We watched 9 ducklings on their jump day July 4. Five minutes after they jumped, an eagle swooped down and took one. It was terrible weather that day. My wife has been kayaking around. We count 4 left.
Today in “As The Lake Turns” my wife was kayaking and saw a loon on the shore. It wasn’t moving. I saw it on the shore yesterday and thought it might be on a nest. Here it is. Loons usually don’t go that close to shore and just hang around.
One year when we were up here, a smart loon used to swim very close to our boat when we caught a fish. Like a dog catching treats, it would catch small fish you threw back that weren’t keepers. I have never seen it before and never have I seen it since. One year wonder.
Today, our loon was on the opposite shore. It was clearly sick. It had a puncture in the right rear that my friend Stan saw. We have two on our lake this year.
We called Loon Rescue and they told us how to capture it. If you encounter this situation, here is what you do.
Get a Rubbermade type bin that is big enough to hold a loon.
Get a bunch of newspaper, crumple it and make a “bed” for it so there is 6 inches between the bottom of the bin and where the loon will sit.
Put a towel over that paper.
Put the loon in the box.
Cover it with a sheet and clamp the sheet down.
Here is Stan putting it in the box.
Put it in your car. Not in the trunk, not in the bed of a pick-up. Loons heat up so you need to crank the air conditioning.
Our nearest loon rescue is near Ely, Minnesota, about a 2.5 hour drive. Stanley offered to save the day and drive there.
Who knows what happened to it? I wished my friend Rich Nye was here!
Let’s hope the bird gets well. Last summer we rescued a Downy Woodpecker from the lake.
Thanks to Stanley for helping and driving to save the day. We have to get a loon sticker for his truck.
Jeff once again you show what all your friends know, the type of person you are. Keep it up.
I've had similar experience with an opportunistic loon in Northern Wisconsin a few years ago. Catching bass and panfish with my sons from a pier on a small lake, this loon would not only wait to score the throwbacks, but would even follow the fish on the line as you are reeling it in, even if it was a 3-4 lb. bass!