A Loon Rescue for the Holidays, Part 1
Two loons were spotted trapped in a small circle of open water on the otherwise iced-in Paradox Lake on December 23, 2024.
On December 23, the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation (ACLC) received calls about one loon iced in on Paradox Lake and two loons iced in on Brant Lake. My husband Cal and I scouted the lower (western) part of Paradox Lake that morning and found a large hole in the ice with not one but three loons swimming around, and a second smaller hole with one loon. The ice near shore was just barely safe to walk on, but the current cold weather would likely grow the ice quickly.
Glen Chapman stands carefully in a boat while using a dip net to herd trapped loons into a gill net. Joe Poliquin holds one side of the gill net as he watches Glen’s progress.
An afternoon trip to Brant Lake found two juvenile loons swimming in a hole about 35 feet long in the middle of the lake close to the southeast shore. Again, the ice was hard but not very thick, and we hoped for more ice to make walking safer and hopefully to make the holes the loons were in smaller so we could catch them. We drove around the northwest side of the lake, looking for the possibility of any more holes in the ice with trapped loons.
As we were viewing the hole with the two loons from across the lake, suddenly one started to run across the water, continued flapping and running along the snow, and got airborne! We cheered as we watched the loon gain altitude, climb steeply and fly over the trees and away from its icy prison. Would the second loon try to fly, too? We watched and hoped, but no, it stayed in the hole.
Loons should leave their northern lakes in late autumn and fly to the east coast to spend the winter on the ocean, but a few loons don’t leave in time. Loons need up to a quarter mile of open water to run across in order to take flight, and if ice forms quickly overnight, they can get trapped. They swim in a circle and keep a small area of water open, but unless temperatures warm again to create larger runways for takeoff, loons will remain trapped.
Volunteer Joe Poliquin works the gill net to capture one of the trapped loons.
Dell Jeffrey maneuvers the gill net after catching one of the trapped loons.
On December 24, a team assembled at Paradox Lake to try to rescue the loons trapped there. Led by Dell Jeffery, a retired forest ranger with lots of ice experience, the group consisted of volunteers Joe Poliquin, Glen Chapman, Gene Ohman-Leone, Malinda Chapman, Cal George and myself, as well as ACLC Executive Director Dr. Nina Schoch.
Upon arrival, the team hauled sleds, gear, and a small jon boat out toward the bigger hole. One of the three loons had disappeared, but there was no sign of feathers or blood that would have indicated an eagle attack. Perhaps it had flown off the lake like the Brant Lake loon. The remaining two loons were juveniles, probably hatched on Paradox Lake this June and early July.
Joe Poliquin and Dell Jeffrey untangle a loon from the gill net.
Dell, Joe Poliquin, Glen Chapman and Gene Ohman-Leone donned gumby suits - suits designed to help people survive immersion in cold water - and set a gill net across the hole. Joe and Glen manned the gill net, while Glen stood in the boat in the water with a long-handled dip net, and Dell stood on the ice edge with another dip net.
The goal was to herd the loons into the gill net where they would get entangled and could be quickly pulled out. The loons were obviously scared and would dive and only surface for a quick breath of air. Finally, one hit the gill net and we pulled the thrashing loon out onto the ice, disentangled it, and placed it in a bin to transport back to shore. We tried to catch the second loon for another hour, but it had learned to swim under the gill net and also avoided the dip nets. We moved on to the second, smaller hole with the single loon, and hoped for better luck.
The second hole was much smaller, about twelve feet, and we again set the gill net across the hole, put a dip net person in the boat, with another along the ice edge. The loon had much less space to use to avoid us, and eventually swam into the gill net and was lifted and slid onto the ice, untangled, and placed in a second bin. Success!
Joe Poliquin, ACLC Executive Director Dr. Nina Schoch, and Dell Jeffrey handling one of the rescued loons.
Since it was late in the day, we decided to return on December 26th to try for the Brant Lake loons and the remaining Paradox loon that evaded us. This would also allow the ice to thicken for safer access, and the ice holes to shrink for easier capture. We drove the two captured loons to Lake Champlain at Westport, where we measured, weighed, took feather samples, and color banded them so we could identify them in the future. The loons were released into the lake and swam away strongly, probably greatly relieved to be free again, able to swim, fish, and fly away.
A huge thank you to Matt Massiano for reporting the first iced-in loon, and to Bob and Jane Klaus for helping to report on the status of the loons. Thank you to all who also provided access via privately-owned shoreline to coordinate the rescue efforts.
Words & Images by Ellie George, ACLC Field Staff & Loon Naturalist