyed Susan, and blazing star help to add color to the prairie and attract butterflies like the pink edged sulphur, pictured above, and the Aphrodite fritillary, pictured above the sulphur.

As the Wisconsin Glacier receded it also created Glacial Lake Grantsburg over where Crex now stands. Over the years the lake drained away leaving shallow sedge marshes behind. Today there is approximately 6000 acres of open water with in the Wildlife Management Area. Most of this comes from the twenty-nine flowages which are managed by a series of dikes, pumps and transfer ditches. Besides the flowages there are also four natural lakes, numerous ponds and three streams which begin on the property.

These waterways are home to many different types of wildlife including fish, reptiles, mammals, and waterfowl. Some of the waterfowl are visitors who stop in the spring and the fall during migration to rest and to feed. Other waterfowl like the common loon and pied-billed grebe can be found all summer long. The common loon in the photo above is an immature that was born in the park and photographed on Phantom Lake. For more information about Crex Meadows check out their website here.

Return trip to Crex Meadows

On June 30 we made another trip back up to Crex Meadows to see if we could get some better shots of the trumpeter swan cygnets that we had seen 2 weeks before. Crex Meadows is a wildlife management area located just over the border in Wisconsin. The name comes from the Crex Carpet company who once owned the land. The Crex Carpet Co. made grass rugs and used the wetlands to grow and harvest the grass for the rugs which where made in St Paul, MN. During the 1930's the company fell on hard times and during the depression they were not able to pay the taxes on the land. The state of Wisconsin purchased 12,000 acres of the land in 1946 and developed Crex Meadows. The Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area in Minnesota is on land that also once belonged to the Crex Carpet Co. It's history is pretty much the same as Crex Meadows.

Crex consists mainly of open fields with lakes, ponds and pools controlled by a system of dikes and damns. There are some wooded areas on the borders of the park which are managed through routine cutting and burning. This helps promote the growth of the natural prairie.

Hunting is allowed in Crex Meadows during normal Wisconsin hunting seasons. Much of the financial support for the park comes from hunting licence fees. 2400 acres of the park is set aside as a wildlife refuge where hunting and trapping is not allowed.

It was a beautiful day, warm but not too hot with clear blue skies. We drove around to the eastern side of the park and headed up the East Refuge Road. As we drove we saw an american bald eagle flying overhead so we stopped to take a couple of pictures. We took my wife Honda, besides good gas mileage it also has a moon roof which is very helpful for spotting birds flying overhead.
We decided to turn West onto the Main Dike Road. The Main Dike Road travels East to West and is the south border of the refuge. It scurts several different waterways and is one of the best place to see waterfowl. It is also where we saw a group of cygnets on our last trip. As we started down the Main Dike Road we saw a common loon in a perfect pose standing in the water with it wings stretched out behind it. Unfortunately by the time we got close enough and got the car stopped he had sat back down into the water.
We sat and watched him for a while hoping that he would pose for us again, but after a while he moved off into the grass and so we moved on. At the Osprey platform in the Refuge Extension Flowage we saw another eagle but it was far away and took of before we could set up for a picture. We continued on the Main Dike Road off of the refuge and into the wildlife management area. Around Dike 5 we saw a pair of trumpeter swans with 5 cygnets. One of the adults was eating vegetation from under the water. The other adult and the cygnets were eating grasses on the shore. They were still a ways away but were closer then we had seen them 2 weeks before.

After shooting a couple gigs worth of pictures we decided to head down south to Phantom Lake. In the Zulliger Flowage we spotted another pair of trumpeters. This pair had no cygnets but they were very close to the road and very photogenic.
They also where not banded which is unusual for trumpeters at Crex.
At Phantom Lake we did not see much except for a mourning cloak butterfly.So we decided to head to the visitors center to use the restrooms and check out any sightings. After our break we decided to head back to Phantom Lake to try and find the red-necked grebes that have been reported to be breeding on the south side of the lake. We did not find the grebes but we did find a pair of sandhill cranes with a chick in tow.
Crex supports a small population of sandhills through out spring and summer. During the fall migration up to 7000 or more sandhills stop at Crex to eat for the long trip south. While Crex may not have the sheer numbers that you can see at the Platte River in Nebraska during the spring migration in March it does typically offer better and closer views. I have photographed sandhills nesting in Yellowstone but this was my first opportunity to photograph a sandhill chick. We soon lost the chick in the high grass so we decided to head back up to the Main Dike Road again. The Swan family were all in the water and had moved near to Dike 4. This time they were close to the road and easier to photograph.
They even obliged us some fantastic poses.

We continued down Main Dike Road and found the common loon back close to shore again.

This time we were ready when he posed for us.
We continued on and when we got close to the intersection of Main Dike Rd and East Refuge Rd a white tailed deer and fawn ran across the road. I grabbed the camera and was able to squeeze off a couple of shots before the disappeared into the brush.Since the sun was already very high in the sky, it was past 1:30 and my blood sugar was getting low we decided not to north side of the park. Next time I will have to remember to bring some food. Last fall while we were on the north side we photographed a peregrine falcon. there are also nesting osprey and eagles but we will have to save that for another trip.

Crex part 2

Here are some of the other pictures that we took on June 17th. We did see a pair of common loons. Common loons are the state bird of Minnesota and one of my favorite waterfowl. We were hoping to see some loon chicks but there were none that we could find.
The problem with photographing loons is getting the red eye to show up on the black head. It was particularly hard on this occasion because it was pretty cloudy in the morning when we saw the loons. We did find a duck with some chicks. Unfortunately I have a hard time identifying many of the female ducks since many look the same. If anyone knows what type this is please feel free to post in the comment section.There were a few heron and egrets out wading in the shallows
We also saw quite a few butterfly.

My wife got some great shots of a monarch on matching orange flowers.
She also got some great shots of a white tail doe and fawn.

While I was setting up my tripod to get some close ups she was clicking away. Good thing too because the doe got a little worried about us watching and led the fawn away before I got completely set up.
Typical. Oh well, we will try going back in a couple of weeks and maybe my luck will be a little bit better.