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Common Loon
The legs are way back on the body.
For propulsion, loons sweep their legs in unison, laterally and backwards, the same as humans do with the breast stroke,
Loons have an incredible cardio/pulmonary capacity. I have twice seen one loon chase another on the pond surface, around the perimeter of this mile-long pond (the second of my boyhood) and just keep going and going (stopping once for a breather) and then continuing full speed, for maybe 20 minutes!
A loon that chooses to reach another point by swimming just beneath the surface (rather than running on the surface or flying) will commonly swim 200 yards laterally underwater, and is capable of 400 (estimated) yards. Again, personal observations.
We currently have a loon on the first pond of my boyhood that is only using one leg.
But it is not flopping. The loon apparently has control of, as it is *holding* its leg out to the side and rigidly. Obviously it is injured. My guess is that it hurts and so it is holding as still as possible and that it will heal. We will see.
Edited on Jul 22, 2022 at 02:27 PM · View previous versions
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