Right around the end of September, Lily and Emma were in the cove next to the dock. Lily was teaching Emma to run across the water while flapping her wings furiously: a precursor to flight. (Jack had been absent for several days; I assume he was getting ready to head south.) Lily showed Emma a full takeoff and headed down toward Pushineer.
That was the last we saw of her for over a week.
Nature is pretty cool. With migration-time coming soon, Lily left Emma to learn to sink or swim, if you'll pardon the pun. Here's Emma on her own. Notice how big she's gotten! She'll keep her grayish coloring for two to three years until she fully matures.
Lily did come back for a few days but left again soon after that. We never did see Emma take off, but we last heard her on October 10 and didn't see her on the pond after that, so she either flew away or walked away. (If you've ever seen a loon walk on land, you know there's a reason they don't, if they can help it!)
I did see her over on Denny Pond on October 16th, so I assume that she did learn to fly and that she's enjoying her winter down on the coast. She'll probably spend the next few years down there while she matures, but we're looking forward to seeing her again when she comes back home!
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