{"id":142718,"date":"2025-04-07T02:37:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T07:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=142718"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:34:11","slug":"spring-common-loon-memories-the-aba-bird-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/07\/spring-common-loon-memories-the-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Common Loon Memories – The ABA Bird Of The Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I\u2019m sharing a spring Common Loon photo I took exactly two years ago, on a chilly morning at a pond near where I lived back then in Salt Lake County, Utah.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring Common Loon going into breeding plumage \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

My dear friend Shane<\/span><\/a> found the first loon and shared it with me, and later on I had a few great sessions photographing the loons at that pond with my other dear friend, April<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This particular Common Loon, the first one, hadn’t quite reached full breeding plumage when it visited the local pond. I didn\u2019t mind one bit. I was simply thrilled to have this gorgeous waterbird in my viewfinder for several days.<\/p>\n

The winter before the loons arrived had been especially snowy, particularly in the high country where many ponds, lakes, and reservoirs were still frozen over during migration.<\/p>\n

That meant the spring Common Loons dropped into the valley, where open water gave them a chance to fish and refuel before continuing on to their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

I zealously took thousands of photos of the loons that visited the pond, and I\u2019m extremely glad I did. Just a few weeks later, my life began to take a different turn with my mother\u2019s health declining and her eventual passing.<\/p>\n

By this time last year, I was seeing Utah in my rearview mirror, and my opportunities to photograph loons so close to home had disappeared.<\/p>\n

Common Loon: The ABA Bird of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my opinion, the ABA (American Birding Association) picked an outstanding bird for 2025’s Bird of the Year<\/span><\/a>. Common Loons are striking visually, their calls touch something deep inside us, and they are fascinating and sometimes mysterious!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Common Loon photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142715,"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":[4004,4053,3528,5423,3529,16370,10578,3531,10698,1984,165,8018,3996,5123,16369],"class_list":["post-142718","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-floating","tag-gavia-immer","tag-going-into","tag-loon","tag-loons","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-spring","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterbirds","tag-willow-pond-park"],"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