Photos: The loneliest loon returns to Lake Hood

A single red-throated loon has been hanging out at Lake Hood Floatplane Base for several summers.

Its only companions are floatplane pilots and the occasional photographer.

Red-throated loons are the smallest and most widely distributed member of the loon family. They have a wingspread of 42 to 45 inches and feed on small fish, snails, aquatic and flying insects, and some vegetation. They winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America.

Loons lucky enough to have a mate lay one to three olive green to dark brown eggs on a nest near the shore or a depression in bare ground.