Reading about the distressed loon was very upsetting. The likelihood that in the end it perished even more so.
Reviewing the few e-mail exchanges about the event, put up on the UV-Birders list-serv, I cannot help wondering about the absence of a protocol for intervening or the urgency for implementing one.
Best as I can tell, from what communication I saw, only one agent, VCE, was contacted, and that had a distinct "hopefully," quality about it.
By my count, there are four agencies that could have responded - VT Fish and Wildlife, VINS, the Loon Center in Moultonborough, NH and VCE - yet, I don't see any evidence they were contacted.
By all accounts, rescuing that bird out in the middle of Lake Morey would have been challenging, and I am not advocating putting anyone's life at risk to have done that. Just the same, this is a species whose situation is precarious, suggesting a more aggressive response to that bird's peril was warranted and might have been mounted had the overseers of its well-being been contacted, which based on e-mail evidence did not happen.
Did I miss something in an e-mail exchange that would warrant a revision of my assessment?
Blake Allison