Dear sir:
Hi, this is “Rapid Robert” again. Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of static because I’ve not written one of my stories in the Times.
You may remember some of my stories that I wrote about the loon and the time I rescued one that was in trouble, and subsequent stories related to it.
Yesterday, I was at Nestor Falls and Red Deer Lodge, where the stories originally took place. The lake is not broken up of ice as yet, but I walked down to the dock and there was that loon that has returned year after year looking for its mate.
Evidently, the little opening of water between the ice and shore gave her enough room to land, and was searching for her mate. It really stirred me up when I walked down and she started swimming towards me.
I talked to her as one does to birds or animals, and eventually she dove and left. This has happened—year after year—since about 1982 when the original story of losing her mate took place.
Soon the ice will leave the bay and she can be found, specifically out by the buoy, for the rest of the summer.
The life span of the “common loon” is roughly 32 years.
The red buoy is her last stand before leaving for the south every fall as that’s where the original story took place.
Respectfully,
Bob Cottam
Nestor Falls, Ont.