Bob Fleury, over at 906 Superiorland Sunrises has been taking daily sunrise photos in the Marquette area for over 12 years now and he always seems to capture the beauty in different scenes, each one stunning in its own way. Bob snapped these recently, looking toward the Presque Isle Breakwall Light, which was built in 1941 and in 2016, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. There is a distinctive flashing red light to warn boats of the breakwall jutting out into Lake Superior. The light is accessible to walkers via the breakwall, but stay off it during dangerous weather, you wouldn’t want to get washed off by the waves. The Upper Peninsula is often referred to as “God’s Country”... one of Bob’s fans commented on these photos, saying: “God’s country showing its glory!” I totally agree!

When you hear the haunting echo call of a loon, are you curious or afraid? We join Whisker Tales for a look at the Loon and its interesting call. And just for the record... when I hear a loon in the quiet around Lake Superior, I find it quite relaxing.

Hi
As always, beautiful pictures. I like the second
photo. However, the color of the foreground rocks
makes me suspect that the colors were altered. Though
I do recall that nature can come up with some
unbelievable colors. The last photo is also striking.

My mom loved loons. There was a line of CDs called
"Solitudes" where music and wildlife sounds were
intermingled; the loon calls were lovely. I've also
heard loon calls used where the filmaker wants
"something eerie".

WOW that is one stunning sunrise!
Love how he centered the breakwall
light over the sun in photo #4.
And nothing says summer in the UP
like a loon song echoing over calm
lake waters. One of the great places to
observe them is at Seney Wildlife Refuge.
Nests there have a high success rate due
to lack of boats and other human
disturbance. From the Cornell
Ornithology Lab: The oldest recorded
Common Loon was a female, and at
least 29 years and 10 months old when
she was spotted in Michigan in 2016 and
identified by her band. She was originally
banded in the same state in 1989.

Outstanding pictures today. Gorgeous.

Cindy...holy wha...29 years and 10 months? WOWOWOW!

I remember hearing a story about a lady who found a
loon, almost dead, on land. She didn't know what to
do, so called 911...fortunately, the 911 operator
knew to tell her to get it to the lake...she
did...and the loon swam off. Way cool.

Stunning sunrise set!!!
And the loon video was very interesting.
I never knew that their legs were so far back.
When they try to walk, it makes them look looney.

Hi
Cindy, my mom & dad & I did get a good look at a loon
family when we visited Seney. The chicks were getting
to big to get a ride on their mother's back---but
that didn't stop them from trying.

Alex, according to Wikipedia the name "loon" is
possibly related to their leg position and its effect
on their gait:"The North American name "loon" likely
comes from either the Old English word lumme, meaning
lummox or awkward person, or the Scandinavian word
lum meaning lame or clumsy. Either way, the name
refers to the loon's poor ability to walk on land."
An alternative suggestion is that it was named for
its call: "...from the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish
word lom for these birds, which comes from Old Norse
lómr, possibly cognate with English "lament",
referring to the characteristic plaintive sound of
the loon."

I think that they are good flyers, though, in
addition to being good swimmers.

Absolutely breathtaking. Imagine living on this
lake and walking up to this nearly every day. A
girl can dream.