Looney Tunes

While waiting for our food to come at a local restaurant I arose from my chair and walked to a window to observe whatever might be there to entertain or amuse me.  A small channel ran parallel to the building we were in and a stand of cattails had made a nice forest that shot up out of the slow moving water… water that was making its way to the river barely a hundred yards away.  Whatever places the cattail forest did not occupy in the barely moving water, a green algae was growing and forming little islands for flying insects to rest on for a moment as they fluttered about doing whatever it is that they do.

Surprisingly, the last thing that I noticed (yet demanded my attention for the duration of my observations) was a small water fowl… I was pretty sure it was a loon, a small one… maybe not yet fully mature.  With interest I watched the bird swim around the algae islands dipping its head under the surface of the water… I supposed it was finding something to eat… whether it was plant or animal I had no idea.  This it did several times as it navigated around the floating algae.  The bird swam toward the cattail stands in its search for whatever it was searching for.  Curiously, at one point it dove completely underwater and all I could see was the wake on the water’s surface that sent ripples fanning out in a “V” pattern into the forest and whatever else was there to break up the swells… including both sides of the canal.  As the point of the “V” neared the cattails the bird surfaced… I assumed it had gotten a meal... which was more that I could say for me.  Again, I had no idea what morsel the loon had found to call lunch.  I thought of frogs or tadpoles, but really had no clue.

I knew I was supposed to be having BBQ pork sliders and onion rings, but had no clue about the loon… I did know he was getting to eat sooner than I by being his own hunter, chef, and waiter.  But I was being entertained by his good fortune.  Something else I didn’t know about the loon… what was he doing?  No… I don’t mean literally “what was he doing?”  That was obvious, he was there for the same reason as we were… lunch!  But what does a loon do? 

What is the purpose of a loon?  Looks to me like he was there just trying to find enough food to make it to another day… and if he did, then what?  Find food for the next day?  I guess.  Or, maybe he would become food for some large fish or raptor.  Sure, the loon has its place in the food chain… he eats everything below him in the chain and is eaten by everything higher.  Eat or be eaten… wow, that doesn’t seem to be a great purpose for being. 

Well enough of my contemplations… looks like our food is here.  And what else would be on the big screen T.V. in the restaurant… Daffy Duck!