Molly and I have reached the Arctic. Tomorrow we start touring on our bicycles, but today was reserved for recovering from the 7 hour time change. My advance research had shown a small Tromso pond might have Red-Throated Loons. Oh my … arriving at 9:15 this morning after a 2 km hike uphill we found over 25 loons! It was a great morning.
Dance of the Red-Throated Loons
Mom keeps watch over her young
Portrait Perfect
Tromso Waterfront Yesterday Evening
Trekkies will recognize this phrase. Apparently Merlins are fans of Spock. Sorry Kirk.
However if you are a “tweety bird”, the phrase is most inappropriate as this young merlin demonstrated shortly after sunrise this morning.
Eventually the Merlins moved out into the morning sun for some good morning stretches.
Finally, the Kingfisher kids have fledged at the mouth of the Lester River. Thus, there is lots of fishing going on between the London Road and RR Bridges. Here is a photo of Mom watching the young.
Now it’s off to Tromso, Norway tomorrow morning.
If you have the time and inclination, a visit to where Brighton Beach Road exits back up to Scenic 61 is worth a drive shortly after sunrise. You will meet the world famous Merlin quadruplets.
A Pair of Merlins
Look Overhead … It’s Merlin Mom!
Begging to the Left … Begging to the Right
It’s not a Foot, It’s a Talon!
Merlin Video (direct link)