Air Date: Week of July 17, 2026

Loons make their home in the waters of Seney National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo: © Mark Seth Lender)

The iconic loon with its haunting, far-reaching call can be found in many lakes and wetlands throughout North America, including at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan. That’s where Living on Earth Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender spotted a pair one foggy morning.

Transcript

O’NEILL: Minnesota, which is home to Voyageurs National Park, has the most loons in the Lower 48. But you can find these birds in many lakes and wetlands throughout North America, including at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan. That’s where Living on Earth Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender spotted a pair one foggy morning.

Loon in Fog
Seney National Wildlife Refuge
© 2025 Mark Seth Lender
All Rights Reserved

LENDER: The hour cannot be tolled by the light. Fog has made its own time of day. A luminous magic gray. Within gray. And yet reveals. Loon. Asleep. Turning and turning in the eddy of the spillway as the ponds pour, each into the other. One above. One below. And the spider webs along the edges are aglow, the droplets gemlike on the strands. Like ripples stilled in place.

The quality of an ice storm on this the Longest Day.

Loon wakes. To make a certainty of the safety promised here. And safe, tucks between the wings.

Not far, another Loon. Looking this way and that way. Seeking, and seeking. Not long and sunrise breaks. The colors of smoke, orange and gold and the water scored black by shadows. How the fog trembles in the arcade of light cast in a narrow column by the sun. Paddling through her path is straight. Will each of them find the other?

This is the thing discovered only in the wake made by Time.

O’NEILL: That’s Living on Earth Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender and you can find his beautiful pictures of loons on our website, LOE dot org.

[LOON CALL: Canadian Loons in family.wav by laurent -- https://freesound.org/s/163300/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0]

O’NEILL: And this of course is the haunting call of the loon.

[LOON CALL: Canadian Loons in family.wav by laurent -- https://freesound.org/s/163300/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0]

O’NEILL: Mated pairs of loons often make this far-reaching wail to communicate across long distances. Loons are also known for their territorial or warning “tremolo” call if you get too close to their chicks. Another name for it is the “crazy laugh.”

[LOON CALL: Canadian Loons in family.wav by laurent -- https://freesound.org/s/163300/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0]

 

Links

Visit Mark Seth Lender’s website here

Learn more about the Seney National Wildlife Refuge