Thursday, July 15, 2010 11:29pm CDT

 

69 degrees  Calm

 

 

On a calm evening under a sky with more stars than one can even imagine, from across the lake comes that sound that all of us love!  There it is again.  One of our loons giving a long, beautiful wail.

 

The call pierces the darkness.

 

There is nothing like it.  Once you have heard it, you will never forget it.  And you long to hear it over and over and over.  In the quiet of the night, it fills everything with its sound.  And we are reminded again how blessed we are to hear it.  How blessed we are to have these beautiful birds that add so much to the richness of our lives.  To be one of the bright but haunting colors in the tapestry of life.  That blend so beautifully with everything else but still stand out so brightly that you cannot ignore them.

 

This is an evening that is repeated across countless thousands of lakes of the north country.  Repeated for those who are laying in their tent.  Repeated for those who are sitting around a late evening campfire.  Loon calls that are burned into the memory forever.

 

The stuff of legends.  The stuff of dreams.

 

The stuff of memories.

 

The events of Monday night were also the stuff of memories.

 

As I mentioned, after we had had a group briefing about what would be happening, the capture team headed out to the first lake about 1030 pm.  There were a group of students from St John's University and the College of St Benedict who been working on naturalist studies and a couple of them had already been studying and monitoring these loons as part of their studies who followed the capture team to the shores of the lake to watch the captures. 

 

One of the professors, Carol Jansky, at the College had been an ardent follower of the LoonCam and it was through the LoonCam that she contacted me to have them considered to be part of this project.

 

While they headed out to the first lake, I stayed behind to help the doctor prepare the area where the surgery would take place and to learn more about the actual procedure and the satellite transmitter that would be surgically implanted in the loon.

 

It took them some time to return with the first captured loons.  But return they did at about 11:30pm.

 

The first carrying crate with the male loon was brought into the trailer where the surgery would take place.  Everything was laid out and ready to go.  But when that carrying crate was brought in, it changed the feel of everything.  This was now real.  We had a real loon with us in the trailer!

 

There were several subdued wails that came from within the crate.

 

Then the time arrived to begin.

 

The lid of the carrying crate was carefully opened just slightly.  And then one of the capture team reached in to take hold of the loon and get control of his bill.

 

Out he came.  So beautiful.  So magnificent.   

 

So out of any element that he had ever been in.

 

There were a couple more calls.

 

He was placed on his back on the surgical table.  It would be an understatement to say he did not like that.  And he struggled mightily as the person from the capture team struggled to hold him and maintain control of him.

 

An IV was inserted in his leg and blood samples were drawn for future analysis, including checking for mercury and any other possible probelms.  And some of the sample will be stored for future analysis in case something that we do not even know about or cannot even imagine crops up at sometime.

 

And then the anesthetic was gradually administered through the IV.

 

The loon quit struggling and then began to go limp.

 

Before the capture team had returned with the loons, I had asked the doctor what anesthetic he would be using.  He said that he would use propofol.  I started to say, "That is the drug that....."

 

But before I could finish my sentence, he finished it for me.  "Yes, that is the Michael Jackson anesthetic"!

 

I was not prepared for the effect that it had on me.  When I saw this magnificent bird go limp, there were a whole flurry of emotions that flooded over me.  I knew that the loon was ok and was in good hands with the doctor who had done numerous waterfowl before, but that did not make it any less easy.  I was not prepared for my own personal reactions.  These beautiful birds that I have worked with so closely for so many years.  And here was one that had gone limp in front of my very eyes.  At the briefing, we had specifically talked about the possibility of losing a loon.  The chances were VERY small.  But this was real life and real life does not always do what you want it to do.

 

My mind told me it was ok.  My heart dredged up every possible emotion.  But it was important to keep those emotions out of it.

 

There was a gaggle of people arrayed at each of the windows of the trailer looking in.  They had a front row seat in this improvised "operating theatre".  A "MASH" hospital.  Noses were pressed against windows as they were no more than 2 feet away from this loon on the table.  Now on his back.

 

The doctor inserted a couple tubes down the loon's throat.  One for breathing.  The other, I am not sure what it was for.  This was not the time to be asking questions.  This was now into the very serious part of the operation.

 

Here was this gorgeous male loon laying motionless on his back on the operating table.  Tubes in his throat.  An IV in his leg for the anesthesia.  Periodically the air bag [I don't know the proper technical terms for some of the equipment] was given a gentle squeeze or two to help him breathe and to make sure he was breathing.

