It’s just on dusk and the silence on McGillivray Lake is broken only by the sound of two loons and their chicks flapping about on the water. It’s my first sight of the bird immortalised in the design and the name of Canada’s $1 coin, the loonie, and I’m captivated by the stories told by our guide, Campbell, about these quick swimmers that dive for their food, mate monogamously and have a haunting call that echoes across the water.