Upper Valley birders - I want to follow up the recent posts and expressions of concern about the two loons that were "trapped" in an open lead on icebound Lake Morey. This has been indeed a distressing situation, although one that occurs annually during the period of freeze-up on northern lakes. It creates a complicated dilemma for us humans wishing to intervene. Many of you know that the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE), in long-term partnership with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (VFWD), coordinates the statewide monitoring and protection of Vermont's breeding loons. You can learn more at our web site: http://vtecostudies.org/projects/lakes-ponds/common-loon-conservation/. VCE's Loon Biologist Eric Hanson is based in Craftsbury, but covers the entire state, which has become more challenging as Vermont's population has increased from a low of 8 nesting pairs in the mid-1980s to 87 this past summer. Eric, who technically is employed by VCE for only 6 months each year (roughly April through October), has spearheaded numerous loon "rescues" over the years and was made aware early on of the situation on Lake Morey. He and I communicated earlier today, and I have distilled some of his thoughts below. Rescuing a loon from an open patch of water surrounded by ice is tricky, to say the least. VCE and VFWD do have a protocol to guide our actions so that any rescue is performed in a safe manner. More often than not, loons actually can take off from small openings of 30-100 feet. We've documented two such cases already this year. If the hole becomes too small for a take-off attempt, we usually wait for the hole to freeze over and then walk out and retrieve the loon - a dangerous process that requires extreme care. A loon swimming in an opening can often keep the water open for a week or more, allowing time for the surrounding ice to thicken and become safe for humans. According to the Tufts Wildlife Clinic <http://vet.tufts.edu/tufts-wildlife-clinic/>, a loon can survive 1-2 weeks without much food and so might not need to feed while trapped in the opening. Monitoring is crucial to determine when to try to venture out on the ice. If we the bird is captured and in reasonable health, then it will be transported to a long-term open water area, such as Lake Champlain or a coastal site (nearly all loons overwinter in nearshore coastal waters), and released. If a captured loon is injured, sick, weak, or otherwise compromised physically, it would be brought to VINS for rehabilitation. In Eric's nearly 20 years as VCE's Loon Biologist, he has performed 6 ice rescues and monitored dozens more. In most cases, we believe the birds were able to take off, although some may have drowned, as has been suggested one of both of the Lake Morey loons. For these two birds, VCE was monitoring the situation (with help from several of you), and VFWD game warden Jeff Whipple was ready to help when the time came to attempt a rescue. We follow similar protocols to the Loon Preservation Committee <http://www.loon.org/> in NH. In this case, the presence of nearby eagles obviously made the loons dive more than in most other situations Eric has observed, when trapped loons tend to stay put and dive very little. With yesterday's warm weather and rain, there is a chance, maybe remote, that the remaining loon was able to take flight on watery ice surface. Eric reports that this happened about 10 years ago on Lake Morey. I hope this allays some concerns that inadequate action was taken on the behalf of the two Morey loons. It would not have been feasible, or prudent, to include the listserve on all e-mail traffic that occurred between Eric Hanson and VFWD game warden Jeff Whipple, but rest assured that the situation was being monitored closely. We sincerely appreciate the individuals who drew attention to this situation, and we can only hope that the second bird made it safely off the lake. This is an age-old problem for loons, especially in a winter like this one when more birds than normal may be induced to linger further north, then a dramatic cold snap like last week's causes a sudden freeze-up. Some individuals make it, some don't. It certainly helps to have so many concerned eyes keeping track! Chris -- Chris Rimmer Vermont Center for Ecostudies P.O. Box 420 Norwich, VT 05055 802-649-1431 ext. 1 www.vtecostudies.org To post messages, send e-mail to: [log in to unmask] Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages. To contact the list owner: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe: E-mail this command to [log in to unmask]: UNSUBSCRIBE UV-Birders To change your e-mail address: E-mail this command from your old address to: [log in to unmask]: CHANGE UV-Birders [new e-mail address] Web based archives and subscription management are available at: http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html