 

The doctor felt around the leg where it exited from the body skin.  We have talked about that before...about how the 'drumstick' part of a loon leg is totally encased in skin.  The doctor felt around the area to determine exactly where to make the first incision.

 

There would be one incision on the underside of the loon where the satellite transmitter would be implanted and a smaller one where the antenna to the transmitter  would exit the body.

 

When he determined the areas for the incisions, he carefully and gently separated the feathers on the upper side and began to prepare a sterile field with alcohol and Betadine and then tape and a plastic sheeting.

 

The procedure was repeated on the underside where the larger incision would be made.  The pure white feathers were carefully separated to expose as much bare skin as possible.  You will also remember that loons do not have a bare patch of skin called a brood patch with no feathers.  So the feathers had to be carefully moved back to either side of where the incision would go.

 

Outside, the other part of the capture team was working with the two chicks....placing bands and data recorders on them.  I could see them outside through the windows working on the other loons.

 

But inside, the moment of truth had come!

 

It was time for the first incision.

 

[to be continued....I know, I know, I can hear some of you screaming at me now!  Don't do this to us!  But it is too long for one post tonight.  So I will continue it tomorrow.  I have one other thing that happened tonight that I wanted to share with you.]

After a couple of meetings today, tonight we went to the  Munsinger Clemens Gardens in St Cloud, MN.  They were having an Art Fair in the Gardens today and tonight.  If you are ever in the area, the gardens are spectacular and are right along the banks of the Mississippi River.  They are well worth a visit.

 

And then to have scores of artists there displaying every kind of work possible and having an orchestra playing  under the trees on the banks of the Mississippi in the midst of the gardens on a stunning Minnesota evening made for a time could not have been better no matter how hard you tried.

 

[By now you are probably saying 'He interrupted the story that we wanted to hear about the loons to give us a travelogue?!?!?'  Stay with me.  This is amazing!]

 

We looked at all the different displays of all the artists.  On the way there, I had said I was not going to purchase ANYTHING!

 

And I fully intended to stick to that.

 

But the first display I stopped at was a young photographer who especially did a lot of photography of Split Rock Lighthouse.  Split Rock is a spectacular lighthouse high on a rocky cliff on the North Shore of Lake Superior.  It is an iconic structure to any Minnesotan.

 

I looked through some of his pictures and there were several of the "I gotta have that" category.  But as he and I talked, I told him I would stop back later rather than carry then around the gardens.  I am sure he has heard that line a thousand times and knew that I would not come back.  And I was trying to talk myself out of buying the pictures.  And so off we went to some of the other artists and the gardens themselves.

 

But the more I thought about the pictures, I knew I wanted to go back and look at them one more time when we were ready to head home.

 

After several hours of taking in the gardens and the orchestra and all the different artists, it was time to think about heading home.  There was something else I saw that 'I had to have'!!

 

It was a beautiful small slab of polished black granite where the polished surface had been cut away to reveal a beautiful soft silver gray mottled background.  But left in highly polished black granite in relief was a picture of two loons, a 'line' of water and the motto "Friends Welcome".  Like I said, it was a 'gotta have'.

 

After I had broken my promise not to buy anything, I headed back to look at the Split Rock Lighthouse photographs.

 

I found the two that I had picked out before.  Fortunately (or unfortunately!!) they were still there.  I purchased them and talked to John, the photographer.

 

He saw the granite carving and was admiring it.  I said something to the effect 'I am sort of partial to loons' or something like that.  That was a mistake!  Or maybe NOT!

 

He said, "Did you see my loon photographs?"

 

I had not.

 

He pulled out several of them and they were very nice.  But I have so many loon pictures that  I do not have room to display all of them at any one time....so they rotate.  But then he said something that changed everything.

 

I asked where he had taken them and he said "On St John's Lake last year."

 

I said that I had never heard of St John's Lake.  Where is it?

His reply stunned me.

 

He said, "I can never remember the name of it.  But it is on St John's University campus."!!!!!!

 

I literally got shivers!

 

I said, "Sagatagan or Stumpf Lake?"

 

"Yeah that is it.  Sagatagan.  I can never remember that name so I just call it St Johns Lake."

 

I was almost speechless!  I said, "John, you are NOT going to believe this but I was part of a team on Monday night that captured the loons on Sagatagan Lake and implanted a satellite transmitter in the male and banded the chicks and the female!!!!   THIS is the loon that we implanted the satellite transmitter and this fall you will be able to follow him online as he migrates south!!!!!"

