JCM Blog, Gavia Immer
Happy Friday to you all!
Before I jump into today’s topic, let me thank you for the “likes” and “follows” you’ve generously offered on my JCM social media accounts. Your interest, encouragement, kind words - all are appreciated and will never go unnoticed. Please accept my gratitude from my heart to yours.
Gavia Immer (scientific name for the Common Loon) is the first track on Homage to the Northwoods. It is a tale, a scene, a moment in time set to music. The loons’ calls and unique behavioral exhibitions are more than captivating and can conjure up strong feelings and emotions. For me, these feelings cannot be expressed fully with words, only in composing.
Gavia Immer liner notes:
The Common Loon is an iconic Northwoods waterfowl and a prodigious diver. Revered for their beautiful calls and primordial behavior, the loons survive with qualities to be admired: loyalty, patience, commitment, and beauty. The motif in this piece represents the yodel call of the male loon. The middle section represents the many dives where the loons are on the hunt for a well-deserved meal.
Let’s focus on the common loon’s quality of “loyalty.” No question that loyalty is essential for their survival. While I won’t pretend to be an ethologist, I do catch myself humanizing the common loons’ instinctual behavior. Many of us do just that with wildlife and, of course, with our domestic friends. It does no harm. Regarding loyalty, a loon pair is known to mate for life, returning to the same lake year after year. There are exceptions, but few.
When you observe a loon pair, with or without chicks, you are witnessing a committed relationship. There are jobs to be done, responsibilities, enemies to stave off- all accomplished in tandem; loyalty presented right before our very eyes. From nest building to chick feeding and rearing, the male and female loons are a team. They offer a demonstration of refined animal instincts that astounds us humans. We can learn.
Next week I will introduce to you an organization with which I’ve become involved. The Michigan Loon Preservation Association (MLPA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve the Common Loon as a breeding bird in Michigan through public education, research, and the protection and management of loons and their habitat.
In the meantime, I hope that you’ll visit the All About Birds - Common Loon webpage from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Enjoy your weekend!
Julie
Click below to open Julie’s YouTube music video, Gavia Immer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkJUFGHNa2c
Click below to visit All About Birds - Common Loon webpage from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology