The Loon

Here at Storybrook, we live on one of four ponds in the Grove Park neighborhood - Williams Lake, Linda Lake, Delta Lake and Grove Park Lake. We see all manner of waterfowl and wildlife...quite remarkable, really, as our house is but half a mile from WT Harris Blvd, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Charlotte.

Hawks feel quite at home here. Barred owls are frequent visitors. (I love to find their feathers!) In the Spring and Summer we see Great White Herons, Blue Herons, kingfishers, and --of course--Canadian geese and mallards. We've had beavers in the pond, an otter, and one morning just a few months ago, there was a buck in the backyard.

But news spread rapidly around the 'hood when a loon took up residence on Linda Lake. Now, I have never seen a loon. Not up close and personal...nor from afar. Apparently it's quite rare for one to visit a small pond. I'm told they prefer larger bodies of water. So when the news came via email from Mary Kay (our Neighborhood Association maven) I was delighted. I couldn't wait to take my walk and maybe catch a fleeting glimpse of The Linda Lake Loon! Seriously! I've been hearing Katherine Hepburn's quavery voice "The loons, Norman, the loons!" in my head ever since I heard the news.

Sadly, an email received yesterday morning informed me that the loon had been found, injured, on our street. Apparently it "crash landed" on the asphalt. Not sure why.

The good news is that the Linda Lake Loon survived. It was taken to a waterfowl rehabilitator where it was determined that the worst of its problems were abrasions from the bad landing. They are keeping it under observation for 3 days to make sure it didn't sustain any internal injuries. Once they are convinced that the Linda Lake Loon is fully recovered, it will be released back into the wild.

But not at Linda Lake. The loon will be set free near a larger, friendlier body of water.

I'll have to wait for my first glimpse of a loon. But I'm so glad that this little fella (it's a "he") has another shot at life.