Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Red-throated Loon running on shore
Date: Apr 4 15:21:15 2012
From: John Riegsecker - jriegsecker at pobox.com


All,

Terry Mace, Loren Webster and I saw this same loon just earlier that
day. (I'm guessing Marty is the photographer we talked to as we left
the loon.) We watched it swim to the river's edge, run up on the shore
and take a potty break. It then scooted back into the water. According
to the timestamps on my photos, we had the loon in sight various times
from 9:10 to 11:10 as we walked the trail and it swam upstream to the
north end of the river and then drifted back. We only saw it on the
shore one time.

Two not terribly good shots of the loon on its bathroom break here:

http://skygardener.zenfolio.com/p447246940/h2d2c0e38#h2d2c0e38

John Riegsecker
jriegsecker at pobox dot com
Gig Harbor, WA

> From: "Rachel Lawson" <RWLawson AT Q.com>
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 10:33:13 -0700
>
> Dear Tweets,
>
>
>
> I answer the email at Seattle Audubon, and on March 27, I received one from
> Marty Kramer, who saw a very interesting Red-throated Loon behavior. Marty
> observed the loon on the incoming tide on the Union River at Theler Wetlands
> in Belfair. Three times, he saw the loon run out of the water to pick
> something from the mud, and then run back to the water. I have never seen
> or heard of a loon running around on the shore, so I asked Marty's
> permission to post this on Tweeters. Marty and I would be very interested
> to hear what the rest of you think. Here is his description of the
> behavior:
>
>
>
> On all three occasions the loon would swim toward the shore, then turn away,
> going back and forth, as if looking for something on the bank. This pattern
> would continue for a bit, and then the loon would turn suddenly, swimming
> rapidly toward the shore. When it did reach the shore it would run up the
> bank and deliberately grab/stab at something in the mud bank, flop down on
> breast/belly, get back up, and run back into the river. I could not capture
> if it had grabbed anything in a photograph.
>
>
>
> Marty did get one photo of the loon standing up on its feet. I don't have a
> place to post the photo, but I will be happy to forward it to anyone who
> would like to see it.
>
>
>
> Rachel Lawson
>
> Seattle
>
> rwlawson AT q.com






--
John Riegsecker