Beautiful Leech Lake Sunset

These excellent photos were taken by Barry Shepherd while kayaking at sundown

Moose on Fraserburg Road

Driving into the cottage at around 11 PM on Friday, Sept 9, we encountered a very healthy looking, young adult male moose just after the 90 degree right turn at Oakley Boundary Rd. He was trotting down the centre of the road.

We followed him at a safe distance (it is starting of the rut) for ~ 2 km as he kept trotting, occasionally stopping to turn and look at us. At one time to stopped to pee, before he picked up the pace a bit and then headed off on a road/trail on the right at the top of the hill before Fraserburg Rd drops down to the culverts and the Lorne Rd turnoff.

George Gorsline

Leech Lake Loon Family

Pictures taken by Ed & Marianne Enns prior to the demise of one of the adult loons.

Dead Loon Update

On Wednesday August 31st, the day we discovered the loon, Christine Jacobs phoned every agency she could think of that might possibly come to our lake and deal with the dead carcass and give us an indication of what might have caused the loon's demise.

Late on Thursday afternoon Larry Jacobs phoned and said; the one agency that would help us was the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (DNR), however we would be responsible for delivering the body of the dead loon to their office in Bracebridge. They would freeze it and then forward it onto Guelph where they would examine the body, identify the gender and hopefully give us an indication of what beset the bird causing its death.

So, on Friday morning at 8:00 am Larry Jacobs and I retrieved the loon from it watery grave and it was delivered to the DNR in Bracebridge.

When we hear anything from the DNR I will post it on the blog

Another Leech Lake Tragedy

We arrived at the lake this past Sunday afternoon to spend the week with our two sons, three grand children and two large dogs. During the first couple of days an adult loon and the baby loon came into our small bay right up to our dock. The adult twice dove under the dock. We did not see the two adult loons with the baby loon as we had on other occasions

On August 31st my wife, grandson and I were kayaking around the lake. We were just about to round the point along the south shore when I noticed something in the rocks lining the shore. It appeared to be a loon. Initially I thought it might be the baby loon hiding while the adults were elsewhere.

I cautiously approached the bird but there was no movement and on closer inspection I discovered that the loon was dead. When we got close enough it was evident that the loon had been dead some days as there were flies crawling on it.

The bird was wedged into the rocks in such a way that it looked like it had gone there on its own as the space was so small that it was hard to conceive that it could have been washed there by any wave action.

I telephoned Larry Jacobs, chairman of lake stewardship, and we are trying to get someone with expertise to come and examine the bird to see if the cause of death can be determined.

Needless to say we were heart sick to discover the death of one of these majestic creatures with the haunting cry.

We have had two adult loon deaths on Leech Lake in the past two seasons. The word will be going out within the loon community that Leech Lake is a dangerous place to live and raise a family.

Alan Greenwood