Winter is the perfect time to clean out your tackle box of any unwanted or illegal lead tackle. You might start by cleaning out the illegal tackle: Maine bans the use and sale of lead sinkers and unpainted lead jig heads weighing 1 ounce or less and measuring 2.5 inches long or less. But since this …
Loons
Maine Audubon’s 2022 Loon Count Brings in New Lakes, Counters!
Final results from Maine Audubon’s Annual Loon Count for 2022 estimate that adult loon numbers dipped slightly this year but chick numbers are up! Long-term trends continue to show a strong adult population that has grown steadily over the years, and a stable population of chicks over time. The …
Ten Questions for Our Seasonal Loon Biologists
What’s it like to work with loons in the field? For the spring and summer of 2022, two seasonal biologists, Earl Johnson and Jill Marianacci, have been working with Maine Audubon on the Loon Restoration Project, doing everything from building artificial nests for loons that struggle to hatch chicks, …
Guest blog post: Passing the Loon Count baton
My loon-count crew was ready with time to spare, fortified with Fruit Loops and cranberry juice (I know it’s a sugar bomb, but hey, we’re grandparents). I spread the map on the console of the boat, shoved off from the dock, and headed out to do my part for loon science on sector 3 of China …
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. …
Annual loon count scheduled for July 16
Did you know that loon chicks can swim right away but need parental care for their first three months? That the shape of a loon’s forehead or length of its neck can change to indicate stress? And that Maine is fortunate to be home to the largest Common Loon population in the Northeast? For nearly …
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 …
2021 Annual Loon Count Shows Importance of Long Term Studies
Adults up, chicks down, but what does it all mean? As Maine Audubon releases the data from its 2021 Annual Loon Count, it underscores the importance of long-term studies and highlights the need to look beyond the one-day count to understand the data. The annual loon count takes place on the …
The 2021 Annual Loon Count is in the books!
Once again, as they have every year since 1983, volunteers across Maine set their alarm clocks early, gulped down some coffee, and were out on lakes by 7 a.m. to record observations about Common Loons in the Annual Loon Count. For half an hour, more than a thousand volunteers were paddling kayaks, …