Common loon
Chapter 9: Music to Our Ears
Subchapter: Music to my ears—author's choice
From page 164 in the book.
Photo by John Van de Graaff
♫670. Two loons at 50 yards, on a small pond in northern Michigan! I'm unprepared, caught unawares, but run for the recording gear, hoping they'll continue. Minutes later, the two are still at it, apparently one chasing the other, splashing about on the surface, diving together and resurfacing a good distance away, still together. They call all the while, with the "tremolo." Given their behavior, and given that the tremolo is used in agonistic interactions with other loons, this is likely some kind of dispute between two adults. August 17, 2014. Atlanta, Michigan. (9:23)
♫671. The wail. An hour past midnight on a small lake in the remote Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, a nearby loon repeatedly "wails," with other loons in the distant background. With pickerel frogs. May 25, 2002. Mason Lake, Hamilton, New York. (2:41) Recorded by Gregory Budney
♫672. Putting it all together! Listen to the soft "hoot" of a nearby bird at 0:05, followed by wails (e.g., 0:10, 0:20) and male yodels (e.g., nearby at 0:16, 0:30). Early May, 2011. Lake Opeongo in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. (1:39) Generously shared by Lang Elliott and excerpted from Loon Lake, by Lang Elliott and Bob McGuire. From https://store.musicofnature.com/products/loon-lake/: "LOON LAKE features over an hour of continuous, awe-inspiring magic recorded in Algonquin National Park, Ontario, in early May, shortly after ice-out. Listen as loons call from near and far, their wails, yodels, and tremolos echoing across still waters against a backdrop of distant spring peepers. At once relaxing, beautiful and sublime, this recording evokes pure pleasure, and is certain to please." For more offerings from Lang Elliott, see https://musicofnature.com/.