Thursday Afternoon Bird Photo: The Loon

Loons hang out in the winter time here in Virginia. They swim in the ocean. This one, however, was either very late or very early - I took this photo last August when loons are supposed to be in much colder climes.

They are quite awkward on land - their feet are situated for use in the water and not on land so they are ungainly to say the least. This one had been swimming for a long time, apparently, when it got tired and decided to hit the beach for a rest. I actually thought it was injured until I read up on how their legs work on land.  It let me get pretty close to take its picture.