Kittie Wilson- A 5-day-old loon chick is fed a minnow by one of its parents while its sibling hitches a ride on Pleasant Lake in New London. If you see an adult loon with chicks, make sure to stay at least 150 feet from them so the parents can concentrate on feeding and caring for their chicks.
The Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) will conduct its Annual Loon Census on July 20 from 8 to 9 a.m. During that hour, LPC staff and volunteers will survey lakes across the state for loons. Following the Loon Census, the Loon Preservation Committee will host its 45th Annual Loon Festival, a family-friendly event offered free of charge to members of the public, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Loon Center in Moultonborough.
The 45th Annual Loon Festival is a family-friendly event that will feature loon presentations given by LPC biologists, face painting, balloon animals, loon-themed crafts and games for kids, a Discovery Table and live animals from the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, a fun and educational display about lake ecosystems from the NH Lakes Association, and a dunk tank where a correctly-answered loon trivia question will earn participants a chance to dunk a loon biologist. Hot dogs and ice cream will be served to festival attendees courtesy of the Meredith Rotary Club.
“The Loon Census is a valuable part of our annual data collection,” said LPC biologist, Caroline Hughes. “It helps us to get a count of the number of paired, as well as unpaired, adult loons and loon chicks that are present in our state.”
Unpaired adult loons are those that do not develop a bond with a mate and do not defend a territory in a given year. Because they are not tied to a particular lake, they may spend time on many lakes, making it more difficult for biologists to get an accurate count.
“During the census, our goal is to have as many people as possible surveying New Hampshire lakes at the exact same time, which helps us to get a snapshot in time of our loon population and nail down exactly how many of those paired and unpaired adults we have in the state,” Hughes said.
The Loon Census also helps LPC to monitor the progress of known loon nests, discover previously unknown nests, check on the survival of chicks that have hatched in the previous weeks, and detect new loon chicks that may have hatched since biologists last surveyed a given water body. LPC is seeking additional Loon Census volunteers, and those who are interested should call 603-476-5666 for more information.
Census results are incorporated into LPC’s summer-long monitoring, the results of which will be given in an end-of-season presentation livestreamed on the organization’s YouTube channel on August 22.
To reach the Loon Center from Route 25 in Moultonborough turn onto Blake Road at the Moultonborough Central School. Follow Blake Road one mile to the end at Lee’s Mills Road. Turn right and the Loon Center is the first building on the left, #183.
