We spent a week at Otter Lake with family, and one day I paddled out in the kayak to find a mother loon on the nest, hidden among the bulrushes on a tiny island. As I got closer, I could see the father about 300 yards away — and then suddenly he dove, and within about two seconds he was right beside me, standing up on his feet and paddling around hooting, clearly trying to get me to leave, which I did.
The next day when I went out for a paddle, I saw the two adult loons and thought at first something had happened to the nest, but then as I got closer, I saw a tiny little lump of feathers on the mother’s back. And as I followed them (at a respectful distance) the little lump of feathers slid into the water and started paddling around with his mom and dad. Very cool.