The Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) with many volunteers conducts an annual loon census in July that provides a mid-season check on NH loon populations.  Thanks to Dave Nordengren and Dee Kasprzak for their help with this year’s census.  Great East is a large lake and many people are needed to do the census properly. A total of eleven adult loons and two chicks were counted this year.  There were three nesting pairs this year, Scribner River, Loon Island and Second Basin. Only the Scribner pair hatched chicks. The two chicks thrived and grew into juveniles, but on several different occasions in early September only one juvenile was seen with its parents. Many thanks to Sam Merker , the dedicated  LPC biologist assigned to Great East and volunteers Sue Bixby, Dave Nordengren, Charles Crespi and Donald Bell who provide valuable information about the nesting pairs in their areas during the spring and summer.

Doug Smith and Dave Lafond braved the cold spring waters to place the floating loon nest in Copp Brook again this year.  The Copp pair didn’t nest in either the floating nest or on a natural site this year and sometime in July the floating nest and the “Loon Nesting Site” sign went missing.  The nest, which is anchored in two places, was found further up the brook near the shore, but the sign was never found. If anyone knows where it is, please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The number of adult loons and nesting pairs continues to rise on NH lakes and is at an all time high since 1976 when the count started.  As reported by LPC, the 2009 loon census produced a count of around 500 paired loons and over 300 nesting pairs. A less encouraging statistic is the nesting success of loons in New Hampshire in the past few years. Reproductive success fell each year between 2004 and 2008 and since 2006 it has been less than needed to sustain a viable loon population.  This condition has also occurred in at least three other time periods since 1976. LPC is currently conducting studies on eggs and shell fragments to determine the cause of these nest failures.