A few times a year, we go to my grandparents cottage which is located in a small bay on Jack Lake, close to a town called Apsley.

Now, the lake and surrounding area is home to many different animals, such as deer, turtles, a variety of different fish, a variety of different birds such as duck, geese, heron, and many others. One of my more memorable events there was a day last summer when we saw three loons swimming around by our dock. It appeared that there were two parents, and one that seemed to be the baby. They stayed in the small bay our cottage is located on, for most of the day, and as the baby stayed on the surface, the two parents dove down, caught food, and came back up to feed it.

Later that day, while the loons were a bit further out in the bay, my sister and I paddled out on a hot dog shaped tube, to get a closer look at the loons. As we approached, the parents continued to get food for the baby, diving down and then coming back up to feed it.

However, when we were about five metres away from them, the baby and one of the parents went out a bit more and the parent continued to feed the baby. The other parent stayed near us and dove under. As it did we could see what appeared to be it’s white-feathered stomach moving through the water beneath us. At this point we had no idea what it was doing. Maybe it was swimming under to meet the baby and other parent? It suddenly burst up from under the water and squawked at us. We were so scared, and started to paddle as fast as we could to the dock. As we did, it went under again and then came back up, but on a different side of the hot dog. It burst up and yelled at us again.

The loon continued to swim under and burst up and squawk at us. I think it even travelled under us and one moment, I thought it might jump right on the tube. Finally, it returned to the baby and another parent. Still scared, we paddled as fast as we could until we got to the dock.

Later that day, we saw the baby diving down as well, probably to get its own food with the parents.

I enjoy going up to my grandparents’ cottage, having fun with family and doing different activities, mostly in, on and sometimes out, but usually near the water. This area is also quite sheltered from the outside world.

It was really nice to see that the loon family was still in the bay a few weeks later. Perhaps their home is close by.

I hope that this Watermark can help in any way it can, to inform others of the importance of water, to save our world’s water sources, and other ways as well.