{"id":112489,"date":"2023-04-12T03:25:51","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T09:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=112489"},"modified":"2023-04-12T03:27:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T09:27:26","slug":"more-urban-common-loon-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/12\/more-urban-common-loon-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"More Urban Common Loon Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had two mornings to photograph a Common Loon at a local pond. These photos are from the second morning and they show more action from the striking loon. The first morning the loon swam around a lot<\/span><\/a> but it didn’t provide me with many behavior images. I am not complaining about that first morning at all. I took many lovely images of the loon that day.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring Common Loon with its wings wide open<\/span><\/p>\n

The second morning was different. The loon preened, stretched, flapped its large feet, slept, and flapped its large wings. It also went into alert mode when a Double-crested Cormorant swan by and had American White Pelicans swim up behind it. Additionally, it floated on its side for a bit and tipped its head back a few times.<\/p>\n

Once again, I had a difficult time picking favorites. Again, 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>
<\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Sleepy<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Common<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>\n

I tried to select photos of the loon that showed interesting behavior or poses. This waterbird species isn’t in my viewfinder nearly often enough for my tastes. Happily, I made the most of the time that I had with the loon. I have zero regrets for the hundreds of images I took of this lovely black and white waterbird.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Loon floating on its side<\/span><\/p>\n

After spending about an hour with the Common Loon<\/span><\/a> I decided to look for other birds. I’m especially glad I decided to hang around the loon that morning because after the 7th of April the loon took off and hasn’t been seen since. My friend, Shane, looked for it on the 8th and didn’t see it. Me and April looked for it on the 9th without any luck. I wish the loon a great journey as it heads towards its breeding grounds and I’m thankful that I saw it at all.<\/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":"

I had two mornings to photograph a Common Loon at a local pond. These photos are from the second morning and they show more action from the striking loon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,3527,709,26],"tags":[4004,4540,9588,5552,4053,3528,6239,10011,3529,6306,10578,3531,5329,6733,10698,1984,4019,3973,5371,3964,8298,8018,30,3996,5123,5498],"class_list":["post-112489","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-alert","tag-belly","tag-bill","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-common-loon","tag-flapping","tag-foot","tag-gavia-immer","tag-head","tag-loon","tag-loons","tag-neck","tag-open","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-preening-2","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-sleepy","tag-stretching","tag-tipped","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-waterbirds","tag-wings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-spring-urban-mia-mcpherson-1954.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tgl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":142718,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/07\/spring-common-loon-memories-the-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":112489,"position":0},"title":"Spring Common Loon Memories – The ABA Bird Of The Year","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m sharing a spring Common Loon photo I took exactly two years ago\u2014on a chilly morning at a pond near where I lived back then in Salt Lake County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Common Loon going into breeding plumage, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/common-loon-almost-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/common-loon-almost-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/common-loon-almost-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson1751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/common-loon-almost-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson1751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119283,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/22\/common-loon-checking-me-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":112489,"position":1},"title":"Common Loon Checking Me Out","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I am not feeling up to par, so I am sharing a single Common Loon photo that I took in April at my local pond. They are gorgeous birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Common Loon checking me out, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/common-loon-adult-checking-me-out-mia-mcpherson-4110.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/common-loon-adult-checking-me-out-mia-mcpherson-4110.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/common-loon-adult-checking-me-out-mia-mcpherson-4110.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/common-loon-adult-checking-me-out-mia-mcpherson-4110.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138438,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/03\/common-loon-the-2025-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":112489,"position":2},"title":"Common Loon: The 2025 ABA Bird of the Year","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, the American Birding Association announced that the Common Loon is the 2025 ABA Bird of the Year, and I was so excited. I love these striking loons!","rel":"","context":"In "Common Loons"","block_context":{"text":"Common Loons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/grebes\/common-loons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Migrating Common Loon stopping over, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/common-loon-aba-bird-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7951.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/common-loon-aba-bird-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7951.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/common-loon-aba-bird-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7951.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/common-loon-aba-bird-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7951.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":112705,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/18\/dark-and-moody-common-loon-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":112489,"position":3},"title":"Dark And Moody Common Loon Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The dark and moody nature of the Common Loon has made this bird species a popular subject of mythology and folklore.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Loon in a natural spotlight, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7445.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7445.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7445.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7445.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127322,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/07\/looking-back-common-loon-photos-from-spring-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":112489,"position":4},"title":"Looking Back: Common Loon Photos from Spring 2023","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been a year since I was surprised and delighted to be able to take tons of Common Loon photos at a pond close to where I live in Salt Lake County.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Loon stopping over on spring migration, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/common-loon-spring-migration-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/common-loon-spring-migration-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/common-loon-spring-migration-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/common-loon-spring-migration-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":112910,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/25\/common-loon-seeing-red\/","url_meta":{"origin":112489,"position":5},"title":"Common Loon – Seeing Red","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I'm sharing a Common Loon photo that I took two days ago. I enjoy how the red eyes of the loon were echoed in the reflections on the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Loon - Seeing Red, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-seeing-red-mia-mcpherson-0065.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-seeing-red-mia-mcpherson-0065.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-seeing-red-mia-mcpherson-0065.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/common-loon-adult-seeing-red-mia-mcpherson-0065.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}