I just received an email from Kirk Zufelt about an Arctic Loon off St. Joseph's Island on December 26 and 28. Unfortunately the bird was not identified until yesterday (photographed by someone else on the 26th, Kirk suspected that's what it was but wanted to be sure) but disappeared out into the main channel pretty quickly after he refound it and has not been seen since. The area where it was seen has since iced over. Kirk says they are keeping their eyes out along the river but doesn't hold much hope for relocating the bird given the large area where it could now be. The exact location was Hilton Beach Marina on St. Joseph's Island: https://goo.gl/maps/HWv4h7TdgPiGmXBx6 Mike Burrell

Folks- just a follow up on this -the Arctic Loon was found and photographed by Barry Lyons who did suspect initially it was an Arctic Loon but given the rarity wanted to get some input. It was only seen for a brief time on the afternoon of the 26th and then blizzard conditions set in and in and it could not be relocated the next day despite considerable effort. On the 28th I relocated it very briefly in the AM. It was dead calm and in a stoke of incredibly bad luck the entire bay froze over a couple of hours later. This location is usually almost entirely frozen over prior to the local CBC. There is virtually no visible open water in the area currently. Virtually the entire Lake is is open to the east and south of us from Thessalon to Georgian Bay to Sarnia etc. so the bird could be anywhere to the east or south of us. The road and weather conditions here on the 27/28th were very treacherous and despite my 4 wheel drive truck it was very dangerous driving. We are keeping a close eye on the St.Mary’s River on the slim chance that it could show up. Sorry I don’t have more encouraging news but if it is relocated we will post it immediately Kirk Zufelt > On Dec 29, 2021, at 4:42 PM, Mike V.A. Burrell <mike.burrell.on@gmail.com> wrote: > > I just received an email from Kirk Zufelt about an Arctic Loon off St. > Joseph's Island on December 26 and 28. Unfortunately the bird was not > identified until yesterday (photographed by someone else on the 26th, Kirk > suspected that's what it was but wanted to be sure) but disappeared out > into the main channel pretty quickly after he refound it and has not been > seen since. The area where it was seen has since iced over. Kirk says they > are keeping their eyes out along the river but doesn't hold much hope for > relocating the bird given the large area where it could now be. > > The exact location was Hilton Beach Marina on St. Joseph's Island: > https://goo.gl/maps/HWv4h7TdgPiGmXBx6 > > Mike Burrell > -- > Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. > > Ontbirds is reserved for sightings of provincially rare birds. To post a message on Ontbirds, send an email to: birdalert@ontbirds.ca. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Ontbirds Moderators by email at birdalert@ofo.ca. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines > > During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. > > To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.