GREAT NORTHERN DIVER [Common Loon.]
COLYMBUS GLACIALIS, Linn. [Gavia immer.]
A moment of epiphany. On a visit to Spalding in Lincolnshire - the bulb and tulip centre of England - I visited the small local museum and saw in a large glass case a mounted Great Northern Diver in all its glory. Probably the only way, bar finding a deceased diver, of seeing the extraordinary plumage and form of this wonderful bird close-up. The Loon is just so dashed well designed! It became imperative to (a) immediately adopt the bird as my own personal motif; (b) find out as much as possible about the species and its solitary habits.
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1. Still at the front of Borin's folio of artwork, the large-bodied loon off shore during a fishing expedition. 2. Coloured especially for this website, to emphasize the red eye of the loon, this head and neck in its monochrome form sat on the first page of Borin's one-man comic book 'Urban Paranoia'. 3. Way back to art school: a little egotistical, n'est ce pas? 4. The Deconstructed Loon: from ink blots to clumsy land-walker with dagger-like bill. 5. That last frame in full, glittering in black and white. 6. Loon in flight and (7.) in full cry on the water: the geometric loons carrying chessboards on their backs.



The Common Loon is the national bird of Canada and is depicted on the Canadian one-dollar coin, which is therefore nicknamed 'the loonie'.
For more information about the natural history of The Loon, try the RSPB's site at
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/g/greatnortherndiver/index.asp

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©2004 Copyright throughout this site belongs to Borin Van Loon