 

I think both of us were stunned!

 

So needless to say, several more loon photographs were added to the bag with the Split Rock photographs!

[www.superiorphotographs.com]

 

I could not believe the coincidence!

 

OR....was this more than coincidence?  More than happenstance?

 

Was it something else?!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 11:08pm

72 degrees  Calm  Partly Cloudy

Let me first of all answer the question that you are most concerned about.

Our loons seem to be doing well.

A few days ago we were in the lake swimming and both loons came swimming in fairly close to us.  They looked good.

Then today one of them was swimming not too far away and called a number of times.  When I called back to her, she answered.

Today was an absolutely tropical steamy day.  At one point the dewpoint was reported at 86 degrees!!!  And the air temperature was in the low 90's with a heat index of 106 degrees.   For Minnesotans, that is almost unheard of and unbearable.  But at least the loons are able to be in the water to stay cool.

I want to share something with you that happened Monday night.  I was going to wait to tell you until the news had been officially released but it seems to be all over the place today so I guess it is okay to share it with you now.

On Monday night, I had the privilege of being part of a team that surgically implanted satellite transmitters in a couple of loons.

The project was overseen by the United States Geological Service, under the direction of Kevin Kenow, along with the Minnesota DNR.  This was the project that I mentioned to you some weeks ago where we were looking for loons that had had chicks this year.  I want to thank so many of you who sent me information that I could then pass on to the USGS and the MN DNR.  Carrol Henderson, who I have introduced you to before and who is the head of all the non-game programs for the Minnesota DNR, was also with us that night.

They chose 3 lakes for the project....2 lakes on the St John's University campus and one lake near Monticello Minnesota.  Thank you to Dr Carol Jansky at St John's University and Pattie Roggenkamp near Monticello for giving us information about the loons on these lakes.  In addition, the USGS is going to do another 7 lakes in Wisconsin.  I had planned to wait until they had finished their work in Wisconsin and we had more information about that.  But since it was all over the television news tonight here in Minnesota and in a number of newspapers, I wanted you to be the 'first' to know and not the last.

The plan was to surgically implant a satellite transmitter into 3 loons [one from each lake] that night and then to band all of the loons that we captured and also attach a data recorder to their legs.

The satellite transmitter will communicate directly to a satellite thousands of miles above the earth and will report their exact location back to the USGS.  Kevin Kenow and the USGS have done this several times before.  In 1998 they tracked some loons from Minnesota and Wisconsin and then in 2003 to 2006 they tracked a number of loons from New England.  So the idea is not new but the technology has improved greatly.

It is still hard to fully comprehend the technology that allows us to do something like this.  Now with the Gulf oil spill [or as I like to call it, the Gusher in the Gulf...oil 'spill' is much to benign a term for the amount of oil that has been released], it is even more important that we understand better where loons migrate and what happens to them when they get down on the Gulf.  I may say more about that in a minute.

The data recorder that was attached to the leg along with the colored bands would record the loon's location, the temperature and their altitude or depth.  All of this would be recorded within the device which would then have to be retrieved at some point to download the data.

All of this information will help to fill in so many blank spots in our understanding of loon migration and activites on their wintering territories.  There is a real lack of information about loons during their time on the ocean during the winter.  So hopefully this can add some new information and help us understand them better.  This now becomes extremely important with the Gusher in the Gulf and with the potential tragic consequences of that oil.

When the project was first proposed, right away we thought of 'our' loons.  The loons that so many thousands upon thousands of people have watched and fallen in love with.  The most famous loons in the world.  And also the most documented and observed loons.  The loons that each of you have made so famous.

But one of the requirements for this project was that they have chicks from this year.  Partially that is to aid in being able to capture them.  And partially to be able to track the chicks.  And so because our loons did not have chicks this year, of all years, they were ruled out from being in the study.  We were all disappointed.

On Monday night, a group of us gathered at St John's University.  While we waited for the arrival of the USGS personnel from Wisconsin and the veterinary surgeon from Florida, a number of us walked out along one of the beautiful trails through the woods along the lakeshore to see if we could find the loons.  Without too much problem, we found the loons and the chicks swimming on the other side of the north end of the lake....the opposite end of the lake from where they had nested.

Shortly after we returned to the science labs, the USGS crew pulled up with their canoe and with their trailer where the surgery would be done.  The trailer was a 'recycled' FEMA trailer.  I am not sure where it had been used, but the thought crossed my mind that it would be so appropriate if it had been used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and now would be used for loons that would be heading back down to that same area.  I meant to ask but forgot to when everything started happening.

