DEC staff worked with personnel from the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation to look into the bird’s choice of environment, and they concluded that it was not able to fly off because of the size of the pond.

Efforts to capture it via net were tried in late July, but the bird was able to stay free.

“They went out at night with lights, but he kept diving. He’s a great diver,” Simpson said.

Nina Schoch, program director for the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, was among the group that tried to nab the bird. She said she thinks Kevin is actually a female that appears to be in good health in a pond with sufficient food and is not distressed by its predicament.

Loons mainly eat fish but also eat tadpoles and crayfish. The pond was stocked with trout earlier this spring and is also home to bass, panfish and minnows.

Schoch said she has been in contact with the DEC to continue monitoring the bird, and another rescue effort is likely in the fall.

“I’ve got staff going there every few days to check on it,” she said.