Loon trapped on frozen pond in Maine’s Belgrade Lakes rescued by ice skater
By Russ Reed
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OAKLAND, Maine (WMTW) — A loon that wound up stranded on a frozen pond in the Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine was helped to safety by a person who was out skating on the ice.
In an email to Maine’s Total Coverage, John Picone said he went to skate on East Pond at 12 p.m. Sunday when he spotted a loon on the ice.
It is common for loons to become stranded on frozen bodies of water this time of year because they need 500 feet of open water for takeoff.
Picone said he sat with the loon for a long time and called Avian Haven, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Freedom, to try to get the bird some help.
After a while, Picone said the loon became very calm so he decided to gently push the bird to shore with his ice poles.
“I scooted him like a curling [stone] (or a hockey puck) which he did not take to be too strange,” Picone said in his email. “Other skaters came and helped organize and mobilize our rescue resources.”
Avian Haven was able to contact someone who rushed over with equipment to safely carry the loon to a vehicle, according to Picone.
People who encounter an iced-in loon should report it to Avian Haven, the Portland-based Biodiversity Research Institute, the Maine Warden Service of the local fire department.
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