{"id":112213,"date":"2023-04-08T03:09:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-08T09:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=112213"},"modified":"2023-04-08T03:09:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-08T09:09:57","slug":"common-loon-in-salt-lake-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/08\/common-loon-in-salt-lake-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Loon In Salt Lake County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two days ago I was absolutely, fantastically delighted to spend time photographing a strikingly handsome Common Loon that is almost in breeding plumage. These are my best photos of this species so far.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring Common Loon in Salt Lake County<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent about an hour photographing the loon and I enjoyed every minute even though the temp was 23\u00b0F when I started. The cold didn’t bother me because I was so excited to have this loon in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

The loon moved around on the pond and I followed it at a respectful distance. There were times when I stood still and the loon came in so close to me that I was able to take portraits of the gorgeous black and white, red-eyed waterbird.<\/p>\n

Common Loons do not breed in Utah but can be found here at times. I’ve found them most often in late winter to early spring and I know that they are reported in the fall as well. The speckles of white feathers on this loon’s face, chin, and neck collar indicate that the bird is still transitioning into breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

When I looked through all of the photos that I took of the Common Loon I had a hard time picking favorites. So I decided to just go through and share some of them in a gallery. Please click the first image in the gallery below to view them larger and you can scroll through them from there.<\/p>\n

\"Spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Resting<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>\n

I love how the reflections on the water from nearby homes colors the water in different shades from white, or silver, to bronze. I also included a few images of the loon that showed some habitat in the background.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Loon resting in calm water<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled that I had sunshine in order to photograph this striking Common Loon<\/span><\/a> after such a long gray winter. Additionally, the loon was very cooperative and I greatly appreciated that.<\/p>\n

Many thanks go out to my friend, Shane, for finding this bird and then messaging to let me know about this beautiful loon.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Common Loon photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

*All of the photos were taken using my Nikon D500 with a Nikkor 500mm VR lens and a 1.4x teleconverter attached. All were taken using my tripod as well. My ISO was 500, the aperture, exposure compensation and shutter speed varied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days ago I was absolutely, fantastically delighted to spend time photographing a strikingly handsome Common Loon that is almost in breeding plumage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,3527,709,26],"tags":[4004,4053,3528,3529,10578,3531,10698,1984,3973,165,8018,30,3996,5123],"class_list":["post-112213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-loons","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-common-loon","tag-gavia-immer","tag-loon","tag-loons","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-spring","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-waterbirds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t