Timiskaming Birds Forum

Got a call about 8:30 this morning from my cousin Ron Lomanno and son Nick - they found a Red-throated Loon in the ditch on Highway 11 at Otto Road 1. I went out and picked it up and brought it home to release it in the Blanche River at Firemans Park. Serge and Mark were there for the release when a local trapper and his wife showed up with a couple more. All 3 were released into the river and are still swimming around as of 2 pm. The trapper reported picking his up on Otto Road 2 so we all (Tom and Brooke Woollings had joined us by then) went back out to see if there were any more - sure enough, four were spotted in a small stream on Otto Road 2 and several more were seen out in a ploughed field along highway 11. Some of them were fit enough to fly so we abandoned the idea of chasing them through the muddy field and decided to let nature take its course. The trapper found his last night so I am guessing they hit the freezing rain and flopped down into the field - only about 5 km from Round Lake which is still open. I am trusting Serge to post pics.

So what would be the total of birds found/seen in an area how large?  I think that is important to document.

Here are a mess of pictures

Three were "rescued" and released in Swastika, we saw four in the stream at Otto Road 2 - the stream runs through a muddy ploughed field and we saw several out there but some of them would fly a short distance and land again although Serge saw one take off and fly away. Since the birds were flying, we did not go out in the field to attempt any rescue.  The cleared fields where the birds were found between Otto roads 1 & 2 is about 1 km long. As for a total number of birds I would day there were probably 12 that we saw but I suspect there may have been more. The birds released in Swastika appear to be feeding and one flew about 75m from one end of the "duck pond" to the other so there is hope they will be able to continue their flight once they have refuelled.

Great shots Serge - I was writing a reply to Joe while you were posting. My favourite is the head shot in the rapids - gold star!

Ann and I went out to Otto Township this afternoon to check on the loons. I took a long walk up the drainage ditch to where we had seen the loons in the field yesterday and saw nothing but Ann spotted one near the road. He didn't look like he was going anywhere so I caught him and let him go with his friends in the river in Swastika. He was bleeeding slightly from one foot but otherwise seemed in reasonable shape considering his 36 hour fast in the field. When released, he swam over to the others and began feeding with them. They seem to be able to fly from one end of the pool to the other so I hope that they refuel and take off soon. As for the ones we saw in the field yesterday, I assume they have flown off but I didn't check every inch of the field.

Checked the pond before lunch  - down to 3 loons. Checked again after lunch - down to 2 loons. Checked both up and down stream and banks - no sign of loons dead or alive. I am hoping they flew. The 2 remaining birds seem to be doing ok.

Checked at 9 an - 2 loons. Checked at noon - 1 loon. checked at 3:45 - no loons. The one loon remaining at noon was flying from one end of the pond to the other so I assume he finally took off. If this ever happens again, I think Round Lake would be a better place to release the birds because there is a better food source, more room for take-off and more likely there would be other loons to flock up with. I did call a Round Lake resident yesterday but he hadn't seen any Red-throats. End of story.

And a good story it was too!  Thanks for all the updates, Mike.