We all gathered for a briefing to go over the plan of action for the evening before heading out.

The plan was that we would capture 2 loons on each lake and capture the chicks as well.  That would make a total of 4 adult loons and 4 chicks on these first two lakes and then another two adult loons and one chick on the third lake for a total of 6 adult loons and 5 chicks.  Then they would surgically implant the satellite transmitters in the male loons.  All of the loons would be fitted with colored leg bands for visual identification in the future and also fitted with data recorders recorders on their legs.

The same thing would then be repeated on the third lake some 30 or 40 miles away.

The way one captures a loon for this project is the same way one captures a loon for 'simple' banding.

You wait until it is dark.  The darker the better.  You do not want the loon to be able to see you.

You go out onto the lake after dark and try to find the loons.  One of the reasons that you want them to have chicks is that they will likely be swimming together and more importantly, the parents are very protective of the chicks.  The chicks need to be several weeks old in order to be fitted with any kind of bands or data recorders.  Otherwise they are too small.

When you locate the area where the loons are, you play a distress call...which as all of you know is either a tremolo or a yodel call.  This says to the adults that there is another loon on the lake that is intruding into their territory and is also a possible danger to their chicks.  So the adults come to investigate who this intruder is.  Also, since they have chicks, they also tend to stay on the surface of the water more.

When the loon comes close to the boat to investigate the intruder, you shine a bright light in his eyes so that he cannot see either the boat or see you.  This allows you to use a very large fishing net to scoop the loon out of the water.  The loon is put into a crate for transportation back to shore and then back to the 'base camp' for the surgery and/or the banding.

So about 10:30pm it was decided that is was probably dark enough to head out to the lake.

But as with most things in life, there are the plans that are made and then there is the reality of what actually happens.

So tomorrow I will try to tell you some of the rest of the story.

Thursday, July 1, 2010 12:32am CDT

63 degrees   Quiet

 

I wanted to share with you information that I just received today from Carrol Henderson at the Minnesota DNR about the two eggs that did not hatch.

 

As you know, we had them x-rayed and the x-rays showed that one had not developed at all and the other one had a "small dark spot" just under the air sac.

 

Here is what Carrol's email from today said.

"Hi, Larry,

Well, on Sunday afternoon I mustered all my courage and gathered up the two loon eggs from the refrigerator (I promised Ethelle they wouldn’t smell!) and took them to the backyard with my egg drill and oologist’s blowpipe tool for blowing out the eggs.  The egg that you picked from the nest was totally rotten—infertile.  The second one that had the air sac and had floated into the lake had a small embryo of a loon chick which would have been the dark mass just under the air sac.  It had apparently died early in incubation. Uffda did it smell awful, and by the time I finished after about 30 minutes, I had a large entourage of flies observing  the process.  I have refrigerated the eggs and need to get back to them to flush out the inside of the eggs with water to remove more of the smell. They are still pretty rank."

So he has gone WAY beyond the call of duty to give us the maximum amount of information about what happened with the eggs!  He is a great person to work with and he is in charge of all the non-game wildlife programs in Minnesota!

Then he also said, "It looks at this point like we will be able to capture the three loons that we need for the satellite transmitter project at sites that include some that your contacts have provided. I will  keep you posted on our progress."

So thank all of you who gave us some insight and information about loons that have had chicks this year.  As I find out more, I will try to keep you informed.

Once again, I hope that all of you in the US have a wonderful and safe 4th of July.

And just a reminder if you are on lakes anywhere there are loons.  Remind the people you are with to be on the lookout for loons.

Adults can do fairly well with boat traffic and dive out of danger.  But even so there have been reports of adult loons hit and killed by boats and jet skis.  So just ask your family and friends to be aware that they are sharing the lake with loons.

But more important are chicks.

This is probably the most vulnerable time for chicks.

Their first two weeks of life are when there is the highest chick mortality.  Once they make it beyond two weeks, their life expectancy goes up dramatically.

Why is that?

There are several reasons.  For the first few days to a week of their life, chicks cannot dive.  They will try to dive but at most they go down a couple inches and then just pop up to the surface like a cork!  So if a fast boat or jet ski is headed straight at them and bearing down on them, they may try to dive but they cannot dive deep enough to get out of harm's way.  And they are so small that unless a boater is being very observant, he will probably not even know that he has hit and killed a baby loon.

