During twenty years of volunteering, I have come across a variety of birds, including predators. But none of them has created as many problems for me as a peaceful-looking loon. When I was informed that the bird was in trouble and it would be brought to me, I agreed.
The peculiarity of the loons is that they are not adapted to move on the ground. Their home is water. And they also take off exclusively from the inputs. If a duck can take off from the ground, then a loon can't.
We examined the bird and made sure that the wings and legs were intact. I must say that it almost immediately began to show aggression. But I had to make sure that it's legs were not just intact, but also working. I took a bath of water and let the bird in. Once in its element, the first thing it did was try to attack me. I stood and covered it with a blanket in which I brought it. I absolutely didn't know what to do and imagined tomorrow's news: "A loon killed a woman in her own bathroom" 😂
Fortunately, the loon' legs were working and we could think about returning it to nature. But first we had to feed it, because we didn't know how long it didn't eat before. It was all strange, since the bird was found far from the water. Maybe it was flying somewhere, but what made it land in such an inappropriate place remains a mystery.
As a result, we returned it to the big water yesterday. We have specially chosen the largest one in our region so that the bird has enough conditions for dispersal and take-off. The fact that I told myself that I would hardly ever agree to take care of the loon if I was alone. It's completely unreal. You need male strength to hold an aggressive strong bird that waves its sharp beak in all directions. But the experience itself was very interesting and useful.
It's good to know that the seagull didn't kill you in the bathtub, heh heh. The reasons why it was there will never be known, but what matters is that you saved it and were part of its recovery so that it could return to its life in freedom. Very good work.