I’d been traveling for two days and was tired of being treated like a number. I’m at a cabin in northern Wisconsin, the Pacific of Hawaii still in me. Opening the door, I step over a creaking threshold, my boots landing on a green throw rug, a lily pad on the lake. Soon I’m listening to the crackle of a wood fire in the stove.
A sustained wail rises from the lake, a loon call, its a mystical and high-pitched sound that could be angst or ecstasy. The loon speaks in four calls: wail, yodel, tremolo, and hoot. Tonight it wails, a territorial signal that’s music to me. Loons have recently flown back from the Gulf of Mexico, a nearly 1500-mile journey.
The Ojibwe of this area once spoke of the loon as maang, meaning the most handsome of birds. It’s also the most ancient of birds, long before humans. North American field guides often place the loon near the beginning, by evolutionary order.
Its wail echoes over the lake, much louder than summer sounds when leafy trees mute decibels. Their wail anchors me and sets me down here and now in the present. I travel briefly to a memory of a mariachi, and a high note from a Mexican trumpet playing near the sea in Mexico.
I step outside to see late fall’s first dusting of snow, a kind of stillness I’ve written about in Window Light in the Pines. I haven’t made a snowball in years, so I form one about the size of a baseball and throw it into the woods. My right arm rebels at the motion.
I take a short walk from the cabin to the road, looking down to see my boot soles making tracks. Snow gathers on the leaves. The woods are silent. I pause to look down again; certain I’ll see blood.
Questions and Answers
What does a loon sound like at night?
A loon’s nighttime call is a high-pitched, sustained wail that carries a haunting or ecstatic fee. It echoes more clearly in colder seasons when leaves no longer dampen the sound.
How far do loons migrate?
Loons migrate long distances between northern lakes and coastal waters. Many travel from regions like the Gulf of Mexico back to northern breeding grounds, covering a few thousand miles each season.
What are the four calls of a loon?
Loons make four primary vocalizations: the wail, yodel, tremolo, and hoot. Each serves a different purpose, including communication, territorial signaling, and maintaining contact with mates or young.
Why are loons often placed at the beginning of field guides?
North American field guides often place loons near the beginning because of their evolutionary classification. They belong to an ancient lineage of waterbirds and are grouped early in taxonomic order.
What does the loon symbolize in Ojibwe culture?
In Ojibwe tradition, the loon is known as maang, often interpreted as “the most handsome of birds.” It is associated with clarity, presence, and a deep connection to water and place.
Why does sound carry farther over a lake in late fall?
In late fall, sound carries farther across a lake because there are fewer leaves to absorb it and cooler air conditions allow sound waves to travel more efficiently over water.
Related from the Northwoods series:
In northern Wisconsin, the haunting loon call echoes across the still waters, its eerie sound embodying both beauty and mystery.
What did you notice here? I welcome your thoughts.