June 29 is National Camera Day, a day to celebrate how the incredible power of photographs has changed the world. Photographs have allowed us to learn and observe so many things about the natural world that we couldn’t before the invention of the camera.

In honor of National Camera Day, here are the Grand Prize Winners from the last five years of the Picture This: Your Great Outdoors Photo Contest.

The 2016 Photo Contest is now open for submissions! Show us your best photographs taken in Massachusetts (or at Mass Audubon’s Wildwood camp in New Hampshire) that show off everything from wildlife to scenic landscapes to people enjoying the wonders of nature.

2015 Photo Contest Winner © Steve Flint

2014 Photo Contest Winner © Arindam Ghosh

2013 Photo Contest Winner © Paul Mozell

2012 Photo Contest Winner © Ken Lee

2011 Photo Contest Winner © Mary Dineen

Loons are famous for their beautifully haunting, eerie calls, which echo across the waters they call home. They have a variety of calls for different purposes—territorial, alarm sounds, mating, or to locate one another, to name a few.

Loons are water birds, venturing ashore only to mate and incubate eggs. They can dive almost noiselessly into the water to catch fish, and are agile underwater swimmers, propelling themselves with their feet. Their solid bones are perfectly designed to make them less buoyant and better at diving than most hollow-boned birds.

Have you heard any loons on your local lakes and ponds? Tell us below in the comments! And check out this beautiful Loon Flute from the Audubon Shop to make your own loon calls (just not during the summer because it can interfere with breeding).

Enjoy these five photos of loons in their striking black and white plumage, and submit your own wildlife photos to the 2016 Picture This: Your Great Outdoors Photo Contest, open now!

Common Loon and Chicks © Michael Phillips, 2014 Photo Contest Entry

Common Loon © Mark Stone, 2015 Photo Contest Entry

Common Loon and Chicks © Emily Eaton, 2014 Photo Contest Entry

Common Loon © Ari Dinerman, 2013 Photo Contest Entry

Common Loon © Linda MacMillan, 2015 Photo Contest Entry