Secondly, with a lot of boat traffic, there is a chance that the chicks will be separated from the adults.  Not only are they in danger of being hit, they are also then in danger of a large fish or turtle eating them or an eagle or gull snatching them.

So they enter one of the most dangerous periods of their lives.  And unfortunately the busy 4th of July weekend coincides exactly when so many loons have their new chicks out on the lake for the first time.  If they can make it through this weekend and the first two weeks of life, the chances of them surviving are very encouraging.

You can help by just reminding your family and friends to be on the lookout for loons and new baby chicks when they are out on the lake.  You could very well save a new generation of loons!  And with the threat of the Gulf oil disaster looming for our loons, every chick is especially important this year.

So have a wonderful holiday!  Enjoy your family and friends and our history.

And especially enjoy our LOONS! 

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 5:49pm CDT

72 degrees    Sunny   Calm 

What a picture perfect summer day.  Sunshine.  Blue sky.  An even bluer lake.  And no humidity!

In the words of the old commercial, "From the Land of Sky Blue Waters!"

And what a perfect day for the release of a loon!!

I got a call from the Executive Director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center this morning to tell me that they were ready to release the loon - "Sue's loon" which has now become "Jodi's loon".  [Jodi, I had understood that your name was on the admittance tag but did not know the connection between you and 'Sue' until I saw your message.  Btw, I bought my pontoon from your family!!]

I was so surprised to hear that the loon was well enough to be released.  In fact, they were already on the way to the lake with the loon.

Yesterday afternoon I was not encouraged by the news at all.  The news that the loon still was not able to use it leg and was just sitting on a platform in the water was not what I had hoped to hear.  And then to hear that there might be nerve damage to the leg added to my concern....even if the word was that the nerve damage "could" heal.  There were no guarantees that the nerves WOULD heal.  Or guarantees of how long it would take to heal.

So I was surprised but elated to hear this morning that the loon was already doing well enough to be released today.  I was honored to be asked to help with the release on a moment's notice.  So in between a meeting this morning and a doctor's appointment right after lunch, I quickly headed to the lake where the loon was originally found.

There I met one of the staff members from the WRCMN and we carried the container with the loon inside to the shore of the lake.

There was another loon swimming not too far from the landing where we were going to release this loon.  We both wondered if that was the mate to this loon.  I looked carefully and there were no chicks swimming with the single loon.  That alone was encouraging but there was no way to know if these two loons were mates.

I was surprised at how calm the loon was as I opened the door of the carrier and reached inside to carefully take hold of the loon.  I had expected to hear some calls and for the loon to struggle.  But it didn't.  Only some disarrangement of feathers indicated anything was wrong.  I tried to be very careful and gentle with the loon's left leg which is the one that had been injured.

I was fully expecting the loon's feet and wings to be fluttering and flapping all over the place.  And I was especially careful and concerned about that sharp bill!

But the loon was perfectly content for me to pick it up and hold it as I walked to the water.  There was no struggle.  No panic.  No distress.  Only a couple of quiet hoots.

I gently set it into the water.  Even then it did not panic in any way.  I had expected it to very quickly swim or paddle to get away from us.  But it didn't.  It swam a few feet away from us and then turned and looked at us.  Still no urgency to get away.

It was good to see that it could use its left leg... the one that had been injured.  If it had not been able to use that leg, it obviously would not be able to swim well.

It swam several leisurely circles and stayed very close to us...only a few feet away as we watched from shore.  It started to rearrange its feathers that had been all tousled up in the transfer.  

And then that iconic loon pose as it rose up out of the water and flapped its wings as if to say "Free at last!  Free at last""

It also would not have been able to rise up in the water like that if it did not have good use of both legs.  And then it slowly and quietly started to swim out into the lake.

We were hoping that it would call to see if the other loon responded.  But it did not call.  Only a couple of quiet hoots as if to say "Thank You".

But the other loon did start to swim in the general direction of the loon that we had just released.  But there were no calls.  Only the quiet of a beautiful summer day punctuated by the sound of boats and jet skis.  People who were totally unaware of the awesome event that had just taken place within their view.

We did not actually see the two loons reunite so we cannot be sure if it was the mate or not.  But there were no fights that we observed either.  Everything seemed to be peaceful and the release had gone better than we had a right to expect.  Best of all was that the loon seemed to be doing VERY well and did not seem to have any trouble swimming or diving or rising up to flap its wings.

