On Monday, July 8, the Adirondack Loon Center received a report from Canandaigua photographer Peter Blackwood about a loon on Forked Lake with a fish hook embedded in its mouth.

Because loons can sustain significant injuries from fishing tackle and line when they swallow fish that still have tackle attached or are accidentally hooked when an angler casts a line, ACLC staff then contacted the Forked Lake Campground staff who confirmed that the injured loon was still in the area.

ACLC staff and volunteers traveled to Forked Lake and successfully captured the loon the following evening. Dr. Nina Schoch, ACLC’s executive director, removed the hook and treated the loon with antibiotics and fluids. The loon was banded and then returned to the lake. In the following days, campground staff confirmed that the loon was observed with its mate feeding and acting normally.

That same week, two separate calls were received about grounded loons. The first loon was found on July 10 on Wardner Road in Rainbow Lake, and the second on July 11 on Route 52 in North Lawrence. Both grounded loons were brought to the ACLC for evaluation by Schoch, and were determined to be in good overall health. Each was treated with antibiotics and fluids, banded and then released on nearby lakes. The Wardner Road loon was spotted a few days later on Lower Saranac Lake where it was observed feeding and behaving normally.

2024 Forked Lake fishing line rescue (Provided photo)

Since loons cannot walk on land and need a quarter-mile of open water to take off, a grounded loon is stranded when it comes down on a road or land, and can succumb to starvation, exposure or predation.

Sometimes loons are blown down or mistake wet pavement for water during a storm, such as Hurricane Beryl, which likely caused the Wardner Road loon to come down on the road. Loons also become grounded if they are not feeling well due to an illness or an injury.

“As loons face mounting threats from numerous causes across their range, including climate change, recreational disturbance, and habitat loss, the death of a single adult loon has a ripple effect on the population that can take years to realize. Thus, ACLC’s rescue efforts are critically important to ensure that loons survive to continue breeding and nesting in the Adirondacks,” a news release from ACLC reads.

“Loons are a long-lived species that reproduce very slowly,” said Schoch. “A single loon can breed for more than 20 years, yet only three or four of its chicks survive to breeding age themselves. Therefore, the survival of individual adult breeding loons is key to sustaining the overall population.”

To report a loon in distress, contact the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation by calling 518-354- 8636, and email a photo of the loon to info@adkloon.org.

2024 North Lawrence grounded loon treated (Provided photo)

The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation is a 501(c)3 non-profit that conducts scientific research and engaging educational programming to promote and inspire passion for the conservation of Common Loons (Gavia immer) in and beyond New York’s Adirondack Park.

To learn more about the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation and its loon conservation efforts, visit www.adkloon.org or www.facebook.com/adkloon, or contact the Adirondack Loon Center at info@adkloon.org or 518-354-8636. The Adirondack Loon Center at 75 Main St. in Saranac Lake is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.