{"id":75013,"date":"2020-10-31T05:56:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T11:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75013"},"modified":"2023-04-09T02:25:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T08:25:39","slug":"common-loon-in-an-uncommon-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/31\/common-loon-in-an-uncommon-location\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Loon In An Uncommon Location"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NonbreedingNonbreeding adult\/immature Common Loon on the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Bird photography was a little slow at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning until I spotted a Common Loon floating on the Bear River. I don’t see Common Loons all that often down that low in the valley so I was excited to take photos of the loon as it foraged, dove and resurfaced on the calm water of the river. Until yesterday all of my Utah sightings of Common Loons have been high in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains on reservoirs and alpine lakes.<\/p>\n

This Common Loon is most likely migrating and set down on the Bear River to refuel and rest.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Loon floating on the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I labeled this Common Loon as nonbreeding adult\/immature. The sexes have the same appearance except that adult males are slightly larger than females and when you only have one bird in front of you it is not possible to compare sizes.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Loon on the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I could wish that the Common Loon had been closer but honestly I am just glad I found it. When I first saw the black and white plumage while traveling down the road my brain registered Western\/Clark’s Grebe until I saw its large bill and I knew immediately that it was a Common Loon.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>My Common Loon sighting on the Bear River (Click the graphic to view larger)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was curious as to how many times Common Loons had been found on the Bear River so I looked that up last night on eBird year round for all years and was surprised at how few sightings there have been reported. Not everyone uses eBird though so there may be more than show up on the graphic above. There sure aren’t many Common Loon sightings for that section of the Bear River!<\/p>\n

To the far right of this graphic there is a red marker which indicates a Common Loon sighting by Dickson Smith on 29 October, 2020. I can only wonder if the Common Loon he saw was the same bird I found the next day. It is possible that it is or it might be a different loon. Who knows, there might be two of them. I don’t like to guess though.<\/p>\n

My eBird checklist is here.<\/span><\/a> Dickson’s eBird checklist is here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spotting a Common Loon in an uncommon location was the absolute highlight of my morning.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bird photography was a little slow at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning until I spotted a Common Loon floating on the Bear River.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96708,"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":[124,27,1148,3527,26],"tags":[4529,3528,4159,5423,4136,3529,10578,3531,10579,4246,5558,6248,10580,3996],"class_list":["post-75013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-common-loons","category-utah","tag-bear-river","tag-common-loon","tag-diving","tag-floating","tag-foraging","tag-gavia-immer","tag-loon","tag-loons","tag-nonbreeding-adult-immature","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-river","tag-surfacing","tag-uncommon-at-location","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/common-loon-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-0509.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jvT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96698,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/26\/autumn-common-loon-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":75013,"position":0},"title":"Autumn Common Loon Memory","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost one year ago I spotted a Common Loon floating on the Bear River after a somewhat disappointing morning for birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Autumn Common Loon on migration, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/common-loon-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0490.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/common-loon-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0490.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"May 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"World Migratory Bird Day is observed on the second Saturday of May every year to promote the significance of preserving migratory birds and their habitats.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Loon on spring migration, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/common-loon-migration-mia-mcpherson-7856.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/common-loon-migration-mia-mcpherson-7856.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/common-loon-migration-mia-mcpherson-7856.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/common-loon-migration-mia-mcpherson-7856.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":75013,"position":3},"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":142718,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/07\/spring-common-loon-memories-the-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":75013,"position":4},"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":112910,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/25\/common-loon-seeing-red\/","url_meta":{"origin":75013,"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\/75013","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=75013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}