By Ethan Daly, Loon Restoration Team Technician I was recently checking in on one of our new loon nesting raft sites near Gray, Maine. As I stood on the shore, speaking with a volunteer about how to minimize human disturbances to the raft, we watched two paddle boarders weave in between our …
Loon Restoration Project
Loon on a Raft: Loon Restoration Project Update
By Oskar Mattes, Loon Restoration Technician The start of May is a busy time of year for life of all kinds across our state. Songbirds are returning to their breeding grounds, the forsythia and daffodils are in full bloom, and the oak and maple leaves are just starting to peek out. Common Loons …
Talking Tackle with the Fish Lead Free team
Maine Audubon’s Fish Lead Free project has been busy over the winter attending events and spreading the lead-free fishing word! Why lead-free? Because loons! Loons will mistake small lead sinkers on lake bottoms for gravel to help aid in digestion or will consume fish that have a piece of lead …
Singing in the Rain with the Maine Loon Restoration Project
One of Maine Audubon’s most visible projects is the Annual Loon Count, where more than 1500 volunteers go out, on the third Saturday in July, to count loons and give us a snapshot of the loon population. But we’ve also got a major project aimed at increasing loon nesting success and survival, called …
Loon chicks hatching on new artificial nesting platforms!
It’s always exciting when a loon chick hatches, but this summer we’re more excited than ever to announce that a loon chick has hatched on an artificial nesting platform! As part of the new Maine Loon Restoration Project, Maine Audubon has worked with volunteers to put out 13 loon rafts this year. …
Loon raft building workshops kick off this spring
Kicking off a new 5-year project to help loon breeding success! One component is to build loon rafts. The goal of the raft program is to increase the number of loon chicks hatched through placement and monitoring of nearly 100 loon nesting rafts in territories with low nesting success. When used in …
Maine Audubon and partners receive grant for loon restoration
In 2003, 98,000 gallons of oil spilled in Buzzards Bay from a tank barge called Bouchard B-120. An estimated 531 Common Loons, overwintering in Buzzards Bay (off the coasts of MA and RI), died from direct or indirect impacts from this spill. Now, a natural resources damage settlement from this …