As we continue to rebound from the recent April snowstorm along the Colorado Front Range, the afternoons are warm but the mornings remain chilly. This morning, an hour after dawn, I made my usual circuit around Eaglewatch Lake at South Platte Park, noting that the ducks continue to decline in both number and variety.
Joining them on this crisp spring morning was a common loon, festooned in his attractive breeding plumage. Looking at home in the dry, cold air, he was fishing on the deeper waters, stopping for periods to rest and preen. He and his fellow common loons breed on lakes across Alaska, Canada and the northernmost States of the U.S. and primarily winter on bays along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts of North America.
This morning's visitor was just stopping in the South Platte Valley to rest and feed on his way to the North Country; fortunately, I was there to enjoy his presence. As I watched him, chilled by a cold east breeze, I was taken back to my past travels through Maine, Michigan and Canada and wondered where his journey will end.