So thanks again to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota and their excellent staff for nursing this loon back to health.  And thanks to Nate and Jodi for saving this loon and starting this whole saga which had a wonderful ending!

Hopefully everyone on the lake will hear the loons calling tonight!

Monday, June 28, 2010 10:12pm CDT

62 degrees  Clear   Wind N4mph

What a spectacular evening!

After all of the heat and humidity and storms over the last week or so, we are now into a stretch of perfect weather.  Sunshine.  No humidity.  Bright blue skies.  Light breezes.  And tonight  a spectacular sunset.

Golds and reds and crimsons and purples.  And bright rays of sun shooting up into the sky from below the horizon.  And all of it reflected in the bright blue water of the lake.  These long days of summer give the extended times of twilight that are so magical.  And so practical.  They allow you to get caught up on lawn mowing until almost 10pm!

I wanted to update you on a couple things.

A couple days ago, the loons paid a visit and came swimming by.  They came in quite close to shore and near the nest which has been pulled into the shallows by the dock.  It was like they were just taking a drive through the old neighborhood to see where they had lived and what was happening with the neighbors.  They did not stay long but just long enough to show that they still remembered and had an interest in the area.

Most of the time I do not see much of them during the times I am home.  But an occasional glimpse here and there is always nice.  They look like they are in very good health and doing well.   A couple times I have seen them with other loons on the lake.  And it is always so special when you hear them calling at night.

They don't call near as much as when they are defending territory or when they have chicks, but the occasional call is still enough to stir the soul deeply!

So rest assured that they seem to be doing well.

Some of you have asked about seeing groups of loons together and wondered if this was normal.

If they are not defending nesting territory or if they do not have chicks, it is quite normal.  Typically these would be loons that have not mated or loons who do not have chicks for whatever reason.

As you know, loons stay down on the Gulf of Mexico for the first 2 or 3 years of their lives.  But even when they come back north, they usually will not mate until they are 5 or 6 or 7 years old.  So the groups of loons that you are seeing could be some of these loons that have not yet mated.

The other thing that I wanted to update you on is the loon with the 'bad leg' that Susan and her son rescued.

I talked with the good people at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota this afternoon.

The loon seems to be doing well but has a long way to go yet.

X-rays did not show any broken bones, which is good.  They feel that the reason the leg is stretched out behind is either because of soft tissue damage or possibly nerve damage.  There is no way to tell at this point what caused the injury.

I was especially concerned when I heard the words "possible nerve damage".  But they assured me that nerves can and often do heal themselves and that it is not an automatic bad diagnosis.  So all they can do is watch and wait and take care of the loon while it hopefully heals and can be released back into the wild.

However, with loons time is the enemy.

Whereas many birds can survive and even thrive in captivity, loons do not do well in captivity at all.  And few survive.  Ask yourself, when is the last time you saw a loon at a zoo.  You probably never have because there are very few zoos that even attempt it because loons are almost impossible to keep in long term captivity.  They truly are birds of the wild and part of the reason that we so identify their calls with the great wilderness areas of the north.

The folks at the Wildlife Center have graciously told me that they will try to let me know of the loons progress so that I can pass the word on to you.

If you would like more information about the Center itself, you can find them at wrcmn.org

They treat thousands upon thousands of animals each year.  They are the second largest center like this in the US, second only to a center in California.  However, the California center also treats raptors, which the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota does not.  But we are also fortunate enough to have the Raptor Center [http://www.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/] here in Minnesota which is also a world-renowned center.  They told me that when you combine the figures of the Wildlife Rehab Center with those of the Raptor Center, no one else in the country comes close to the number of animals treated.

So we can thank the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for all of their good work, including the x-rays that they did on our loon eggs a couple weeks ago!

They also got another loon in yesterday from Wisconsin!

You will remember that I told you how during rainstorms loons (and other waterbirds) can sometimes mistake highways and parking lots for bodies of water and land on them.  Ducks and other waterbirds can take off when they realize their mistake.  But a loon is trapped.  He cannot take off without a long body of open water.  And so he will die unless he is rescued.

Someone was kind enough to rescue this loon also and bring him to the Rehab Center.  They said he was in good shape except for some abrasions on the bottoms of his feet.  He will also be released when it seems safe to do so.  That release will probably before "Sue's Loon" is able to be released.

So that brings you up to date on both our loons and also the loon that was rescued.

I will try to let you know of any other information as I get it.

So until we talk again, I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

And watch out for loons while you are out on the lake.