Two Loons at Lake Lanier before they disappear until fall.
Spring has finally come to Lake Lanier and the shorelines are ablaze with colors from the dogwoods, mountain laurel, rhododendron, wild azaleas and the constant movement of animals and birds. Sediments deposited from recent rains mix with the constantly falling pollen to give the lake water a greener color. Surface temperatures are rising above 60 degrees for the first time, and the spotted bass population has turned its interest to food and making love!
The only sad part of the spring season is that the beautiful loons that have been here throughout the winter months will soon disappear until next fall. With the possible exception of bird watchers, it wasn’t until the movie, “On Golden Pond,” that most people ever noticed loons, and up until a few years ago, none were seen in our area. For some unknown reason, however, these mysterious visitors from the North start showing up around mid November and remain until early May.
For those unfamiliar with this magnificent waterfowl, some facts are in order. The common loon can fly nearly 60 miles per hour, swim faster than most fish, can remain under water easily for five to 10 minutes and their haunting song penetrates the morning fog on Lake Lanier like the beam of a powerful searchlight!
Great Blue Heron in the mist.
As always, it will be a sad morning when I go out on Lake Lanier one day soon and don’t hear that high-pitched, lonely song that has warmed my heart throughout this past winter and early spring. Nevertheless, I know that summer’s madness of boats and mass humanity will pass, and that when the lake again welcomes the cool breezes of late fall, the loons and sanity will again return to Lanier.
This sad change, however, opens the door to another awakening of mother nature’s magnificent magic wand! We are beginning to see numerous pairs of nesting ospreys and great blue herons with their young.
An Osprey in flight over Lake Lanier
In the early mornings of most days, I become almost mesmerized by the graceful flying of large birds in the air currents above my boat. With almost no apparent effort, these beautiful creatures of nature sail and turn on invisible wind currents. Though you will see an occasional bald eagle or a redtail hawk, most of these great birds are ospreys.
Within seconds, their poetic motions can change dramatically with a downward burst of their powerful wings that become tucked … the osprey becomes a streamlined projectile hurtling toward the calm surface of the water. No more than a couple of yards from impact, the magnificent wings are partially deployed to slow the crash into the water, and the legs are extended with the deadly talons spread. In less than a blink of the eye, this crafty bird of prey is in and out of the water and climbing back skyward with a fish making its last movements in the clutches of the razor-sharp talons. This life and death struggle to feed their family is a daily routine because fish comprise 100 percent of the osprey’s diet.
Great Blue Heron on a a nest
Mom and pop Osprey on a nest
A young Redtail Hawk at Lanier
Great blue herons can also be seen nesting with their young in many of the high trees along Lanier’s shorelines. These great birds are also fun to watch as they catch fish while waiting near the red clay banks all over the lake. Unlike the osprey, their flight is slow and graceful.
Spring always offers spectacular scenery at the lake, but the surprising wildlife and bird encounters combined with great fishing gives so much more! An abundance of picturesque flora and active fauna are a major part of the continuously changing kaleidoscope of natural splendor at Lake Lanier!
Photos: by Bill Vanderford
