Photo Details

Not too far from the Common Loon, this Red-throated Loon was diving and resurfacing.   I kept moving the car to try and anticipate where it would resurface – I call that The Game.   Finally it rested on the surface for a while, did a little preening, and flapped.   The sequence of the flapping was pretty nice, but I really liked the head-on look with the bill pointed straight at the camera.   Now I know what is the last thing an Anchovy sees!

The Aleutian Goose Festival in Crescent City, CA  www.aleutiangoosefestival.org is hands-down my FAVORITE bird festival in North America.   The Festival was founded to help protect the migration stopover of the Aleutian Goose, at that time a sub-species of Canada Goose that was on the Endangered Species List.    In subsequent years, the Aleutian Goose was removed from the Endangered Species List, and became reclassified as a member of the Cackling Goose species complex.  The geese are now doing fine.   I love the festival because the people are wonderful, the scenery is great, and the digiscoping opportunities are everywhere – seabirds, waterfowl, gulls, landbirds, even scenic shots and sunsets against the famous Crescent City Lighthouse.    Sometimes you have to wait a few days for good weather, but it is worth it!

1/320 sec @ ISO 800