A Loony Lake

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During the autumn as birds start migrating south, many flocks of loons and geese make pit stops in the various lakes near Madison. The one near my apartment particularly tends to fill with loons from early autumn even into winter when it's partially frozen.

A+ and I took a short jaunt to go loon-watching, when the first little flocks started to arrive. They look a bit more sparse in the photo somehow than they did in real life, but there's still quite a high density of loons!

My favorite part about them is the hilarious sounds they make. If you've never heard a loon, at least these particular ones, they sound to me kind of like plugged ducks. It sounds like are trying to quack, but they get stuffed up halfway, so it comes out as a super short, high-pitched, slightly quacky peep. "Peep peep peep." And they constantly make sounds, so it's just a chorus of hilarious peeping anytime you get close to a bunch of loons.

Unlike ducks, the loons are definitely not accustomed to people approaching, so as soon as you walk near the waterline, they all turn around and frantically paddle away. Come back loons, I just want to get a picture!

These ducks, though, are definitely ruling the roost. That branch is theirs and they're not moving for anybody. I actually didn't notice the female duck when I was taking the photos. It was only afterwards when A+ said something about two ducks that I realized there was a second one. I guess camouflage works on me ^_^

We also encountered a woolly bear caterpillar on the walking path next to the lake. This one had made its way mostly across the path by the time we saw it, but there were a lot of other ones trying to cross the road. They look so cuddly and cute!

On the way back, I noticed this beautiful tree that had turned completely red. It's such a lovely symbol of autumn! On a follow-up note, this same tree was completely bald the next time I saw it (about a week later). I found that surprising and a bit hilarious, but so it goes.

The view of autumn trees from across the lake makes such a nice landscape. It's almost like being inside a Bob Ross painting.

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