MINNESOTA, USA — "Imagine now, a clear summer evening in the north woods. Above you, the bands of the Milky Way framed by the dark spindly boughs of spruce and fir. And cutting though the stillness ...

This column has a soundtrack, and you might know the one. Imagine yourself in the North Woods on a summer night, next to a clear, quiet lake. Now listen for the haunting calls of a common loon ...

On a cool, foggy, damp spring morning, a loon yodeled. The sound floated through the mist, causing me to pause in disbelief. Then it yodeled again. And one more time. The loon was calling from a small ...