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Loon Magic - Wayzata Technology (8011) (1993).iso
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1993-07-26
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AQUATIC TURF
"The remote, spruce-edged lake shown under the cold, bright
moonlit spring night; a gray crust, the last remains of winter's ice,
glittered along the lake's shore. Abruptly the silence was broken by
loud wails, yodels, eerie cries and splashing of water. It was our first
signal that the loons had arrived back from their winter sojourn in
the south, ready for another season." -David Ewert, 1983
Announcing their arrival on the northern lakes with yodel calls,
common loons waste little time in establishing their territory. Most
scientists believe the male (only the male gives the yodel call)
arrives first, a few days to a week before the female. If a loon has a
few breeding seasons behind it, the search for territory might be a
short one. Scientific evidence to support the view is growing: loons
probably return to the same territory each year. On the waters of
Minnesota's Roseau Wildlife Area, Judy McIntyre captured an adult
loon which she had banded in the same area the summer before. Of
course, thousands of loon watchers see their loons return to their
lake each year. Without some visual marker on the bird, however,
some of those observations reflect more romance than reality. It is
safe to say, however, that most loons do return to the same lakes and
territories each season.
*****